It's time for the Labour Party to decentralise

Gordon Brown's report is anything but bold. It largely omits Wales. It is incoherent, lacking in details and contradictory. Two main failings. First, the report identifies the political dysfunction of the UK State and the democratic deficit which exists between the Nations of Britain. Partly because the report is at pains to assert "Labour Values" which amount to the homogenisation of Britons, it puts the "Primacy" of the House of Commons as the lynchpin of its proposed constitution. If this so-called primacy is retained, in other words that Welsh Sovereignty is exercised by the executive of the House of Commons, NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO ABROGATE THE DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT AND HENCE AMELIORATE THE POLITICAL DYSFUNCTION AT THE HEART OF UK POLITICS. There is nothing bold in saying that you will devolve a few more powers to the Senedd. Second, the report identifies that agglomeration in and around the City of London has made the UK one of the most economically unequal States on Earth. The solution the report comes up with is a classic failed Labour policy - redistribution masquerading as solidarity. REDISTRIBUTION IS A TOPOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF A STRUCTURAL FLAW. IT DOES NOTHING TO ABROGATE THE ECONOMIC INEQUALITY INHERENT IN THE UK ECONO-POLITICAL PARADIGM. There is nothing bold in rehashing a failed policy that already causes resentment in England. Ironically it will only increase the pressure splitting the UK. It does nothing to tackle the causes of poverty in Wales. In addition to this, the report fails to deal with Brexit and the particular relation to Scotland. It conflates Nationalism with National identity, patronises Cymry and Scots with respect to culture and British Identity. It puts a singular Britishness above all, failing to recognise British Plurality. It is paternalistic it its approach to solving the fundemental flaws of the UK Constitution. Quite frankly I find it contemptible. If Welsh Labour come out in favour of this report I will agitate within Plaid Cymru for the party to take an aggressive stance, cease cooperation with Labour and look to emulate the SNP electorally so that we can rid Wales of this disastrous Union. I'm all in favour of pooling power/sovereignty with the consent of the people. The UK is a poverty prison and Labour's proposals only perpetuate this atrocious condition.

Jack, please tell me, if you favour decentralisation within the union over full independence, then exactly which powers do you want to remain centralised in Westminster?

Jack Sargeant's article makes some good points. But what he does not say as important as what he does say.  Don’t forget the context. The English Labour party is in the grip of a bunch of authoritarian centralisers. In spite of Starmer’s “pledge” to decentralise the party, to let local branches have more autonomy, to let them choose good local candidates rather than have central nominees “parachuted” in, he has done the exact opposite. Branch officials and in some cases entire branches which have dared to criticise the leadership have been suspended. Many good local candidates have been prevented even from standing for office through bureaucratic nobbling that has been described as corrupt.  Drakeford has managed to keep Welsh Labour more or less at arm’s length from this fiasco, this brutal purge of party democracy. It is a quietly unsung achievement. But he has also said he plans to retire soon. Will Welsh Labour be allowed to choose its next leader? Or will some heavy-handed Starmeroid clone be parachuted in?  I suspect probably the latter. In that case Welsh Labour will rapidly go the way of Scottish Labour. Voters will switch to Plaid in droves. Another of Drakeford’s achievements has been to tiptoe delicately along the line between arguing for devolved powers while acknowledging that full independence is now back on the political agenda. It has been quite a subtle class act to watch. But Starmer’s rule over the Labour party has been anything but subtle. “Brutal and authoritarian” better describe it. Make no mistake, if he applies the same tactics to Welsh Labour when Drakeford retires, the Welsh electorate will not stand for it. If the clumsy oaf currently occupying Labour’s national leadership acts as his track so far suggests, we could be looking at the death of Welsh Labour. That is the bit that Jack Sargeant does not say out loud.

Indeed UK Labour needs to decentralise and Starmer promised to do it when he was elected Leader - but then did the total opposite. Starmer's Labour is intensely centralised, with Westminster choosing candidates, chucking out members who dont bow n obey, and bullying generally. Regional organisation has been promised for decades so whats new? Drakeford does a great job in a tough position but soon he'sll be replaced - by Starmer's choice. Plaid membership ... No bad thing as currently voting Labour is a major confusion - Drakeford's Welsh Labour YES Starmer hold your nose as not as bad as Tories but.

Its extraordinary to think that almost a quarter of a century since the people of Wales voted for devolution the labour party in wales enjoys no such devolution from the uk labour party hq in london. This staggering not to say insulting state of affairs merely confirms what we already knew, and which was demonstrated once again in gordon brown's so called 'constitutional review' this week, that so far as the uk labour party is concerned the welsh nation is just a 'regional' branch office and it must never be allowed to manage its own affairs (though they are of course more than happy to harvest the votes they need from the people of wales to help them form govts at westminster).

I do admire this mans enthusiasm and support for his party, but they can change where they take orders from, London or Caereydd, and nothing will change for the people of Cymru. Untill they stop being a unionist party, and accept that the union is the problem, calling themselves by whatever name, will change nothing for our country.

Once Labour are returned to power their enthusiasm for further devolution will disappear. Welsh Labour MPs (Bryant, Kinnock etc) will want to keep everything 'England and Wales' for their selfish benefit, the same reasons why they opposed the One Wales Agreement back in the late 2000s. However since Wales will soon have less MPs and more Senedd members, that can only be a good thing.

Labour currently is, and has always been, a British Nationalist party. They attempt to play so many cards and talk about different forms of subsidiarity, but their centralist, Unionist allegiance is part of their core ideology.

So we should become like North and South Korea? That’s exactly what some in England want!