MEANWHILE OVER THE BRIDGE...

Interestingly enough, while Labour has problems with devolution in Wales, it is beginning to look like this is not the case over the bridge. In England, Labour has promised English cities more powers over transport, housing and employment to help close the "productivity gap" with London. If elected at the next Westminster General election, the Labour Party has pledged to hand £20 billion pounds to councils to spend on skills, back-to-work schemes and infrastructure, so says current Labour leader Ed Miliband. Ed has suggested that the Con Dem government has missed opportunities to give English towns and cities the economic levers they needed to generate new jobs. This announcement followed a review by the former Transport Secretary Lord Adonis, a future Labour government would invite every local authority, local enterprise partnership and university (in England) to work together in partnership with local businesses to bid for resources. Apparently the doubling of existing devolved funding would amount to the "biggest devolution of powers to towns and cities in a hundred years." Perhaps the party formerly known as New Labour is finally beginning to speak for England. 

MAKE YOUR MIND UP TIME?

The New Labour machine always used to impress people because of its in truth over hyped efficiency - I suspect that fewer and fewer people are impressed as time progresses and the slow motion car crash that involves the final demise of this New Labour Government. In Scotland, New Labour's Douglas Alexander has said that he could not envisage circumstances in which Labour would enter an agreement with the SNP. Meanwhile in Wales, Welsh Secretary, Peter Hain, has said that he would expect Plaid Cymru to back a potential Labour and Liberal  Democrat coalition. So much for the same hymn sheet....