The leaders of the UK’s devolved administrations have written to David Cameron to express their “extreme anger” over the UK coalition’s plans to hold a referendum on changing the electoral system on the same day as next year’s elections to local councils and to the devolved bodies.
A round-up of the week’s politics from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Labour leadership hopeful Ed Miliband has called for Scottish Labour to be allowed to formulate its own policies free from interference from London and attacked David Cameron’s ‘respect’ agenda with the devolved bodies in a visit to Edinburgh yesterday.
In his Budget statement last week, George Osborne set an ambitious goal for October’s comprehensive spending review, namely an average 25 per cent reduction in spending across all Whitehall departments; in light of such stretching targets, are the arts being lined up as an easy hit?
Iain Duncan Smith has called for social tenants to be more prepared to move to find work where none exists where they live. However, nowhere has concern over the plan provoked such negative reaction to the Government’s position than across Scotland and Wales.
SNP plans for a referendum on independence before next year’s elections to the Scottish Parliament are in a state of disarray according to reports in Scotland on Sunday.
Ed Jacobs rounds up the news from around the devolved nations…
Should Sinn Fein MPs be allowed to claim parliamentary expenses, despite the party’s policy of not taking their seats? DUP Deputy Nigel Dodds has previously described Sinn Fein’s ability to claim expenses as “an iniquitous situation”
Cameron’s aimed for a new relationship with the devolved bodies. But the reaction to the Budget of the smaller parties across the nations was largely negative.
With swinging public sector spending cuts on his Budget radar, the Chancellor must be careful with regions like Northern Ireland that are heavily reliant on public expenditure…
