Is it now time for an 'English' government?

[Plannergirl9]

The UK government has just published its strategy for coming out of lockdown. However the vast majority of the strategy is for England only.

Boris is the Prime Minister of the UK but is also the leader of the government in England even though it doesn't legally exist as England doesn't have devolution. Matt Hancock is the health Secretary for England only. Dominic Rabb however is the first secretary of state for the UK as defence minister.

Given some of the confusion about the changes in guidance announced yesterday and MSM not being wholey clear the changes are for England only, surely it is time to look to have a bit more distinction between both of Boris's roles and the powers he has for England only.

I am from Scotland and whilst I believe in a federal uk this isn't a thread about Scottish independence.

We need to drop first past the post. That’s what causes these tilts

Absolutely. I would be very happy with some kind of proportional representation. Don't think we'll ever get it though.

This wasn't meant to be a Scottish independence thread.

No and that was very clear from your OP.

Didn't stop the anti-Scottish rhetoric being crowbarred in within a few posts though.

And they say that it's the Scots who keep bringing up independence

Scotland isn't the only place, Wales and Ireland have their own too!
These threads always end up scotland/England!
If England hate the Scots so much like all the comments of they can't afford it etc then let them go! Have you ever wondered why they haven't?
It makes for some interesting reading put it that way

The people who say let them go are the people who hadn't bothered to research what it would actually mean for the uk. We are stronger together.

In all the daily briefings I have not heard her 'bleat' on about independence. Have you?

There are certainly a few bleating on about it on this thread, despite it not even being the subject matter!

*Why are we so desperate to keep hold of Scotland?

How can they afford free tuition fees etc yet England cant? Let them be independent.*

You voted for the MPs who didn't want free tuition for students, we voted differently.

Also, thank you so much for your permission for us to become independent. It means so much. I'll pass that right on to my parliament.

3 out of the 4 nations have devolved parliaments yet it's always Scotland being bashed. Quite pathetic really. Some can't see past the end of their noses to give it some critical thought.

Scotland has never voted a Tory majority yet here we are after 10 years of cuts and austerity is it any wonder we want away from that? And as for all the "Krankie" comments, please look at Johnson and his reputation before that particular stone is cast 😂

If it's what the people want, then its absolutely time that regions in England are more fairly represented and an English parliament could possibly give them that. There needs to be grassroots campaigns fighting for it though, the shitshow in just now will never give it willingly.

Same old ignorant shite in the comments.... never change

Yes yes yes, a thousand times yes as pp said

35% of all UK tax comes from ones city.

I've never been able to establish what tax income is included in this calculation. Seems unlikely the figure is just income tax and VAT. If the figure includes corporation tax then London is unlikely to be subsidising the rest of the nation as many companies will have their head office (particularly financial services) in London but their profit is generated from business across the country so. I wonder what a detailed breakdown would reveal.

Sadly the U.K. has already contracted its influence and place on the world stage by removing itself from Europe. I dread the idea of being English rather than British - although I understand why Scotland with Nicola Sturgeon might want to cast England adrift.

I dont want to be in a union with people who want to go.

@CherryPavlova

I dread the idea of being English rather than British

That's sad to read. We should all be able to be proud of the places we come from.
Although, I almost understand how you feel, except I dread the idea of being British rather than Scottish. Its just not something I identify with in any aspect of my life at all.

I don't want to be in a Union with people who think that Scotland is with less than them, who think our First Minister is called a control freak for daring to try and do something for the people in her country which might be different from the bigger part, who constantly deride other countries in the unions opinion as parochial.

*worth less than

I don't really understand the concept of Britishness. Whenever I discuss this with people here in England, it seems that what they feel makes them British is more Englishness. What are the things that can be called British and be truly all encompassing?

Love of tea?

Scotland chose to remain in both unions but England chose to remove us from one of them.

We will have the opportunity to choose again, this time we have to pick the union which works with us instead of against us. Who gives our representatives a voice and respects us by listening to it. Who doesn't defeat our voting choices by sheer force of numbers and tell us to suck it up.

I'm prepared for life to be hard in the early years of independence, but I think it will be even harder to remain in the UK. Scotland has to gather it resources and establish our place in Europe and the world.

It's time for England to chart the course it set in 2016 and set out on it's own path, presumably with a growing move towards a US style society.

@Chocolatedeficitdisorder what you said