Kemi Badenoch has said the unsayable by asking a fundamental question – what is the point of devolution?
asserted
point → say → devolution
For many years, it has been accepted on all sides of the political debate that the Scottish parliament is here to stay and that bringing government closer to the people is inherently a positive thing.
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bringing → accept → people
Indeed, that belief sits at the very heart of Andy Burnham’s vision for how Britain should be governed.
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Britain → sit → vision
The Prime Minister is the arch-evangelist for devolution and his argument that power must always be decentralised has become so dominant that it is rarely challenged.
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it → decentralise → devolution
But when was it decided that devolution, in and of itself, is the best way to govern?
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devolution → decide → itself
In Scotland it’s a thesis that hasn’t been borne out by cold, hard reality.
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that → ’ → reality
In her fascinating new pamphlet The Right Way, which sets out her prospectus for how Britain would be run under a future Conservative government, Mrs Badenoch tackles the issue head-on.
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Badenoch → set → issue
She highlights Scotland’s educational decline, arguing that devolution does not automatically produce better outcomes – in fact, the opposite is often the case.
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opposite → highlight → fact
Looking at the most recent PISA rankings, it is difficult to dispute the basic facts.
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it → look → facts
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has challenged devolution
England now outperforms Scotland on key yardsticks and the gap that once ran in Scotland’s favour has gone into reverse.
It is therefore not unreasonable to ask whether Scottish education would be in a healthier state today had it remained under the stewardship of a Whitehall department rather than St Andrew’s House – the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh HQ.
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it → challenge → House
That conclusion will be seen as beyond heretical among the administrative class whose gold-plated pensions depend upon devolution – but Mrs Badenoch is prepared to go where most politicians fear to tread.
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politicians → see → devolution
In a challenge to one of the core assumptions behind the 1999 settlement, she says ‘devolution is a process, not a solution.’
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devolution → say → settlement
Yet it has long been presented not merely as a constitutional arrangement but as a virtue in its own right.
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it → present → right
Mrs Badenoch points out government should be judged on delivery, not geography.
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government → point → delivery
As she puts it: ‘Devolution is often treated as an answer before anyone has actually established the problem that moving the power is supposed to solve.’
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moving → put → power
She continues: ‘Whom you devolve to matters as much as whether or not you devolve,’ adding: ‘If you devolve to competent people with strong plans, devolution can work.
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devolution → continue → plans
‘If you devolve to incompetent people with poor accountability, it fails.’
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it → devolve → accountability
The latter part of that statement will seem all too familiar to Scots, given the last calamitous 19 years of SNP rule.
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part → seem → rule
Rightly, Mrs Badenoch also says: ‘Most people do not lie awake worrying about devolution or local government reform.
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people → say → devolution
‘They ask why nothing seems to be working.’
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nothing → ask → ?
Many voters, regardless of their party allegiance, have reached the conclusion that the SNP has spectacularly failed to live up to many of its promises.
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SNP → reach → promises
They look at education, ferries, drug deaths, the NHS, policing and a spiralling benefits bill and see a government that has too often confused rhetoric with results.
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that → look → results
For years, supporters of devolution have tended to argue that the answer to every problem is always even greater levels of autonomy.
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answer → tend → autonomy
No major political party is prepared to state as bluntly as Mrs Badenoch has that devolution simply hasn’t worked.
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devolution → prepare → ?
Yet the Conservative leader has paved the way for fresh consideration of that very question.
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leader → pave → question
What should happen now is open to debate, but perhaps the time has come for a royal commission, or some other independent inquiry, to look forensically at what has gone wrong.
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what → happen → debate
Is it the case that, regardless of which party happens to be in office, devolution contains flaws that make failure more likely?
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failure → happen → flaws
Mrs Badenoch has laid down a challenge to Mr Burnham, for whom the very notion of devolution is an article of faith.
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notion → lay → faith
By doing so, she has opened up one of the clearest dividing lines in British politics ahead of the next election, amid growing speculation that an early poll could come as soon as next year.
What she is saying runs counter to Mr Burnham’s entire philosophy of Manchesterism, vague though that philosophy sometimes appears.
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philosophy → do → Manchesterism
The Prime Minister’s central contention is that there must be ‘growth in every postcode’ and that this can only be achieved through radical devolution, through mayors and assemblies exercising increasing control over their own affairs.
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mayors → achieve → affairs
The idea that people are best governed by decision- makers who live close to them and emerge from their own communities has obvious appeal.
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who → govern → appeal
It would be wrong to say it is always false.
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it → say → ?
But power has a tendency to accumulate and entrench itself.
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power → have → itself
We have seen that in Scotland under the empire-building SNP, with the creation of overseas ‘embassies’ and ministers who indulge in expensive foreign travel while public services have struggled.
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services → see → travel
Bureaucracies expand while promises to slim down the state have come to nothing.
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promises → expand → nothing
Whenever a separate institution is created, complete with its own hierarchy and administrative structure, it develops an instinct for self-preservation.
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it → create → preservation
It seeks larger budgets and greater influence.
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It → seek → budgets
The SNP will be outraged by Mrs Badenoch’s intervention – but then its own ultimate objective is the abolition of devolution, albeit by replacing it with full independence.
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objective → outrage → independence
For almost two decades, Scotland has lived through an era of constitutional politics, with nearly every public policy debate viewed through that prism.
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Scotland → live → prism
That has allowed the SNP to argue, time and again, that Scotland’s problems would be solved if only independence were achieved.
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independence → allow → ?
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
