Burnham is wrong. Devolution will only grow Whitehall

Andy Burnham’s devolution plans will rile the nation

The PM wants to give more power to the very local-government bodies the public already despises.

Tony Devenish: Burnham's devolution plans will just mean more tax

Cllr Tony Devenish represents Knightsbridge and Belgravia Ward on Westminster City Council. He is a former member of the London Assembly. Devolution, we are told, is ‘the’ keynote policy of our new Prime Minister. A man who wasn’t even a Member of Parliament a few weeks ago, or indeed for the last nine years. A man who seems to be avoiding scrutiny all summer, over his first 60 days in office. The last public figure who understated his dress se…

Tony Devenish: Burnham’s devolution plans will just mean more tax

Cllr Tony Devenish represents Knightsbridge and Belgravia Ward on Westminster City Council. He is a former member of the London Assembly. Devolution, we are told, is ‘the’ keynote policy of our new Prime Minister. A man who wasn’t even a Member of Parliament a few weeks ago, or indeed for the last nine years. A...

Burnham is wrong. Devolution will only grow Whitehall

Despite promises to streamline, the Civil Service has only grown and grown. Burnham’s devolution will make it worse, says Arthur Reynolds Labour’s economic vandalism has forced the private sector to cut jobs for 22 months straight. But in a surprise to no one, Britain’s mandarins have kept expanding their fiefdoms. Statistics slipped out during the height of summer show Civil Service headcount increased by more than 8,000 over the last financial…

Devolution Is a Deflection, Not a Diagnosis COUNTRY SQUIRE MAGAZINE

BY MANRAJ ATWAL The King is dead; Long live the King! Or so the media declare as Britain faces up to its seventh Prime minister in a decade. The seemingly ritualistic axing of our head of government has been accompanied by all the usual rites. The choir of voices declaring “The grownups are back in charge”, the scuttling of MPs as they preach the virtues of their latest leader with the new gospel in their hands and hopes of promotion on their mi…