The Smith Commission has reported and Britain will never be the same again. In the years to come, the Scottish independence referendum will be seen inescapably as a definitive point in our national history: politically, economically, culturally and socially.
As David Cameron emerges from Clacton and Rochester, blinking into the light, it is clear that he has yet to learn the lessons of his defeats. More importantly, it is clear that the Scottish campaign taught him nothing whatsoever.
The lessons from Scotland are plentiful. First of all, the politics of big ideas is alive and well. Irrespective of differing views on the break-up of the United Kingdom, it is certainly a big idea. Big ideas are engaging, they cut through the frequent banality of party politics, and they stimulate civic engagement.
In the case of separation, the big idea was flawed. The economic arguments represented a false prospectus. Politics is hard and getting harder. The complexities of modern politics are increasing, not receding.
Ultimately the politics of gimmickry and easy answers are bound to fail. The principle gimmick of the ‘Yes’ campaign was that a Scotland outside of the UK would be wealthier. This claim never withstood any meaningful scrutiny and the ‘Yes’ campaign refused to answer any of the difficult questions asked of it, eventually sealing its defeat.
There are no easy answers in modern politics. No silver bullets. Fundamentally, politicians who pretend that there are will continue to be found out and punished by the electorate.
So David Cameron’s foolhardy rush to rewrite the British constitution for the purposes of partisan gerrymandering are already being seen for what they are: easy answers to difficult questions. The public sees such gimmickry for what it is, the prime minister, not famed for the quality of his judgment, will pay a price: as will the Ukip fox at which he continues to shoot and miss.
Political gimmicks can be seen from space.
The Smith Commission represents a unique opportunity for England and its progressive traditions. Meaningful devolution of power and resource in England is now inevitable; the status quo cannot stand and Westminster’s dominance of our economic and political life has now reached the beginning of the end. Ask not for whom Big Ben tolls…
A crude definition of English votes for English laws doesn’t begin to address the scale, type and pace of change that England now requires. We need to urgently begin the process of nation building. In the process, our economy can be rebalanced: not simply between the public and private sectors but geographically, too.
The English people see this. No amount of phoney love for the rediscovered ‘white van man’ can address the gimmickry at the heart of Cameron’s knee-jerk proposals. No amount of St George flags can cloak the fundamentally divisive instincts of the modern Tory party. No amount of rhetoric surrounding EVEL can hide the fact that it alone will not even begin to enable the changes that England needs.
For England, the Smith Commission represents a silent earthquake. Anything is now possible, and Labour is leading the field with precisely the type of economic devolution that England needs. Nation building: the definitive task of the next Labour government.
———————————-
Jamie Reed MP is the Labour member of parliament for Copeland. He tweets @jreedmp
———————————-
The starting point has to be the English themselves deciding what sort of devolution is needed in England. We don’t need, and will not accept, a Scottish MP telling us what we can have.
That starting point therefore is the same devolution to England as to Scotland, with the English MPs becoming a de facto English Parliament, and an English solution being applied to England.
You know, unless your partisanship blinds you to it, that the union is now in terminal decline, and has been since the fatefull decision to have the original Scottish devolution referendum. This attempt by labour to hang onto their original gerrymandering will only accelerate the end.