More From Neil Harding

Thanks to Neil Harding for writing again:

No federal system in the world would propose one federation having 85% of the population.

We already have regional government in the UK - except it is unelected quangos that are spending £130bn of our money in eight regions. Only one region is elected - (London). Scrapping these quangos and replacing them with elected assemblies needn't cost anything.

If government can work so well for Scotland and Wales with 5m and 3m populations respectively, why not the South East and North West etc, with 8m and 7m populations etc. respectively?

Look at any national organisation - regions of roughly this size are the way they organise, because it is the most efficient way of providing services. The counties are too small and England too big.

A good example is the 32 boroughs in London. Before devolution, transport policy was a disaster with petty politics between the boroughs destroying any strategic overview. Recycling and waste collestion still is poor because it needs to be organised London wide, like transport is, if it is to improve. Film makers in London for example regular restrict filming or go elsewhere because of the infamous rigmarole of having to get approval from each and every borough. How many other businesses have been put of by this needless petty bureaucratic mess?

We reply:

With a honed down UK Government to oversee matters there is no reason why England should not have a national parliament - its powers would be confined to England. There is no reason at all why it should not work.

The problem is, New Labour has already awarded NATIONAL devotion to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. And it is not up to the UK Government to dictate that England should not have parity, and indeed, dissolve that country. And the people of London have never voted for "regional devolution", that was never placed before them at the ballot box.

Internal governance of England, be it regions, counties, both or neither, should be decided by a nationally representative English parliament. There are also issues regarding rivers, North Sea oil, etc, which Scotland is dealing with as a nation but there is no corresponding English voice, leading to accusations of unfairness. The UK Government does not see its role as looking after England's national interests in the UK.

Regional assemblies are unwanted within England, 78% voted NO in the North East, and yet you still seem to think they should be introduced, against the will of the people.

Mr Harding, to be honest we think that your views are rather changeable. We think your original article on English nationalism was dispicable, making out that we were all ignorant racists whose nation, because of diverse influences, had no right to national representation anyway.

You then acknowledge our point that all/most nations are mongrel and suggest that each English "region" should have parity with Scotland. We point out that that would mean national parliaments for each region, another correspondent points out to us that each parliament should cover only five million people, and of course each budget must match Scotland. If not, Scotland would still be getting preferential treatment as a NATION.

In this latest e-mail, you revert to the tried and trusted Nu Labour chant of "regional assemblies". You seem to have ignored our previous points that these regions are unwanted and unvoted for, that 78% in the North East voted NO to regionalisation, and that several recent polls, including one for the BBC (here), show that over 60% of the electorate want an English parliament.

It is not the UK Government's right to restore democratic national representation to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and dissolve England. You also ignore our point about Gordon Brown having no mandate to govern England, the fact that much of his government's legislation does not apply to his own devolved constituents with their own devolved, national government.

It is up to an English parliament to decide to on the internal government of England, be it regions, counties, both or neither, as we have said before.

The other option, of course, is to dissolve the national bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, abolish the Barnett Formula, and create a different system of regionalisation, which does not recognise the nations, or have a unitary system again.

That will never happen.

And England deserves and needs parity - national representation within the UK on a par with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

If the UK does break up, that's one of those things.

But we see no real reason why it should.

And it's no reason to deny the people of England a voice.