& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

WINDS OF CHANGE

Labour Loosens Reins
***With Labour Party installed in power after long 18 years, Britain is all set to see winds of change sweeping across the land. Scotland may soon have a parliament of its own and Wales too is likely to have a provincial legislature. The House of Lords may also see certain adjustments. And the European Community will have a more amiable Britain in its ranks. Irtiza Nasim Ali, Chief Editor of Probe News Agency, returns from London and reports on the devolution promised by Mr Blair's government.**
AMONG other things. Labour promises devolution and a separate Scottish parliament within a year. It will also consider one for Wales. Although it is yet uncertain what form this devolution will take, it implies that England will no longer be synonymous with the United Kingdom. Labour is also considering introducing proportional representation In England.
There are two things which are quite fundamental. Labour Party has said, quite remarkably. power must be devolved. The only way to keep United Kingdom united is to weaken the power of the unitary state. All power must not come from Westminster. Labour will hold a referendum and devolve political and economic authority. There will be a Welsh assembly, which will be a provincial legislature. And Scotland will have a proper parliament, a Scottish Parliament which will have the authority to raise revenue.
Basically what they are saying is that a unitary state is too difficult to hold because there are lot of local grievances which Westminster has not handled well. And the Labour Party’s view is that it is more democratic to restore parliamentary authority to Scotland, which is a distinct nation. England. Scotland, Northern Ireland and Welsh are four separate nations in Britain. They have their own separate flags.
With respective parliaments of their own. they would be able to raise taxes. They will of course get money from the centre. but will be more locally autonomous.
The Tories oppose this view. They say that this decision is the first step to separate Scotland from England which, in turn, will lead to the destruction of the United Kingdom.
The people of Scotland did not vote in a single Conservative MP from Scotland. In Wales there is not one Tory MP either. This goes to show that the local nationalist forces have rejected the Tory principle completely.
So UK will become a more federal structure, looser and more united by voluntary will rather than by force. These unities were made 500 or 700 years ago by war.
Another big constitutional change that Labour might go for is to curtail the power of hereditary peerage. The probable changes may weaken the power of the House of Lords to a certain extent. That will be a major shift from the present state of affairs.
And Britain's chilly attitude towards Europe is likely to warm considerably. Tony Blair has been cautiously In favour of an integrated assimilation into the community. He is prepared to respond positively to the call for a single currency, 'not, of course, at the cost of British interests'. .