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An attempt is made to draw out some of the immediate issues facing campaigners and policy-makers, following the publication of the regional government White Paper. It is argued that there are sound practical reasons for giving more rather than less power to the regions, aside from the effectiveness of a very thin portfolio of powers.

While devolution has provided a stronger political voice for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland since the late 1990s, it is only in the past few years that English public opinion appears to have become exercised by the lack of similar arrangements for England. The renewed debates over the character of the Union after the Scottish independence referendum reveal a desire for 'fair treatment' of England within a Union conceived as a partnership of equals. At the same time, numerous proposals have been made for devolution of power within England, reflecting long-held concerns about the territorial hegemony of London. Solutions to the former issue include English votes for English laws and an English Parliament. Solutions to the latter include city-regions, strengthened local government, the first of these appears to be the government's preferred route, in the light of the recent 'Greater Manchester Agreement'. However, none of these 'solutions' can count on being implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Books reviewed in this article: Robert Brenner, The Boom and the Bubble: The US in the World Economy Anthony Forster, Euroscepticism in Contemporary British Politics: Opposition to Europe in the British Conservative and Labour Parties since 1945 Martin Holmes (ed.), The Eurosceptic Reader Dick Leonard and Mark Leonard (eds.), The Pro–European Reader Ben Pimlott and Nirmala Rao, Governing London Jean L. Cohen, Regulating Intimacy: A New Legal Paradigm Michael Newman, Ralph Miliband and the Politics of the New Left Kate Berridge, Vigor Mortis: The End of the Death Taboo Peter Clarke, The Cripps Version: The Life of Sir Stafford Cripps Tom Bentley and Daniel Stedman Jones (eds.), The Moral Universe Richard Lindley, Panorama: Fifty Years of Pride and Paranoia Gøsta Esping–Andersen with Duncan Gallie, Anton Hemerijck and John Myles, Why We Need a New Welfare State Reinhard Heinisch, Populism, Proporz, Pariah: Austria Turns to the Right. Austrian Political Change, its Causes and Repercussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]