All of this has not gone down well with many backbench Conservative MPs, few of whom would be well-disposed towards a more conciliatory strategy.
The first in a five-part ConHome series this week on the future of the United Kingdom.
Also: Ministers can’t bleat about the ‘culture war’ if they’re prepared to let their planned celebration of Britain be renamed ‘Festival UK* 2022’. Get a grip, DCMS.
The best way of thinking about it isn’t to fix one’s gaze on direct subsidies, but to look wider – at our failure to turn British ideas into British prosperity.
Increased centralisation has led to a huge increase in costs. We must restore a sense of community and pride.
The Union needs a cultural case to walk in step with the material one – Project Love, not Project Fear. Which means looking to the future.
A coronation means that Andrew RT Davies, a right-wing Brexiteer closer to the grassroots who was forced out in 2018, is likely to retake the top job.
Advocates of every hoary old reform would immediately set to work arguing that the Union could be saved by their One Weird Trick.
Some fear this is part of deeper struggle within the party as a prominent pro-devolution MS is deselected by local activists.
The Province must be included in Johnson’s mission to make Westminster a positive and pro-active force in every part of the country.
The economies of Glastonbury, Wells, and Yeovil are very different to Minehead, Bridgwater, and Taunton.
In a self-repudiating speech, he sets out his plan to ‘make the case for the United Kingdom’ by making it as insignificant to our lives as he possibly can.
An embattled Scottish local authority is trying to bypass Holyrood’s stranglehold and appeal to the city’s other government. Time for the Union to prove itself.
Through partnership working, we can be more agile in meeting the infrastructure needs of the regions we represent.
The third article in a five-part ConHome series this week on the future of the United Kingdom.