A Partnership of Equals? Only with Scotland it seems.

The Wasting Mule reports that former UK Prime Minister  Gordon Brown has proposed the UK should become a “partnership of equals” to save the union. Though there seems to be no mention  of Wales Northern Ireland or Cornwall

The former prime minister yesterday gave a speech proposing six changes to transform the “unitary and centralised” system in the UK.

He called for a new UK constitutional law to set out the purpose of the UK as being to pool and share resources for the defence, security and well-being of all four nations.

• A new UK constitutional law to set out the purpose of the UK as pooling and sharing resources for the defence, security and well-being of the citizens of all four nations. 
• A constitutional guarantee of the permanence of the Scottish Parliament.
• A new division of powers between Scotland and Westminster that gives Holyrood more powers in employment, health, transport and economic regeneration.
• A new tax sharing agreement that balances the commitment of the UK to pool and share its resources with the need for accountability to the electors in all the places where money is spent.
• New power-sharing partnerships to address shared problems on poverty, unemployment, housing need and the environment. 
• A “radical” transfer of powers downwards from Westminster and Edinburgh to local communities.

And he suggested that the Scottish Parliament should raise about 40% of the cash it spends and said giving Holyrood more powers over income tax was the best way to achieve this.

Now you could argue that as a Scottish Politician  he rightly address himself to the current Independence debate

But he is  a former UK Prime Minister if he was serious about "a Partnership of equals " he would be addressing what this means to the rest of the UK.

It seems a case of the "Squeaky wheel gets the oil" and if we are being ignored its because we don,t call for more powers loud enough. 




We seem content to set up commissions which come up with proposals that only slightly move Wales forward and are still largely ignored by both the UK government in Westminster or put on the back burner by our sleepy assembly government.

 Let us be honest if Wales is not included in  a "Partnership of equals"  then the fault lies here .

We can't expect the likes of Gordon Brown who in his tenure as Chancelor of the Exchequer  and Prime Minister  1997 -2010 didn't seem to have promoted this, applying  this "Partnership" only to Scotland.and the rest of the UK

If there was no Independence referendum He and the rest of the Unionist would be still supporting what is by his own reckoning a unequal partnership.