UK government publishes its English Abolition Whitepaper

The UK government unveiled its English Devolution Whitepaper this week in which it sets out how it will avoid introducing devolution to England.

The white paper sets out the UK government’s intention to mandate regional “strategic authorities”, centralise power on regional mayors and establish a Council of Nations & Regions at which England will never be represented.

What the UK government has planned for England is not devolution. 100% of laws affecting England will be made by Westminster. It will make decision-making even more remote by taking powers and funding away from local authorities and giving them to regional authorities. Accountability for policing will be taken away from dedicated, full time Police & Crime Commissioners and will become a bullet point on the list of responsibilities of a regional mayor. Fire services will be regionalised and control handed over to regional mayors. District councils will be abolished and all of England’s counties replaced with unitary authorities. England will no longer feature in funding allocations, the UK government will calculate funding on a regional basis but the pot won’t be any bigger.

England will cease to exist in almost every practical sense to the British state. This isn’t an English Devolution Whitepaper, it is a plan for the abolition of England and it must be opposed.