Yes to England

The English Standard (23rd April, 2017) reports on David Cameron's volte-face:

ENGLISH Conservative leader David Cameron conceded yesterday he was “wrong” when leading the 2013 campaign against establishing the English National Assembly.

Mr Cameron led the Just Say No campaign in the last referendum but is now backing the ‘Yes’ vote in Thursday’s poll to extend England's devolved powers.

The prospective First Minister told an event hosted by Yes for England that his fears about what devolution would mean for the UK had proved unfounded and he had deep regrets about his "I do not want to be the prime minister of England" statement of 2008 that has haunted him during the campaign.

He said: “It is a long while ago, the nation has moved on a long way, politics has moved on a long way and we now have an Assembly, and I think everybody in England, virtually, would accept that the main show in town is to make sure the Assembly works effectively and delivers for the people of England.

“Back in 2013, I was concerned that the Assembly would be divisive, would be used as a means of perhaps fragmenting the Union long-term.

“I was wrong then. It’s fairly clear that opinion in favour of independence has remained absolutely static as it has for 30 or 40 years poll after poll after poll, and the evidence on the doorsteps is people don’t want independence.”

People wanted the ability to run their own affairs regardless of their political beliefs, claimed Mr Cameron.

“It is no surprise that I don’t agree with a lot of what the Assembly Government has done – I don’t agree with most of it – but I do think it’s important that England should have the ability to decide on domestic issues in England,” he said. “Therefore I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the Assembly that wouldn’t be put right by a change in government.

“So it is my strong belief that we do need these additional powers, we do need this next level of decision-making in relation to powers that we’ve already got to ensure we can effectively do the job.”

Based upon Nick Bourne's Road to Damascus.