Gordon's guarantee - does he mean us?

Gordon Brown's election launch included "a direct guarantee to every single citizen of Britain" on public services.

Many of these services are run by devolved governments in Scotland and Wales, which may lead you to wonder whether the "direct guarantee to every single citizen of Britain" is worth the paper it wasn't written on.

This is what the PM said outside No 10: "I want to give a direct guarantee to every single citizen of Britain that when you need the police, when you need help with cancer care, when you need your GP at the evenings or at weekends, when you need as a child to have personal tuition in your school, then these public services will be there, directly guaranteed to you as an individual citizen when you need them and accountable to you and your family."

Your GP at evenings and weekends? Personal tuition? These sound like England-only pledges, available only to some of the citizens of Britain. Labour certainly cannot guarantee them in Scotland.

This is the more carefully-worded text version of what he said, from the Labour website: "I pledge this guarantee, a personal guarantee for you - that when you need to get in touch with the police, when you need cancer care, when you need access to a GP in the evenings or at weekends, when you need one to one tuition for your child, our public services will be there guaranteed to you and accountable to you and your family."


We will have to wait for Labour's Welsh manifesto, written by the Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant, to discover how the party squares the circle between what Mr Brown said and what he can actually deliver.

Time to complete devolution?

A quick quiz for you: which senior UK politician delivered this fiercely pro-devolution speech?

"It's time to complete devolution......there is something more vital at stake for your entire society - that only the completion of devolution can deliver.

"How can you, as an Assembly, address common criminality, low-level crime and youth disorder when you are responsible for only some of the lever for change?

"When you have responsibility for education and health and social development but have to rely on Westminster for policing and justice?

"Full devolution is the way to deliver better services, tailored to the needs of all communities, regardless of the politics. Is is the best way for you to serve them. "

You can find the answer here. Somehow I don't think this is a speech the PM will deliver at any Welsh Labour conference sometime soon.

Practice makes perfect

I've spent far more time than is good for me trying to work out how laws are made these days.

Fortunately, help is at hand from the Ministry of Justice, with this helpful flowchart as part of its devolution guidance notes. If it's a little unclear, you can find an online version here.

The new rules for civil servants state that the devolution settlement is being deepened rather than broadened. A cynic might think that the purpose of this new complicated structure is to make the case for a simplified system - full law-making powers - more powerful.

The guide for officials includes advice on "good practice" and "bad practice". Among the top tips, "face-to-face meetings are often useful" and "ask the experts - your colleagues in devolved adminstrations want to work with you".

Going global

At Westminster, the Welsh affairs select committee's inquiry into globalisation continues apace("today the world, tomorrow Wales!") with a current focus on broadcasting.

Up for a grilling today, bigwigs from S4C.

Ceredigion MP Mark Williams was keen to know how large an audience the channel's gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Welsh Assembly had pulled in.

"Fairly low" was the considered response of S4C chair John Walter Jones, prompting one or two uncomradely chortles from MPs on the committee. (Not that programmes from Westminster are exactly ratings winners).

Mr Jones explained that audience size wasn't really the point. "It isn't a question of viewing figures, I think, in terms of broadcasting the National Assembly I think it is a service in terms of democracy in Wales and the growth of devolution as a project in Wales and I think that everyone, including S4C, has a duty at some point in advancing devolution as a concept in Wales."

Mr Williams was happy with that response - "I think we would all agree on that very strongly" - although not all MPs would agree that it is the role of broadcasters to "advance devolution as a concept".

Is one bovvered?

If you want or need to know how much has changed in British politics during the last 10 years then take a look at today's statement by Gordon Brown.

Not only does this break new ground in previewing new laws that are likely to be included in the Queen's Speech this autumn, the priorities he chose demonstrate how power has been devolved under Labour.

So MPs had to listen to a Scottish MP revealing plans for health, education and housing - in England. Scottish schoolchildren, unlike their English counterparts, won't be forced to stay in education or training until the age of 18.

As David Cameron pointed out, none of Mr Brown's constituents will be affected by much of what he said today. The anomaly of a Scottish MP dictating the shape of public services in England while having little say over health and education in his own constituency becomes more stark by the week.

For Wales, see Scotland. Welsh Secretary Peter Hain claimed the statement was "of huge significance" to Wales.

But its significance is unlikely to be felt immediately by parents, students, patients or first-time buyers. Instead, as each law is passed at Westminster so more power in similar areas is likely to be transferred to Cardiff Bay.

The Queen has yet to reveal her views on Mr Brown's decision to trail her speech months before she is due to deliver it at the state opening of Parliament this autumn.

But if Her Majesty was tuned in to BBC Parliament to watch his statement she could be forgiven for deciding there's little point in her turning up to re-announce the programme in November.

Christmas comes early

Christmas has come early for constitutional anoraks. There's enough in Gordon Brown's statement to Parliament and The Governance of Britain green paper to keep policy wonks happy for years.

The new Prime Minister is proposing wide-ranging reforms - but he's already ruled out one idea consistently floated by his opponents since devolution - stopping Welsh and Scottish MPs from voting on English issues at Westminster.

Gordon Brown told MPs: "But while we will listen to all proposals to improve our constitution in the light of devolution, we do not accept the proposal for English votes for English laws, which would create two classes of Members of Parliament—some entitled to vote on all issues, some invited to vote on only some. We will do nothing to put at risk the Union."

Tory leader David Cameron said: ""We already have two classes of MP. Is it not the case that the only effective way to solve that problem is to give MPs in English constituencies the decisive say in the House on issues that affect only England?"

Gordon Brown's solution to the West Lothian question is to create English regional Ministers and regional select committees. Welsh Secretary Peter Hain said in a statement: “The changes in the UK constitution, including regional select committees, would create a closer symmetry with Wales and would dispel any calls from opposition members for an England-only parliament or a two-tier system of MPs.”

There's little chance of the new settlement dispelling calls for an England-only parliament and some would argue we already have two classes of MPs - there are clear limits to the influence of Welsh MPs in their local schools and hospitals.

It will be interesting to see whether the Tories practise the principle they preach. Will Conservative MPs abstain the next time the Welsh Assembly Government makes a request for law-making powers.