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Cini: European Union Politics 2e

Chapter 18

UKIP against English devolution

On 4 November 2004 voters in the North-East region of England rejected the governmental proposal of establishing an elected Regional Assembly. The defeat was a serious blow to the Labour Government's devolution plan in England. English devolution has been on the political agenda ever since the Labour Party won the general election in 1997. In the years following the election the government created special Regional Development Agencies in each of the ten English regions to improve regional economy and development. These agencies are overseen by appointed Regional Assemblies, which are supposed to be gradually replaced by elected ones. The North-East referendum was considered as the first step towards such a direction.

While many factors contributed to the defeated referendum, one of these was that the UK Independence Party (UKIP) had been an enthusiastic campaigner against the elected Regional Assembly. UKIP is a small Eurosceptic party. Advocating Britain's withdraw from the EU, the party won a number of seats in the 2004 EP election. During the devolution referendum, UKIP claimed that the proposed Regional Assembly would add another layer of expensive bureaucrats whose main tasks were to implement EU directives and regulations. Much in line with the slogan of the 'no' camp – 'Politician Talk We Pay', the campaign of UKIP added an unexpected European dimension to the devolution debate in England. In his post-referendum statement to the House of Commons, John Prescott – the main architect of English devolution – also admitted that ' Europe was mentioned from time to time [in the campaign], as if the [devolution] proposal were a Euro-plot.'

In fact, English devolution is mainly a domestic policy of the Labour Government. Its major objectives are to address the imbalanced economic performance among the English regions, and to deal with institutional asymmetry following devolution in Scotland and Wales. However, as the EU's regional policy gains further prominence, the Europeanization of English devolution is perhaps beyond the control of Westminster.

Web Links

Activities of the European Union: Regional Policy
europa.eu.int/pol/reg/index_en.htm

Eu ropa Server on Regional Policy: Inforegio
europa.eu.int/comm/regional_policy/index_en.htm

Devolution & Constitutional Change in the UK, an ESRC Research Programme
www.devolution.ac.uk/

Further Learning Resources

Bogdanor, Vernon (2001), Devolution in the United Kingdom, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Jeffery, Charlie (ed.) (1997), The Regional Dimension of the European Union: Towards a Third Level in Europe?, London: Frank Cass.

John, Peter (2001), Local Governance in Western Europe, London: Sage.