Letter in the Western Daily Press. England should be treated in the same way as Scotland, with its own government and First Minister.

"England should be treated in the same way as Scotland, with its own government and First Minister." writes Clive Lavelle of the English Democrats.

I agree wholeheartedly!

Letter in the Western Daily Press 5th October, 2015.

England should be the same as Scotland.

Back in 1997, the Scots and Welsh were offered a referendum on devolved government.

The referenda were duly held and the two peoples voted in favour – resulting in the setting-up of the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly. These institutions enable Scotland and Wales to function as quasi-independent countries.

Following the Scottish independence referendum, the British government has sought to pretend that it is now in favour of English devolution.

We need to be clear. English devolution can only be the same devolution settlement as Scotland’s – namely a national parliament for England with an English First Minister.

Sadly, what the British are seeking to foist on to us is de-centralisation, posing as devolution.

So now, the chancellor, George Osborne is setting up, without any referenda or by-your-leave, ‘city regions’.

He simply rocked up in Manchester, invited various local councils effectively to merge and gave these ambitious councillors control over the national budget allocated to their ‘region’.

It needs to be repeated. This is not devolution. It is de-centralisation and pits parts of England against others.

George Osborne is railroading regionalisation through with no democratic mandate. England should be treated in the same way as Scotland, with its own government and First Minister.

Clive Lavelle

Worle, Weston-super-Mare