'We are not alone' in disappointment on devolution for Glasgow Regional devolution has not been the Scottish Government’s natural default, so all eyes have tended to fall on the UK Government |
When the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the outcomes of the comprehensive spending review in June, I was in Asia with a Glasgow Chamber of Commerce trade mission.
Glasgow had been invited by the Shanghai Municipal Government to serve as the official guest city at the China (Shanghai) International Technology Fair and the chamber secured support from UK, Scottish and city governments to take an unusually large business and academic delegation to showcase Glasgow’s growth potential in the Chinese market. The feedback we have had both from the Scottish delegates and our Chinese hosts has been excellent with several agreements for future trade work signed during the visit.
Here is a practical example of both national governments supporting a local partnership of business, academia and city council to encourage regional economic growth.
It would have been even more cheering if we had arrived home to find that Glasgow and its city region were benefitting from a similar approach in the comprehensive spending review. All it would have taken was a single sentence saying that the UK and Scottish governments would be working together to establish long-term flexible funding deals for Scottish cities to match those already sorted out for Greater Manchester and the West Midlands. No such sentence appeared.
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Lord Sainsbury: Give Glasgow greater devolved powers
Instead, I found myself reading Chief Secretary of the Treasury, Darren Jones, arguing that in Scotland the decision to "empower the city regions rests firmly with the Scottish Government". If he really believes that, we are........