Cymru Yfory: Incrementalism or Transformation for the Regional Economy?

Abstract

Long-held Celtic resentments, centred on the dominance of England and the London Parliament, have led (after a false start in 1979) to the current position of the UK as a unitary state, but with devolved parliaments sitting in Edinburgh, Cardiff and (occasionally) Belfast. Inaugurated in 1999 after referendums (with Wales voting incredibly narrowly in favour), these bodies have incrementally gathered greater policy and legal powers covering health, education, economic development, and territorial and environmental planning. Despite the retention of key economic levers in Westminster -for example over fiscal and monetary policy -this autonomy has enabled Wales to develop distinctly different (from England) policies, and Welsh Governments to better represent the region's left-leaning proclivities. This trend was already clear in the early days of the (then) Welsh Assembly when Wales' First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, sought to place "clear red water" 3 between Blair's New Labour and his