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New report suggests increased concern in England about the devolution settlement

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02 March 2010

On the day that Communities Secretary John Denham calls for Labour to do more to celebrate and regonise Englishness a new report published by the leading independent think tank ippr and undertaken in collaboration with Britain's largest social research institute, NatCen, suggests increasing public resentment in England about Scotland’s share of public spending and increased support for England having its own parliament. Based on previously unpublished data from NatCen's British Social Attitudes survey, the report shows that:

40 per cent of people in England now feel that Scotland receives more than its fair share of government spending compared with just 22 per cent in 2003
At 29 per cent support for an English Parliament has now reached an all time high
For the first time less than half (49 per cent) agree that England’s laws should continue to be made by the UK Parliament

There are also tentative signs that support for an English parliament has been growing particularly quickly among those who say they feel ‘English’ rather than ‘British’, and among those who feel that Scotland gets more than its fair share of government spending.

The report author, Professor John Curtice, a Research Consultant to NatCen, said:

“It is too strong to speak as yet of a widespread English ‘backlash’. But the research does suggest there has been a marked growth in resentment about the level of funding that Scotland enjoys. Moreover this seems in part at least to be generating increased support for the idea that England should have its own parliament. If these trends continue, then politicians may no longer be able safely to assume that England can be ignored in the devolution debate.”

Associate Director of ippr, Guy Lodge, said:

“This report demonstrates that whichever party wins the general election will need to address the growing concerns of English voters about the impact of the devolution settlement. Politicians from all sides have ducked the issue of how England should be governed for too long and it seems that English public opinion is becoming increasingly frustrated. John Denham's call today to do more to do celebrate Englishness is a welcome development and we encourage all parties to engage with this debate.”

Notes to Editors

1. The report, entitled, Is an English backlash emerging? Reactions to devolution ten years on, is based on data collected by British Social Attitudes surveys conducted between 1999 and 2009. The most recent figures are based on face to face interviews conducted between June and November 2009 with a representative sample of 980 respondents resident in England. Further details about the British Social Attitudes survey can be found at www.natcen.ac.uk/natcen/pages/or_socialattitudes.htm#bsa.

2. The report is being published as part of ippr’s Answering the English Question project, which is funded by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. See also More than One English Question by Michael Kenny and Guy Lodge.

3. NatCen, Britain’s largest social research organisation, aims to promote a better informed society through high quality social research. See www.natcen.ac.uk.

4. A previous ippr report called The English Question: The View from Westminster: What do our MPs think of ‘The English Question’ 10 years after devolution? – polled sitting members of the UK parliament. Among its findings were that:

62 per cent of MPs thought the current distribution of funding received by the nations of the UK was unfair
Only 10 per cent of MPs favoured the status quo as the answer to England’s future governance.

Contact
For further details contact: Tim Finch ippr, 020 7470 6106 / 07595 920 899 / t.finch@ippr.org

or Monica Evans, 020 7470 6112 / m.evans@ippr.org