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JOHN HUMPHRYS: On Tuesday a new committee
will be born in the House of Commons. Before you doze off at that exciting
news... you should know that this one could indeed have profound implications
for the way England is governed in the future. It's called the Standing
Committee on the English Regions and it's a direct response to devolution
in Scotland and Wales. But will it be enough to satisfy the growing demands
for greater powers by the regions of England. Iain Watson reports.
IAIN WATSON: Newcastle United are in training
for their big match later today. Many of the footballers successfully combine
the role of national, as well as local, hero. But politics is a funny old
game. Devolution to Scotland and Wales has raised the question of what
to do about England. Reconciling the issue of regional versus national
identity is proving tricky.
DOUG HENDERSON MP: There is a demand in the regions
of England to be able to speak out better for themselves; to be able to
take some of their own decisions in a way that they currently look over
the borders in Scotland and Wales and see the Scots and the Welsh doing.
LOUISE ELLMAN: I think the government is
rather nervous about devolution but I think they have to recognise that
devolution cannot stop part way - it is time for the voice of the English
regions to be heard
WATSON: Newcastle United hope to
bring the FA cup back here to St James's park. But politicians in the North
East say the government should give an additional to boost to local pride.
They are making a play for more powers to be devolved to the English regions;
But the government is moving very cautiously. On Tuesday, a new Standing
Committee on Regional Affairs kicks off. Once established, we could see
attendance records being set for a Commons committee. That's because it
will be open to all 529 MPs who represent English seats. The committee
will give them extra time to Westminster politicians who want to discuss
matters of importance in each region. But here in Newcastle, there is
strong support for a political arena that's much closer to home.
HENDERSON: The demands in the region are
for something in the region so that the region can look after affairs that
it can better manage itself - a body which can represent the region in
both Westminster and indeed in European political corridors. And I don't
think the people in the region, whether they come from the political community
or the economic community, will feel convinced by what the government
proposing in this. I don't think its a bad idea -I just think it's an
idea that won't carry a lot of weight
WATSON: Campaigners for English
devolution hope the new committee will be a preparation for more radical
change. But they don't think it's a fitting a substitute for more local
control over matters like health and education. It may also be too supine
a body to stand up to the powers that be. While every MP from England can
attend, only a small team of core members will have voting rights. Critics
say the government will hold sway.
BOB MCLENNON: It is nothing like regional
government, it is wholly controlled from the centre. The committee will
be chosen by the majority party, as proposed it will be dominated by Labour.
The government appears to be wanting to have a committee of only thirteen
reflecting the composition of the House of Commons as a whole, and not
the political composition of the English members. That would result in
an over-balancing towards Labour. It would also seem that the government
is seeking to control the agenda, and that is really the opposite of what
regional government should be all about.
WATSON: But one aspiring member
of the new committee thinks that it can develop into a strong forum for
regional debate.
STEPHEN LADYMAN: One of the slight weaknesses of
this new committee is of course that the government will be choosing the
topics for debate, and that of course will limit the new committee. but
one of the things of course the core membership of that committee can do,
and the people who are interested in this committee is they can lobby and
campaign and press the government for a variety of debates to take place
in it that will reflect all those different views over a period of time.
WATSON: Sprucing up the English
Regional Committee may appear to some as a bold move, but it doesn't represent
a clean break with the past. It was used, then put away, once before as
part of the last Labour government's failed constitutional reforms. But
it's been kitted out and made ready after private polling suggested the
Conservatives were being seen as the more patriotic of the two main parties.
They're hoping the English question will help them strike at Labour's dominance.
SIR GEORGE YOUNG: We would see the establishment
of an English regional committee as a wholly inadequate response to devolution.
The Scottish parliament has tax raising powers and it can pass primary
legislation. There is no suggestion that the regional assemblies, or indeed
the standing committee, would have similar powers so it's not an appropriate
response to the imbalance in the constitution that has been brought about
by the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament. Our answer is to make the
situation stable and fair, there should be a procedure for English bills
on which only English MPs vote -or, as is more likely, if a bill covers
only England and Wales, only English and Welsh MPs vote,
WATSON: But Labour politicians
say that English people are more concerned about their own regions than
with what happens at Westminster. St James's Park is getting a �50m makeover,
and the government says its Regional Development Agencies will encourage
more investment where it's needed. But backbenchers want to see these work
in partnership with new political structures.
ELLMAN: The government realise
that there is now a ground swell of opinion looking at the English regions,
they know it will not go away, this is a very positive move forward, and
if this is linked together with directly elected regional assemblies it
will be part of a package which will meet the needs that are now being
identified
WATSON: The politics of identity
are never black and white - Tony Blair is both a Newcastle supporter, and
an England supporter. But here in this sports shop in the north east sales
of Newcastle shirts far outstrip those of the national team, and many
Labour politicians are arguing that it's now high time that political
expression is given to this strong sense of regional identity. They say
that post devolution, only elected assemblies will create a level playing
field between the nations and regions of the UK.
