Why Labour are suddenly interested in Constitutional Reform

[andrewducker]

It occurs to me that the very first thing that any future Conservative government* will do is pass English Votes for English Laws.

And that once that happens, Labour will have much more difficulty passing legislation that affects only England**.

And that therefore it's in Labour's interests to try and deal with that itself, rather than letting the Conservatives do it their own way.

And that the way to do so that gives them the most leeway in the long run is some kind of devolution to regional assemblies, so that (at the least) Labour held areas will have control over their parts of the NHS, some taxes, etc.

And that _this_ is why Labour have said that there will be a constitutional convention. Because the alternative will leave them completely buggered.

I just feel a bit silly for not having realised this sooner.

*There will almost certainly be be one a some point. Betting against this would be foolhardy.
**Not all the time, certainly - they'd have had no issues after 1997 or 2001. But this time around they'd be in serious trouble.

Comments

[matgb]

To be 100% fair, elements within Labour have always been in favour of electoral and constitutional reform, I have a book written by Martin Linton and Mary Southcott (Linto was a Blairite MP and adviser, Southcott senior in various areas) that she gave me at the first SW Constitutional Convention in Exeter in 2001, basically going through and makign the case for why Labour should back electoral reform, very well argued book.

Ben Bradshaw has always been strongly in favour, for example, and while he was always a Blairite I've never really regretted voting for him when I lived there, having decent well meaning types in senior positions is better than just the ones that jump where they think the most votes/partisan advantage are.

But yeah, a huge chunk of the Labour activist base is incredibly tribally partisan and is in favour of whatever's best for TIGMOO, which can mean changing position radically very quickly and holding mutually contradictory positions without realising it.

There are partisans in all parties, and I'm given to understand elements within the SNP group are bloody awful, but now living in a strongly Labour area I see a lot more of it than I'm used to, I've never seen the sort of vitriol they pour on anyone not One Of Us from any other group, the Tories are never that nasty. Condescending, patronising, dismissive and downright rude, but never actually nasty in the way some Labour types are.

Of course, we'd already have got strong regional devolution in England if they hadn't put Honest John Prescott in charge of delivering it, nice bloke, couldn't organise a pissup in a brewery. Could probably manage an orgy in a cathouse, but only with his secretary's help…

[andrewducker]

The thing about Labour is that they believe that they are the goodies. And people who believe they are good believe that they are justified in anything, and that anyone who stands in their way is evil and must be stopped by any means necessary.