I personally am pretty angry about this mainly because the 'Yes' campaign (And by extension, the government.) made such an incredible balls-up of the whole thing, operationally and strategically.
A few reasons as to why it failed:
- Details/Media management. The incredible lack of detail that was offered was astonishing. I am a fairly well engaged individual politically, and I heard absolutely nothing regarding the precise details of the thing, and it was a task to find that information out. It's reasonable to assume that most people knew less than me. I personally received a single pamphlet during the duration of the campaign, and it was from the 'No' campaign. My mother received a fairly thoughtful and detailed letter from Unison arguing that she should vote 'Yes.' The official 'Yes' campaign was functionally non-existent as far this was concerned. Astonishing. Not impressed in the least. Whatever the 'Yes' campaign spent their money on, it wasn't what mattered.
- Cost and Current mood on the issue. The other major reason. Can I just express how incredibly angry I am about fact that the Scottish Parliament Building has now effectively strangled this debate for years, if not decades to come in this country?
Thanks. It did everything to re-enforce the preconceptions regarding the issue; that local politicians, once they were give an inch of power, would become self-aggrandising, ludicrously expensive political libertines.
So thanks to all you MSP's. You've advanced the cause of centralisation in this country more than nearly twenty years of Tory government could ever have hoped to do. You self-absorbed, inbred, shite-gobbling nutjobs.
The fact that there was no definitive site allocated to where the new Assembly was sit also contributed to this. By simply picking an existing building in Durham city (And let no-one say that we need a new building; Durham is easily one of, if not the, greatest architectural gems of the North.) beforehand, the 'Yes' campaign could have averted fears regarding a possible Scottish Parliament fiasco, and kicked one of the planks out from under the 'No' campaign. For reasons unknown to sound political judgement, they chose not to.
Equally, this was simply the wrong time to run this. This should have been run in 1999 or 1997, which would have pretty much guaranteed a 'Yes'. Not now. Now people are simply in a trough of cynicism and hatred for Blair, and frankly, who blames them. They were not going to be receptive to such a proposal.
- Powers. The proposal on the cards was an appallingly wimpy affair, with fewer powers than the Welsh Assembly. You just can't do that. You can't offer a democratised version of the existing regional economic quagos and dress it up as proper decentralisation. Needless to say, the 'Talking Shop' accusation was immediately mobilised, and in this case, it rang true. And, again, there was scant detail on the distribution of members over the region. (The pamphlet from the 'No' campaign solemnly informed me that out of the the total of members, [Twenty something, I think.] only two would come from Teesside and Redcar-Cleveland. To me this sounded palpably false and alarmist, but, with so little detail how could you refute it?)
- Inter-regional politics. Just a point to back up that last sentence. There was nowhere near enough to clarify the issue of the balance of power within the region. The nearest that came to was a statement that the building itself would be housed in Durham. This was all. In particular, the Teesside vote, which was crucial to a 'Yes' vote, remained staunchly unconvinced. All the public meetings I saw on TV (Admittedly, I watch TV less than Hannah Hauxwell.) were held on Grey Monument, right in the centre of Newcastle. They even wheeled Ray Mallon up there for a speech.
Way to go, braniacs!
- Personalities. They gave the unflinching impression that this was simply an elite-driven politico operation, (Which in effect it was.) and left the 'No' Campaign to gather the genuinely local and small fellow types.
I can't think of anything else, atm, but then again my brain has turned to a purple pulp after writing all that. I feel like Martin Luther.
Actually, I'm rather thinking of e-mailing this to Prescott, just to show him how these sorts of things should be run. If you're going to run one of the slackest political campaigns in living memory, then expect to receive a beating.
Oh, and can I just say, that a 'Yes' vote could easily have been produced if this had been done right. And now we won't get another chance to vote on this issue for another two decades, minimum. Sigh.