HENDERSON: People in the North East are
not Celts, they are not like Scotland or Wales, but they are very different
culturally from the south of England. They have I think a much greater
sense of community spirit which is partly born out of an anti-London thing
but it is there. People co-operate together, the business community co-operates
for instance with the trade union movement and with local government I
think far better than in other areas of the country, and that reflects
a common identity and I think that's the basis of regional government in
the future in areas like the North East and I think the government have
to understand that.
WATSON: These Newcastle supporters
are in good spirits; they're gathering in the Black Horse pub in Whitley
Bay before travelling to London to cheer on their side in today's match.
Most of them have no doubt where to place their loyalties.
MAN: Geordie first, British
second England, really I've no interest in England because England's London,
the South, not up here. I mean possibly where people in the North East
feel let down is obviously we've now got a Labour government, where the
majority of MPs are from the North East and we have been let down because
the first regional vote has been for the Mayor of London which is actually,
personally, I think, quite shocking.
WATSON: Devolution elsewhere in
the UK has encouraged a debate about whether a regional assembly here would
be a good idea.
GIRL: I think so, because
it would have somebody that's local who knows the issues that we've got
in Newcastle, every area has got their different issues, and they can sort
of better know where the money is needed.
WATSON: The locals are mildly disappointed
at Labour's plans. They're being offered evolution, not devolution. Labour's
ruled out an English parliament, but they have said they'd give the regions
their own elected assemblies, where there's a clear demand. But it could
be a long wait. That's because the idea of regional government had fallen
foul of a backroom tactical tussle. When Labour fulfilled their pledge
to create Regional Development Agencies last year, those on John Prescott's
team hoped these would act as a nifty first step towards fully democratic
regional assemblies. But powerful players in Cabinet stood in their way.
A sceptical Prime Minister watched from the sidelines. But, in today's
Observer newspaper, Tony Blair admitted he was wrong to try to rein in
Welsh devolution. Supporters of English regional government think he's
now moving in the right direction.
TONY BLAIR: We can see devolution as a
necessary part of keeping Britain together; more regional decentralisation
in England makes sense.
ELLMAN: The Prime Minister's speech
did open out the opportunity of recognising diversity within the English
regions and in meeting those needs. His comments did recognise that devolution
in Scotland and in Wales, had brought added strength to the United Kingdom
and in saying that I think he opened out the possibility of that same thinking
being applied to opportunities in the English regions.
WATSON: It's Schools cup final
day in Newcastle. St Cuthberts are turning out to take on Heaton Manor.
Watching the match is Ian Mearns, a Gateshead councillor who chairs the
campaign for a north east assembly. He knows that spending on public services
is higher across the border in Scotland and wants the North East to get
a piece of the action. He is far from impressed with the powers that will
be available to the new English regional committee, but he believes that
its very existence could push forward the debate on regional government
and win recognition for the problems of the North.
IAN MEARNS: What I hope will happen will
be that the committee actually comes round the regions and accepts sort
of days within those regions when the MPs from the region can be involved,
as well as the committee members themselves and call to account ministers
for what is or is not happening in those regions where the committee meets.
I would hope that that would be a way to operate because it would actually
bring the government out of central London to the regions themselves.
WATSON: Supporters of regional
assemblies hope the new Committee will focus attention on their demands
and they look to Scotland for inspiration. The last Conservative government
aimed to defend the union by beefing up the Scottish Grand Committee and
taking it round the country. They hoped to deflect calls for devolution,
rather than to give them momentum. But, unwittingly, their strategy rebounded
and demands for devolution grew. In just a couple of hours from now,
Newcastle will take to the pitch here at Wembley to compete in the FA
cup semi final. They will take on the expensively-assembled glamour boys
of Chelsea in a classic North/South clash. Their ultimate goal is to win
this trophy, the FA cup itself. But away from Wembley, in the more rarefied
atmosphere of Westminster, a similar battle could ensue. There are fears
that the new English regional committee will be used by northern politicians
to do a bit of grandstanding. They could use it to argue for more resources
for their regions at the expense of the south.
LADYMAN: There are areas of great
deprivation and poverty in the south east and the south west, those problems
have to be put on the table at this committee. If we don't have a voice
in this committee, those of us from the south, it will fail. We must not
allow ourselves to be drowned out by MPs from the North -if we do that
will be a disaster.
HENDERSON: Everybody looks at their own
back yard in these things and clearly there will be arguments put by southern
interests, northern interests and so on, but I think if a fair system and
a just system is to be brought about then there is a need for change. And
that means that there must be more resources distributed to the poorer
regions of England like the north west and the north east
WATSON: The setting up
of an English regional committee this week could kick start a whole series
of contentious debates. And as devolution to London, Wales and Scotland
has proved, Labour's ambitious programme of constitutional reform has put
them under unforeseen pressure. The question now is whether the new committee
will create more problems than it solves.
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