The Labour leader was in east Lancashire on Thursday trying to chalk up a few of those four million conversations he has promised to have with voters before the general election.
After being harangued by a worker at BAE systems over Britain’s EU membership, Ed Miliband moved on to Nelson and Colne college in Pendle for one of his weekly People’s Question Time sessions.
He was on sprightly form, explaining to two young eurosceptics why a) the NHS would collapse without immigrants rather because of them and b) how Britain can only tackle the big issues of the day, namely global climate change and international terrorism, by being a member of the EU.
But he was also asked what he would do to devolve powers to the English regions, following the promises made to Scotland during the referendum campaign.
“We are far too centralised a country,” said Miliband. “Devolution is a good idea, not just for Scotland and Wales but England as well. We’ve got to bring power closer to people.”
He said he did not agree with the idea of creating “a new rung of governance” via the creation of regional assemblies. What he wants to see is powers devolved to city regions, allowing them to take control of transport, economic development, skills and employment services. In other words: the Greater Manchester model, struck between local Labour leaders and the Tory high command. “You’d be much better off doing these things locally with local councils that actually know what’s going on,” said Milliband.
He ended with a bold pledge that we will have to keep reminding him of it, if he gets the keys to number 10:
“We are going to reverse the centralisation that we see in this country. It’s an absolute commitment.”
Miliband’s promise came the same day one of the UK’s most influential business leaders insisted devolution in all regions of the UK should be “a major priority for whoever forms the next government”.
In a speech in Manchester hosted by the IPPR North thinktank, John Cridland, director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said: “If we can get the UK’s regions and nations firing on all cylinders, the prize could be enormous.”
In Cridland’s view, bringing underperforming regions into line with the average UK growth rate could contribute £56bn to our economy. “Not an insignificant sum given our £90bn fiscal deficit,” he noted.
But he urged caution, saying CBI members were concerned that “any devolution of powers must be done in a careful, considered and transparent manner – not through rushed backroom deals between politicians and civil servants.” Can’t think who he might mean here… *cough* Sirs Howard Bernstein and Richard Leese and George Osborne.
Like Osborne, who made Greater Manchester reluctantly agree to having an elected mayor as part of its much lauded devo-deal, Cridland said “a clear demonstration of leadership” should be a condition of devolution. He did not say it had to be a mayor, though: “This could be local leaders working with their neighbours through structures like combined authorities. Or members of devolved legislatures promoting pro-growth policies.”
It was cheering to hear him demand a a clear commitment to minimise bureaucracy and complexity. I still find it difficult to understand the various growth deals, city deals and community budgets that have been negotiated in the last parliament. Some of them sound terrific until you realise they are largely based on meaningless spraff and do not go close to putting back into a city the money central government has taken out in cuts.
Labour needs to make clearer exactly how it proposes to devolve power and how far it is prepared to go. Greater Manchester, ambitious as always, wants full control of its £22bn annual budget. Is that a fairy tale, Miliband?
Whenever he is asked about the detail, he refers to this “constitutional convention” someone is beavering away on back at Labour party HQ. They need to get a wriggle on. The Tories have already framed the debate as their own with their Northern powerhouse rhetoric and their (politically convenient) insistence that Scottish MPs should not be able to vote on English-only issues. Let’s see what Labour says about devolution in their election manifesto next month.
