Devolution

It's a historical fact that Scotland, and in some lesser respects Wales, has always been a little different to England. For example, ever since the Act of Union Scotland has retained its unique legal system and its own cultural distinction. However, under this Labour government the hideous idea of devolution has accelerated and this has proved to be a huge blow for the strength of the United Kingdom of Great Britian and Northern Ireland. In that sense, I object to devolution and Scottish and Welsh legislatures on a patriotic and sentimental ground.

However, as a conservative, I am more ideologically opposed to devolution. It's nothing more than an extra layer of bureaucracy . I believe in small government. Devolution is the antithesis to that sacred conservative belief. As such, I believe that the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly should be scrapped - the people of those nations are not different to the English; they are as British as someone from the Home Counties (to use a stereotype) and they should be governed by the British legislature - the Westminster Parliament.

Since the Euro elections are today, we have seen huge debates about whether or not we should be in Europe. The argument spouted by the Eurosceptics is that giving more power to the EU is a loss of parliamentary sovereignty and is undermining the British sense of identity. Why then, do many conservatives support the present system in the UK of multilayered, wasteful, inefficient government? It's sheer hypocrisy from conservatives and the whole issue needs to be confronted by the main representative body of UK conservatives - the Conservative Party. However, I predict they will bow to pressure for keeping the status quo.