Regional Government is Far Advanced
Already the Government has quietly established regional assemblies - unelected as yet, because the public rejected the attempt to have them elected, as a prelude to accumulating even more power. They are supported by regional Government Offices, running the local operations of the main Whitehall ministries, and regional Development Agencies. These regions just happen to coincide with the regions defined by the EU as part of its "Europe of the Regions" agenda. Regional government has been set up with almost no public debate, and certainly without public support.
The ambulance service has already been regionalised, on the same lines, and the police service was to have followed, until the massive extra costs this would have involved became apparent even to this Government. The next step was to have these police forces become part of the Europe-wide Europol force, answerable to Brussels. Policing with local accountability is on the way out. The Government has temporarily abandoned these plans, but they will revive them when the time is right. The EU never gives up.
The Huge New Regions
Regions are remote from the people and too big to be effectively subject to local democratic control. Nine million people live in the South East Region, which stretches from Milton Keynes to Margate, taking in New Milton on the way. What does such a huge region have in common? Counties have existed for hundreds of years, and are an established and natural focus of local identity.
County Councils have lost powers over planning
Planning, the first of the powers to be transferred from counties to the regions, is the one subject above all which should be decided locally. How can these massive regions take account of local housing, transport and planning needs in each county? It's bad enough having the Government dictate how many houses must be built, but it is much worse now that the allocation of those houses within Government targets is decided so far away from the localities affected. New developments - sprawling housing estates, new housing on greenfield sites, and new roads - could appear anywhere, irrespective of local wishes.
Other county powers will inevitably follow planning, and it seems likely that eventually county councils will be abolished.
The South East Region makes no economic sense for planning purposes. Most of the South East is dominated by London, but London is not part of the region. Regional government is a wholly unnecessary level of government - county councils are perfectly capable of co-operating where there is a need.
Regional Government will be Costly
Regional assemblies, regional government offices, and regional development authorities are all taking decisions and spending huge sums of your money without your knowledge. The Government's own plans estimate the costs at £300 million for administration alone. And who will pay for this? You've guessed it. In launching the scheme, John Prescott admitted that the regional assemblies will have powers to introduce new taxes to fund their bureaucracies.
The EU Dimension - Undermining the Nation State
Many key steps in setting up this unnecessary extra layer of bureaucracy have been taken under EU pressure. Though not originating from the EU, regional government has been enthusiastically adopted by Brussels because it increases their power - encouraging local institutions to deal directly with the EU and bypass their own national governments. Regional councillors can get their hands on cash from Brussels for local projects and are naturally keen to do so. This can be obtained only if regions deal directly with the EU. Each region now has an office in Brussels for this purpose. The funding so generously provided by Brussels for this purpose comes from the British contribution to the EU budget.
Moreover, the EU funding rules for these grants say that the only projects which can be financed are those which would not otherwise have been supported by public money - ie those which our own elected Government regards as low priority. They give us back our own money and tell us to use it on things we don't really need.
We will Leave the European Union - when we see it for what it is.
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