The figures above are slightly out-of-date but not by much. Should the inequality between the nations of the UK be reduced during this 'age of austerity' or should adjustment wait until times are easier again? Or do you believe that the nature of the Union requires that the existing redistribution of resources from relatively more prosperous (southern) England continues?
On Radio 4's World Tonight yesterday evening Simon Jenkins, discussing devolution to Wales, said that it was in the interests of Wales for its government to start thinking in terms of where its next business will come from rather than its next subsidy.
The Conservatives will probably not want to touch this issue if they are elected. They will probably win a good number of new seats in Wales but progress is likely to be pretty limited in Scotland. David Cameron is a very committed Unionist but Boris Johnson has already signalled a concern that London is paying more than its fair share to the rest of the UK. That might be the solution to this question; to take the Scottish-Welsh-English sting out of the discussion as much as possible and review the public spending relationship between all UK regions?
The target could be a modest £1bn of savings by the end of the next Parliament if the rest of the UK is brought a little more into line with South East England.
Saving id: UK-wide share of public spending
Total saving: £1bn pa within four years
Traffic light status: TBD
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Previous idea for saving: (11) Crossrail
