The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Labour issues warning as party prepares to convene new devolution taskforce
The UK constitution is “no longer fit for purpose”, Labour leaders warned last night, as the party prepared to convene its new devolution taskforce.
The group, which is being set up by Labour to examine how best to redistribute powers across the UK, will meet for the first time on the day that the prime minister formally triggers Brexit and less than 24 hours after the Scottish Parliament voted in favour of a second independence referendum.
The taskforce, which includes former prime minister Gordon Brown, the Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones, Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale and former deputy prime minister John Prescott, believes the only way now to “unite our deeply divided kingdom” is by handing more powers downto the nations and regions that make up the UK.
Mr Jones will host the first meeting in Cardiff, with shadow Welsh secretary Christina Rees, shadow devolution minister Jim McMahon taking part alongside Andy Burnham, Steve Rotheram and Sion Simon, Labour’s mayoral candidates for Greater Manchester, the Liverpool City region and the West Midlands, London deputy mayor Jules Pipe andNewcastle Council leader Nick Forbes.
The new taskforce will form the basis for Labour’s plans to set up a constitutional convention, to look at how to take forward its proposals for a federal UK.
In addition it will meet one of the six tests the party wants to see achieved before the UK leaves the EuropeanUnion, with Labour insisting Brexit must “deliver for all nations and regions of the UK”.
A joint statement from taskforce members said: “On the day the United Kingdom formally begins the process of leaving the European Union, it is clear that our constitution is no longer fit for purpose.
“The Brexit vote was in part an angry revolt of Britain’s left- behind regions against the country’s financial, cultural and political elite. Underlyi n g this are deepseated economic inequalities that drive divisions in the UK.
“The UK Government would claim for Westminster those devolved responsibilities currently administered by Brussels, increasing the concentration of power in what has until recently been one of the most centralised states in the developed world.
“As leading Labour figures from across the UK, we reject this Whitehall power grab and call on the UK Government as part of the Brexit negotiations to agree to the transfer of powers over agriculture, fisheries, regional policy and environmental protection to the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh and Northern
The group said Labour was “the party of devolution” and must seize the agenda in the wake of Brexit.
Proposals to replace the House of Lords with an elected senate of the nations and regions have already been put forward.
The statement continued: “The key to bridging social and economic inequalities lies in embracing a more decentralised United Kingdom, thus strengthening the bonds that tie our four nations together.
“It is time to continue the process that has commenced in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland by placing bottom- up economic power in the hands of the English regions which would boost local economies, enhance the delivery of public services and ensure that the voices of those left behind by economic growth are listened to.” Irish Assemblies.”
“The Brexit vote was part an angry revolt by left-behind regions”