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It's time to End the regional carve-up of England, and we're not the only only ones thinking it.
In his column for The Daily Telegraph, England should be at the table to discuss the future of the Union, Philip Johnston exposes the constitutional farce at the heart of modern British governance. Following the summit in Cardiff where the First Ministers of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland met to coordinate the breakup of the United Kingdom, Johnston points out the glaring absentee: England, the historic nation comprising 84% of the population and the economic engine bankrolling the entire union.
Johnston highlights the indefensible double standard of the current settlement: Celtic nationalism is treated as legitimate civic self-determination, while English identity is derided or ignored by the Westminster political class. Meanwhile, English taxpayers continue to subsidise devolved administrations through the Barnett Formula—giving Scotland and Wales over 20% more funding per head—only to be excluded from talks regarding the future of the state. He rejects Whitehall's agenda of carving England into artificial regional mayoralties, noting that approaching the 1,100th anniversary of English unification under King Æthelstan, England deserves true democratic parity.
The English Democrats View: Sovereignty and Self-Determination for England
The conclusion is inescapable: the asymmetric devolution experiment has failed England. For over two decades, the Westminster establishment has treated England as a mere cash cow, balkanising our country into artificial administrative regions while denying the English people the national voice granted to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
England is an ancient nation, not a collection of regional zones. The English Democrats maintain that what is fair for the Celtic nations is fair for England: an immediate end to the Barnett Formula subsidies that bleed English taxpayers, total rejection of regional division, and the swift establishment of a dedicated, sovereign English Parliament with its own First Minister. If the future of the Union is on the table, England must lead the conversation on its own terms.
