Labour and England’s place within the union

‘Labour’s “Britain” is the England it will not name, and the party fantasises that the nation can be divided out of existence into regions that few want or recognise,’ says Prof John Denham. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Boris Johnson’s Anglocentric British nationalism threatens the union (Editorial, 1 July), but Labour also suppresses debate about England’s place within it. A recent policy review for “Britain” blithely ignored how Labour’s own devolution gave each part of the union separate health, education, local government and transport policies (and, indeed, that a Labour government actually makes those policies for Wales).

Labour’s “Britain” is the England it will not name, and the party fantasises that the nation can be divided out of existence into regions that few want or recognise. Like the Conservatives, Labour wants England governed by the same union state that is fracturing in front of our eyes. The absence of debate about England is of Labour’s making too.
Prof John Denham
Director, Centre for English Identity and Politics, and former Labour cabinet minister

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