Andy Burnham’s advocacy of devolution brings the problem of England back into the political limelight. It is not new, but there has never been a good answer to it, and regional mayors are simply another attempt to solve a potentially insoluble problem. It is that England is too big.
England contains 85% of the population of the United Kingdom. This has risen since the time of Arthur Balfour (1848-1930), when it was just under 75%. Nonetheless, he made a point in relation to Home Rule for Ireland that remains essential today. Balfour set out his concerns in a speech made in Aberdeen in 1913, when he called Home Rule an “experiment in federalism of the most impossible, unexampled, and preposterous character”. This was because federalism depended, as it still does, on some level of proportionality between the members. If one part overwhelmingly overshadows the others, it cannot work.
This is why we have Parliaments or assemblies for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, but not for England. It would dwarf the other bodies in its size, the population it represents, and its wealth. The First Minister of England would be the true prime minister, as his power would, in reality, become greater than that of the nominal prime minister. Thus, to make federalism work, England would have to be divided up into regions that would be at least proportionate to the devolved authorities.
That, however, would be outrageous. How can a federal system be fair when three areas are allowed to retain their historic characters as unified nations, but England cannot? The biggest country would have to be chopped up to accommodate the smaller ones, which was and is simply unfair to the English and deeply undemocratic.
Yet this is the effect of what Burnham seeks to do. It is clear that a new government led by him would look to advance the steps taken by George Osborne, which created regional devolved authorities covering made-up areas. They have no geographic logic, no historic unity, and no democratic mandate.
With the exception of the Greater London Authority, whenever a vote has been allowed via a referendum on these structures, they have been defeated. They have been dreamt up by bureaucrats for the convenience of officialdom, not for the benefit of residents.
