EASTWOOD MP Allan Stewart demonstrated that the best defence is a good
offence last night, in a vigorous attack on Labour's devolution plans
before Tory loyalists in the heart of Mr Tony Blair's English
constituency.
Mr Stewart, who resigned on Tuesday after an incident with motorway
protesters, confounded expectations by keeping a long-standing
engagement to address the Conservative branch in Sedgefield, County
Durham.
He even managed to make light of his sudden departure from Government.
He told them he had been worried that Sedgefield's Conservatives might
not have heard of him. ''I asked myself if there was anything I could do
to get my public profile up? I hope you agree I have succeeded in doing
that.''
He had come to England to take on Labour and the party's proposals for
constitutional reform. That he chose to do so in Mr Blair's safe
constituency was, he admitted, a bit of mischief. Devolution for
Scotland, Wales, and England is a ''con trick'', he said, based on
political opportunism. Labour has not thought out its plans or solved
fundamental problems, such as the West Lothian question.
''Why should England have 72 Scottish MPs voting on laws about schools
in Sedgefield but not St Andrews; 72 Scottish MPs deciding on housing
for Durham but not Dundee?'' he said.
He told the audience of about 50 mostly elderly Tory supporters that
Labour has not thought through its proposals. ''They do not derive from
genuine belief but from political opportunism. They are unworkable.''
He added: ''They are offering people in England wholly undefined
assemblies that people simply do not want. Frankly, these proposals have
all the appearance of being written on the back of an exceedingly small
envelope.''
In an open letter to Mr Stewart published yesterday, the cross party
Campaign for a Northern Assembly challenged him to explain why quangoes
and civil servants running services in the North-east should not be
subject to democratic control.
The letter asked: ''Do you believe that your party, with its
percentage share of the vote in the northern region at the last General
Election, legitimately represents the views of the northern
electorate?''
More than 50% of the region's electorate voted Labour in the last
General Election.
Councillor Eric Roberts, chairman of the Sedgefield Conservative
Constituency Association, said: ''If people are talking about the
Government's performance in this region then devolution would be bottom
of the list. We just don't see it happening.''
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article