Originally Posted by
Rutan16
ATNots and northern Spannish region - English regional electorates were given the opportunity to have regional assemblies . The first referendum held in the North East (pretty much the same electorate that turned over fourty years of cooperation with our European neighbours and resultant economic successes) shat on expanding democracatic accountability and control of local budgets by rejecting the offer of an assembly.
All other porposals other than city mayors have ended up in the bin !
England in particular doesn’t seem ready for MORE and closer democratic accountability and responsibilities any time soon .
A shame, though the right wing media would say it would be more public money wasted on beaurocrats I am sure.
So blame lack of regional UK accountability where it’s due and it’s not Westminster in reality.
A fair analysis. I suppose that if we (the English) were given a choice to vote on a proper federal system (akin to the German model perhaps) where viably sized regional governments had real powers and the consequences and opportunities were properly explained (fat chance of that I imagine!) then people may go for the idea, but I fear that people view local government as the perceived lack of power that councils actually have, which is why so few people vote in local elections, and rather than vote on what their elected representatives are, or aren't doing, they vote according to the performance of the UK government in Westminster.
We are in many ways a rather immature democracy.