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The only thing missing is powers over taxation...
The US has shown how this can go badly. You can see states offering more and more ludicrous tax breaks to tempt large firms to base themselves there and it is a real race to the bottom.
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power in local government to enact changes
It's a postcode lottery! Service is rubbish here and better if I live 100 furlongs east!
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If you devolve planning surely if the local council chooses to block planning that's their choice?
Irrespective of housing I think we need to concentrate on moving wealth and jobs out of the south east.
aggi
jellybaby
Grumpy_Git
@davidvdp_is_better
A seemingly unreported and in my mind under-appreciated component of the Labour manifesto is the proposals for devolution in England. Brexit was strongly fueled by resentment in English regions where people felt policymakers were imposing decisions on them, rather than listening and responding to what locals thought was most needed.
The system as it works now relies on councils bidding and competing for ludicrously small amounts for fixed projects (often single digit £m) dictated from Whitehall, instead of creating a framework which enables local authorities to spend money most appropriately to fit local needs. The only winners as it stands are ministerial control freaks and expensive consultants, who are invariably seen as necessary to produce the slick slide decks which win bids (ask me how I know...). This is the system that has resulted in the UK having the largest city in Europe with no metro; Leeds - a shameful accolade but an apt explanation for why drivers are seen as such an important franchise in this country.
The manifesto seeks to implement recommendations in Gordon Brown's 2022 report which identified a lack of power in local government to enact changes. Key amongst these are a devolution of powers over transport, planning (with responsibilities to build, not block) and investment for growth. The devolution deal could be the most important (positive) piece of legislation in decades, and it has the potential to totally change the running of this country, making us less reliant on the whims of central-government.
The only thing missing is powers over taxation...