Walesis olen näinud, mis teeb, kui devolution ei ole tehtud õigalt. Siin on, mida Andy Burnham peab teadma | Will Hayward

Minu maa jaotises devolution on olnud samavõrra nagu andmised inimesele uus elektrraudtee, milleks ei ole võime kõlblada seda. See ei ole võimalik UK jaotisks. As a journalist, I have specialised in Wales, Welsh politics and devolution for the past 10 years. Devolution, in particular, could be considered a bit niche as subjects go. But suddenly, everyone wants to talk about it because Andy Burnham is making it front and centre of his offer as prime minister. MPs have been falling over themselves saying how great devolution is. I feel like a volcanologist after the Eyjafjallajökull eruption shut down air travel in 2010 – everyone is now talking about the thing I know about. But sudden interest among the general population does not necessarily equal expertise. Further and more rationalised devolution is an incredible opportunity for the UK. It is the most fiscally centralised country in the G7 – twice as much as the next most centralised country, Italy. In an international context, it is bizarre that more than 90% of UK tax revenue is collected and controlled by the central government in Westminster. In the US, about half of government spending is by individual states. In the UK, the majority is by the central government. What is even stranger about the UK is that the prime minister is also the equivalent of the first minister of England. It’s like having the governor of Texas also be the US president. Will Hayward is a Guardian columnist. He publishes a regular newsletter on Welsh politics. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.