The battle over Scotland’s constitutional future stepped up a gear or three this week, with the UK Government declaring that a “legal, fair and decisive” independence referendum can be held only with explicit backing from Westminster. The SNP, unsurprisingly, demurs. A legal referendum? The Scotland Act of 1998 makes plain that the Scottish Parliament...
This week’s rebellion by Conservative backbenchers may have been thwarted, but a referendum on withdrawal from the Union is still likely to take place this Parliament. Not the European Union (though if treaty renegotiation is back on the agenda this cannot be ruled out), but the Union of England and Scotland, which has lasted...
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is in the process of appointing around half a dozen additional special advisers (SpAds). This will apparently take the overall number of SpAds across Whitehall to around 80, above the level at the end of the Labour administration (and not counting other political appointees within the civil service, let...
A novel experiment in democratic participation is under way on the other side of the Channel. Following recent rule changes, the French Socialist Party (PS) has offered all registered voters the chance to vote on the party’s candidate to challenge Nicolas Sarkozy in next year’s presidential poll. The first round of these new primaires...
This Tuesday in Liverpool, a roomful of Labour MPs, councillors and party activists discussed whether the party should introduce primary elections for the selection of candidates for parliament or other posts such as elected mayors. Primary elections have been used in the USA for decades, but until recently political parties in the UK have...
This Monday a pair of senior economists spent two hours defending their professional competence and personal independence to the House of Commons Treasury Committee. Stephen Nickell and Graham Parker are the Chancellor’s proposed candidates to join Chair Robert Chote at the new Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR).