St George is on the move...

Or, at least, his day is, if the Church has its way:

St George's Day is April 23, next Saturday. But next Saturday is Holy Saturday, a day of suspense between Good Friday and the great feast of Easter. So the Church of England has moved the saint's day to Monday May 2, as has the Catholic Church in England. The trouble is that most people are taking no notice.


It has happened before. In 1943, April 23 was Good Friday, and, with the support of the Archbishop of Canterbury, St George's Day was transferred to May 3. But it didn't seem the same.

It's a difficult one. Most people, if they celebrate his day, do so in a secular fashion... but technically it is, obviously, a religious festival and technically the Church should then have first call on when it officially occurs.

No. We are *not* "all entitled".

I had actually forgotten about this article on regional disparities which has been festering in my drafts for nearly a month now.

Some noteworthy statistics first of all:

1. Average GDP per head in central London is more than nine times larger than in parts of Wales.
2. The ratio of GDP per head in the three richest regions of the UK to the three poorest increased by almost a tenth between 1990 and 2009.
3. Real GDP per head fell by 6% during 2007-09 in poorer areas, such as Yorkshire, the Midlands and Northern Ireland, twice as much as in London.
4. According to the Centre for Cities, a think-tank, welfare benefits account for 28% of residents’ total income in Liverpool, compared with 14% in London.
5. Almost 40% of Liverpool’s jobs are in the public sector, compared with 22% in London.


Several caveats should be read along with that data above:

1. Central London’s income per head is increased by commuters who work in the city but do not live there.
2. The cost of living is cheaper in rural parts than in big cities, which also has the effect of exaggerating inequality.
3. Urban areas will always be wealthier than rural ones because of their higher productivity and their greater ability to attract companies and employees.


Still amongst the OECD countries looked at by the Economist, the UK has the widest regional disparity present in a whole range of factors.

That reality has detrimental effects on both national cohesiveness and, more concretely, the economic life of the UK but finding solutions is obviously a bit more troublesome than baldly stating the problem and should move beyond what was howled out by an activist at recent Labour shadow cabinet public meeting in Nottingham:

"We are entitled. We are all entitled, we live in a modern country."

Before concrete answers are looked at though, several facts needed to be accepted by all who have a genuine wish to see a long-term, structural improvement in such areas:

1. Cities in the north of England, N.Ireland, Scotland and Wales are too much dependent on public-sector jobs and welfare benefits.
2. Labour markets (and by extension people) must be more flexible, moving if needs be in search of work. Logically this should ultimately reduce the labour supply in areas of high unemployment.
3. Education and skills must be improved in poorer areas- one horrific fact mentioned is that only 21% of working-age people in Sunderland, have any form of higher education, compared with 39% of Londoners.

In all three cases, when admitting those facts, there is common a degree of personal responsibility which must be accepted by those who wish to see their area's and their own prospects improve. Money will also clearly be needed but it should never be the driving factor, if we are to see real and lasting change.

But while we all remain "entitled", what chance is there of that real and lasting change taking place?

Never mind the quality, feeeel the cheapness.

One of the basic fundaments of UK politics is that parties don’t expect us to take anything contained or promised in their manifestos too literally but still, this proclamation from "Lynn of Co Antrim" does fall down on two crucial points:

“My DUP has delivered free prescriptions for everyone in Northern Ireland, the most generous scheme in the UK”

First, whose idea was the free prescription”?
Under the aegis of whose “ministry” was it introduced?

Secondly, both Wales since 2007 and Scotland (admittedly the day after Lyn of Antrim made her claim) since this year have also offered free prescriptions, so it’s not strictly accurate to call it the "most generous” scheme in the UK.

Incidently, I hope Lynn does indeed come from Antrim and not somewhere like Little Muck, Arizona....  the DUP did have one or two problems on that score before.

But as I said, no one reads manifestos, never mind believes the nonsense inside them. More important is how, as touched on by Owen Polley here, we look to improve upon the delivery of our health service and (management, trade-unionists and bureaucrats hold your breath now) ultimately “empower” patients and doctors (ie provide better healthcare, more efficiently)

In England, as the CEP have been quick to remind us this week, prescriptions have gone up from 7.20 pounds a week to 7.40.

On bare facts, devolution has, once again, delivered an unfair state of affairs.

However, despite those discrepancies in prescription prices:

Historically Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have had higher levels of NHS funding per capita thanEngland. The research confirms this but shows other striking and troubling differences between the four nations, some accentuated since devolution.

In particular, these were higher numbers of doctors, nurses and managers per head of population, lower crude productivity per staff member (particularly in Scotland), and a higher percentage of the population waiting for care in Wales and Northern Ireland than in England.

The analysis presented in this report suggests that England’s NHS spends less and has fewer staff per capita than the health services in the devolved countries, but that it makes better use of its resources with respect to delivering higher levels of activity and productivity and lower waiting times. Comparing the devolved nations with regions of England that are similar on a range of health and socio-economic indicators, the differences highlighted in the analysis are even more pronounced.

I posted that finding from the Nuttfield Trust just over a month ago.

So, English patients do pay prescription fees but also receive a better quality service than that “enjoyed” (or make that “endured”) by their fellow Brits in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Why?

Well, in my opinion, prescription prices, like University Tuition fees, have become the Devocracy’s populist rallying call in the hope that the short-term dust the debate throws up blinds the electorate to the fact that in both areas nasty truths have only been temporarily postponed.

Actually, it’s only one nasty core truth- society is not prepared to pay the extra money needed, or make the sacrifices required (eg unemployment resulting from streamlining the NHS or less students attending university) to deliver the kind of high-quality health service or third level education system they demand.

The Devocrats in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales know that fact and as a consequence have taken the coward’s way out:

“You get a worse health service than the English and it’s getting worse but hey, we don’t charge you prescription charges"

or:

“The quality delivered by our universities is going down the pan but sure, if we don’t charge you to attend them in the first place who cares?”

In the ideal world (ie around about one generation ago) we could get away with free (OK, that was always a misnomer because somewhere down the line someone did have to pay) university education and prescriptions. We’d all also be 100% happy with the service offered by the health service and third-level educational institutes.
But both demographically and economically, we most certainly don’t live in that ideal world.

 I don’t want to pay for my prescriptions and in the far-off future, I don’t want to have my offspring paying to attend university. But I also demand better than adequate healthcare and high-quality third-level education- how do the devocrats in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh propose to square that circle?
Shush- I think I can just about hear the pitter-patter of a tactical retreat.

Ethnicity is "broadly equivalent, only differing" in Scotland and England

More Census ethnicity nonsense (thanks to JD!).

To ask Her Majesty's Government why the 2011 census question on ethnic group in England and Wales had five options for "White" when the Scottish version had nine options which included Polish, and has a different wording for Gypsy or Irish Traveller which excludes the word "Irish"; and how overall United Kingdom figures will be calculated and displayed given those differences.[HL7713]

A  very good question, not very adequately answered:

In England and Wales the form and content of the ethnicity questions have resulted from extensive consultation with users and other key stakeholders as part of a formal consultation exercise on census topics....blah, blah, blah.

Whereas:

In Scotland, a wide-ranging review of the way that ethnicity was classified was undertaken following the 2001 census, to ensure the development of a classification for use in Scottish surveys that reflected modern circumstances, met users' information needs and had broad community support... blah, blah, blah

So, to summarise: in both cases, extensive research into the issue was apparently done.

The "White" categories are broadly equivalent, only differing, in Scotland, in the addition of a "Polish" category-where this group form a significantly larger proportion of the ethnic minority population than in England and Wales, justifying a separate tick box-and a separate category for "Scottish" to provide consistency with the 2001 question. The omission of "Irish" from the title of the new "Gypsy/Traveller" group reflected particular sensitivities to the wording of this category in Scotland.

So, to summarise: whereas it is possible to define yourself as a "white Pole" in Scotland you are simply, I guess, "white" in England because there is proportionally less of you there.
You also may not be an Irish Traveller in Scotland as the word "Irish" is more sensitive north of Hadrian's Wall than in England. Have I got it right?
 
For the Census to have any meaningful value whatsover, shouldn't there be a "consistency" between the different parts of the UK as well as with the previous local versions?

John Redwood no longer British? No longer a Unionist?

John Redwood, talking about completing the census form, is an extremely grumpy man this morning and with good reason.

However, this sentence puzzled me:

On the Census form they forced me to decide was I British or English? I always used to think of myself as both.

Now, I haven't seen the final English/Welsh census form but the draft that I did look at put the question thus:

How would you describe your national identity?
You can choose more than one

If he no longer feels British then fair enough, he should come out and admit it but, as far as I'm aware, the form isn't forcing him to make that choice.

He does make valid several points (and several not so valid ones, e.g. it would be over my dead body that I'd permit either Labour's devolution experiment or Salmond to remove my British identity) but it is not clear whether he still considers himself a UK Unionist.

Again, he should come out and clarify where exactly he now stands on the Union.

Blatter talking once again with forked tongue?

Is there anyone left who takes what this old fraud says seriously anymore?

Fifa boss Sepp Blatter says the Celtic nations' international status would not be affected by their players' turning out for a Great Britain Olympic team.

The British Olympic Association hopes Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will join England in fielding a team in the 2012 London Games.

But each of the Celtic nations has expressed fears that doing so could harm their independence in the game.

But Blatter said: "It's very clear. If they play, there is no sanction."

The FA clearly don't.

The UK expects that every man will do the skive his duty.

From the BBC:

Plans to scrap the May Day bank holiday in favour of either a St George's Day in April or Trafalgar Day in October have been outlined by the government.

Ministers argue the former strategy would start the tourist season earlier, while the latter would elongate it.

The Trades Union Congress rejected a May Day change, saying firms have built schedules around established holidays.
Meanwhile, widely discussed plans to bring UK clocks into line with Europe's were not included in the strategy.

It's not clear whether the St George's Day holiday would apply throughout the United Kingdom; since it would be replacing May 1st which is a day off UK-wide, then I guess the answer is yes.

Leaving patron saints aside for the moment, the more sensible option would be a Trafalgar Day break I think- springtime with both Easter and the later May bank holiday is top-heavy and one extra day at that time isn't going to affect the tourist season one way or the other. October fitting in between the summer and the start of the Christmas slog would fit in nicely.

Celebrating Trafalgar would also fit much more nicely with grassroots Conservative euro-scepticism than the present International Lefty Day...

Overcharge the goose and the golden egg will be laid elsewhere...

From the Scotsman:

"We could end up in a situation where it makes no sense for English students to keep coming to Scotland in the same numbers they do now."

...a prospect which is delighting at least one of the cybernat xenophobes:

Good, allowing Scots to be educated in our universities in greater numbers.

Currently some Scottish Universities have less than 50% Scottish students.

The argument the SNP are putting is slightly more nuanced than that of such monoculturalist supporters. It's not that they don't want outsiders in Scottish universities; in fact the fines fees they would be expected to pay for being English/N.Irish/Welsh are essential for the financial well-being of the Scottish system:

"...striking and troubling differences between the four nations, some accentuated since devolution."

The Nuttfield Trust have published a report (pdf) on the UK's balkanised health service:

Historically Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have had higher levels of NHS funding per capita thanEngland. The research confirms this but shows other striking and troubling differences between the four nations, some accentuated since devolution.

In particular, these were higher numbers of doctors, nurses and managers per head of population, lower crude productivity per staff member (particularly in Scotland), and a higher percentage of the population waiting for care in Wales and Northern Ireland than in England.

The analysis presented in this report suggests that England’s NHS spends less and has fewer staff per capita than the health services in the devolved countries, but that it makes better use of its resources with respect to delivering higher levels of activity and productivity and lower waiting times. Comparing the devolved nations with regions of England that are similar on a range of health and socio-economic indicators, the differences highlighted in the analysis are even more pronounced.

Well done Devolution.

Searchlight, The Guardian, Cruddas see the problem, but struggle for a solution?

From yesterday's Guardian:

Huge numbers of Britons would support an anti-immigration English nationalist party if it was not associated with violence and fascist imagery, according to the largest survey into identity and extremism conducted in the UK.

A Populus poll found that 48% of the population would consider supporting a new anti-immigration party committed to challenging Islamist extremism, and would support policies to make it statutory for all public buildings to fly the flag of St George or the union flag.
Anti-racism campaigners said the findings suggested Britain's mainstream parties were losing touch with public opinion on issues of identity and race

That first sentence should probably read "Huge numbers of English would support an anti-immigration English nationalist party..." but apart from that, "anti-immigration", "challenging Islamist extremism" and "statutory" flying the flag- I'm not sure that outlook can be described as "far-right" unless you'd also describe the views held by a large proportion of the Conservative (and Labour Party for that matter) as also fascist. Also the removal of violence and "fascist imagery" ( I do hope Searchlight are not referring to the national flag here) are set as a pre-condition for the support of such a party, which must be at least an optimistic sign surely? Whether it's Searchlight's intention or not, it comes across to me as if they would rather the violence and fascist imagery remained rather than have such a democratic party, along the lines of those seen in mainland western Europe, emerging into the electoral system.

Cornish pasty saved by Eurocrats!

Not so much "saved", more "protected" but following in the footsteps of the Lough Neagh Eel, Rutland Bitter and the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie:

The Cornish pasty has become a protected food following a long campaign to prevent it being copied by imitators.

Only pasties prepared in Cornwall and following the traditional recipe can now be described as Cornish after the European commission awarded the dish "protected geographical indication" (PGI) status. Authentic pasties can still be finally baked elsewhere in Britain.

Campaigners celebrated the decision, saying it was important for the local economy – thousands of jobs are involved in the pasty industry – as well as for consumers.

Alan Adler, chairman of the Cornish Pasty Association, said: "By guaranteeing the quality of the Cornish pasty, we are helping to protect our British food legacy.

The association said a genuine Cornish pasty had a distinctive "D" shape and was crimped on one side, never on top.

Like this?

I'll have some of that (with a bottle of Rutland, if I can find it):

The texture of the filling is chunky, made up of uncooked minced or roughly cut chunks of beef (not less than 12.5%), swede, potato, and onion with a light seasoning. The pastry casing is golden in colour, savoury, glazed with milk or egg and robust enough to retain its shape throughout the cooking and cooling process without splitting or cracking. The pasty is slow-baked and no artificial flavourings or additives must be used."

Hain hits too convenient a target

Far be it for me to accuse Peter Hain of being economical with the truth:

Wales will lose three times the proportion of MPs as the average for the rest of the United Kingdom – a reduction in Wales’s voice in Parliament of fully a quarter from 40 to 30. Wales – a nation with just 5 per cent of the population of the UK – is contributing 20 per cent of the cut in MPs.

… but there is one salient fact that he has forgotten to mention there; post the change (if it happens) Wales, with “just” 5% of the UK’s population will have… 5% of the total number of the UK’s MPs, which seems fair enough to me.

One other relevant fact is that we now have 300 (yes, that’s right 300!) other directly elected full-time parliamentarians in the Scottish Parliament, the European Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, the Greater London Authority and the Northern Ireland Assembly. If anything we should also be organising a cull (humane, of course) of some of that lot- for example, Northern Ireland, population 1.7 million reallly needs 108 MLAs to *ahem* operate as efficiently as it presently does? I think not.

PJ Harvey- the Last Living Rose

PJ Harvey, in her latest album seems to be following the Billy Bragg Progressive Patriotism Path:

The lyrics are also worth a read:

Goddamn Europeans!
Take me back to beautiful England
And the grey damp filthiness of ages
And battered books

And fog rolling down behind the mountains
On the graveyards and dead sea-captains.
Let me walk through the stinking alleys
To the music of drunken beatings

Past the thames river glistening
Like gold hastily sold
For nothing... nothing.

Let me watch night fall on the river
The moon rise up and turn to silver
The sky move
The ocean shimmer
The hedge shake

The last living rose quiver.

If you all hate Colin Moynihan, Sepp Blatter, Lord Coe...clap your hands

A recurring topic which simply won't do the honourable thing and disappear:

THE Scottish Football Association hopes that any Scot selected for Team GB at the London Olympics in 2012 will declare himself unavailable for the sake of the country.

But the governing body knows it will essentially be powerless to prevent anyone participating in the event should they be inclined to accept the invitation.

There are 525 days until London 2012 kicks off. Make that 523 if you are talking about the Olympic football competition, which will begin with a women’s match at Hampden Park two days before the opening ceremony itself. Yet still the issue of British involvement in the football event remains chaotic.

This is the basic story to date.

The latest Slugger post.

I have a post up on Slugger O'Toole about Ian Paisley Jr's speech during the debate on the Legislation (Territorial Extent) Bill this week. He wasn't too happy at the possibility of too much devolution (for England that is!) and asked his "Conservative friends" to prevent the English becoming "bad Unionists"! Vintage Ian Jr in other words.

The debate has been covered elsewhere; here, here and here.

Wot? No Northern Irish Conservatives?

It seems Baroness Warsi's proclamation hasn't quite had the desired effect yet... More seriously, you don't have to be English to be disturbed by the proposed forest sell-off. You also don't need to be English to complain to your MP about it or sign this petition.

I'll leave it up to your own discretion whether or not you also mention that English parliament;)

PJ Harvey- the Last Living Rose

PJ Harvey, in her latest album seems to be treading along the Billy Bragg Progressive Patriotism Path :

The lyrics are also well-worth a read:

Goddamn' Europeans!
Take me back to beautiful England
& the grey, damp filthiness of ages,
fog rolling down behind the mountains,
& on the graveyards, and dead sea-captains.

Let me walk through the stinking alleys
to the music of drunken beatings,
past the Thames River, glistening like gold
hastily sold for nothing.

Let me watch night fall on the river,
the moon rise up and turn to silver,
the sky move,
the ocean shimmer,
the hedge shake,
the last living rose quiver

Quote of the day

Mark Devonport on the continuing Devolved Tuition Fees Scandal:

Not so long ago David Cameron was declaring his "passionate" unionism and the need to end Northern Ireland's "semi-detached" status. But the contrasting policies on fees being considered by the various UK administrations look set to treat UK citizens in radically different ways if they seek to be educated in a different UK region from the one where they were born.

"Everyone at Welsh Labour is proud of the fact that we are operating a political operation totally impervious to the skills of the US diplomatic corps."

That, from a Welsh Labour spokesman, has got to be one of the best responses to an embarrassing Wikileak. The poetic comedian continues:

"If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find us, maybe you can hire… Welsh Labour."

Not so sure his/her HQ will be so pleased with that line... but anyway, this particular cable does present a few more interesting titbits and chuckles than the previous SNP and Paisley ones.

For example, I'm shocked to learn that one of my very favourite political  characters, Peter Hain is indeed revealed to be a "bit of knob" and furthermore that devolution is "weak and troubled in Wales".


Also this:

Elliott and Foster, the Border outlaws!

So, the connection between:

1. Fermanagh’s Unionist luminaries, Tom Elliott and Arlene Foster
2. Legendary Workington ("Pride of all Cooombreia") 90s rugby league player, Buck Armstrong
3. King James 1?

Answer below the fold…