London doesn't rule the UK, it's where the law is debated (as I'm a Londoner I feel this must be put right!
Scotland is part of the UK and the people wish it to remain so as England is part and Wales and N.Ireland. We are one sovereign State - The UK. I'm not against the House of Lords because I believe having some older experienced people debating amendments and scrutinising legislation is a good thing and they aren't MAKING law. If they were I would understand a little more where you're coming from. They are not a threat and a lot of the heireditary peerage has been eroded.
You say the parties have won all voting for EU membership...where's my vote? Who voted? There's been no national vote on the EU regardless of pro-parties. We've always been in favour of trading relationship not a superstate. The EU makes us less competitive and our framework economically as designed is far superior to anything on the continent. Don't take my word for it, speak to all the guys in the City and they'll tell you what they think of the EU and i worked there too. I always like the fact that London trades more Euros in a day than the rest of Eurozone put together!! Sounds unreal but it's absolutely true. Yet, the EU carps from the sidelines trying to make things like economic rules uncompetitive when they haven't noticed what's happening around the globe. It sickens me.
There's simply been no vote on wehther my country should be ruled from another country. It's happened by stealth and that isn't democratic.
I'm sorry to divert this thread further, but as flawed as the EU is, I can't really stand for the myths that surround it - the intellectual laziness is bad enough, but when I see people switch off from democracy (a dangerous thing) because of untruths I think corrections need to be made. Have no fear, Rich, I'm gonna set you on the straight and narrow and let you vote with confidence.
You say the vast majority of laws are now imposed on us by the European Union - a figure you put in the region of 70%. The fact that this figure varies so wildly from person to person is a telling enough sign of an urban myth (as the link I'm about to provide will also discuss), and the statistics do it no compliment either.
The actual percentage of laws derived from the EU is actually much closer to 20%.
Sure, that's 20% of laws you didn't vote for, but I can just as quickly assure you that I didn't vote for well over 20% of what the Coalition is implementing. Does that mean I'm going to cry foul and bail out on democracy? Not at all. I think compromise is the very essence of democracy and I broadly support the Coalition for attempting to spread two manifestos over the statute books instead of just one. The EU, similarly, provides a platform for issues that cannot be resolved by the member-states, such as the environment and international trade.
You then defend the unelected House of Lords, rightly pointing out that they can't actually table legislation themselves (something known as legislative primacy; as a side note, this is repeatedly withheld from the European Parliament on the basis of nationalism - don't want too much democracy or else it might start to seem more legit than our own system!). But while the Lords may not have primacy, it has delay - and has several times used this power to reject laws it does not favour by pushing them past the wash-up session at the end of a Parliament. You also point to the wisdom and experience of the Lords - but of the 729 members, 26 of them Lords Spiritual (people influencing and "scrutinising" laws purely from a CoE perspective!), and the 678 life peers have often been appointed often on the basis of political favour and not suitability. The turnout of 528 members on the constituency boundaries vote some weeks ago was one of the highest in many years - and yet that was not much more than two-thirds of the chamber! Cameron alone has created 116 new life peers; that's a pretty stuffing of appointments (though not all have been Tories of course) and I think it's also a bit strange to suggest that it's somehow good scrutiny; peers are just as prone to bias as the members of the Commons and a debate I was watching before Christmas was rather unflattering to the House, a peer telling the world about the flaws of same-sex marriage and adoption (the subject of the debate was the recognition of the status of codepedents).
I think you do the Lords far too much credit, though I have perhaps done it too little and do acknowledge the advantages of bicameralism and the scrutiny it sometimes provides (thought not as often, and not as fairly, as you might think!).
Let me put it another way. You are quick to defend London; it doesn't "rule" over the UK, you say. Well, believe me, it rules in all but formality. From culture to investment, it is an enormous black hole draining away from the regions. You're kidding yourself if you think London's status and prestige doesn't negatively impact on the rest of the UK. As someone now living in Manchester (I moved up from the south a few months ago, so I'm not being some paranoid northerner here!) you can bet your house I'd vote for some devolution of powers to Manchester if I were given the chance. There's simply no way the civil servants in London can understand the things that need doing in Manchester (or Birmingham, or Leeds, or Sheffield, or Liverpool... etc). We need greater devolution and greater regionalism - and less London-centrism - if we want to "rebalance" the economy and the country as David Cameron says he wants to. London is a great boost to the UK and it's natural that a capital receives the lion's share, don't get me wrong!
From trains to television, I can tell have far greater concerns about London than the European Union. The EU may fiddle around with things that didn't need tweaking, but London is a black hole. I love it regardless - again, I'm from the south and London is my dream when I find a job with a big enough salary to support it! - but I can tell you this for certain - you try living in the regions for a few months and you'll suddenly realise that London could as well be a country unto itself! London is a wonderful place, but it's a much bigger problem for the regions than the European Union, I can promise you that first-hand.
So yeah, anyway, privatisation...
