The man from the government, he say "Yes".

[cromwell]

The propaganda continues unabated. Tonight BBC Look North is putting on a special debate about devolution. In other words they will be pushing for the version of devolution wanted by the Labour party. That bloody oaf Gervais Phinn is going to be on, leading the charge.
I'm not going to watch. There is only so much massively dishonest garbage you can watch, and I don't have a brick-proof telly.

It comes down to this; we are going to have power devolved to the regions, whether people want it or not. And as WM has pointed out "impartial" polls led by people like the BBC (stands for Bring Back Communism) are not impartial, they are propaganda.

[Aggers]

What the hell is wrong with people today?

What's happened to the old concept of "United we stand, divided we fall"?

To me, this all sounds like youngsters in a school playground.

This country is being ruined by incompetent politicians.

Democracy is turning out to be a complete farce.

We deserve something better.

[Suff]

We deserve something better.

Yes but the only tool to do that is the ballot box. It is both very subtle and also a sledgehammer poised over a very small walnut. Until the people of the UK learn how to use it, then we will get exactly what we deserve.

A vote is a tool. It is not a package sticker for one or another party. It is a tool to bring balance and representation into the state of the nation. People need to learn that they have to vote for change and to vote for things they may not like in order to achieve that change.

A single vote is not forever. No matter what the politicians may blather about. Even a referendum, for independence or EU exit is not forever. It does not preclude the government of the day (whether 5, 10 or 100 years from now), choosing to overrule that vote.

We do deserve better. But the only people who can make it better are the voting public.

IF they ever learn that, we might actually see something good come from it....

[Workingman]

Last night every BBC region had a special programme regarding, how can I say it, devolution. I did not bother with the Look North version as I saw the "trailer" on its evening programme and it was obvious which way the agenda driven argument was going. Today the website asks "Boris everywhere?" and the accompanying article lays out the positives whilst minimising the negatives.

We are being driven by the BBC to think one way about English devolution and what form it should take. If you take the bait it is regional assemblies and elected mayors for the major city regions, despite the fact that both forms have been rejected in referendums.

The 'get out' for the imposition of elected mayors is that they are now for wider regions rather than the original individual cities, so they are different. The goalposts have been moved.