The prime minister made it a high priority to swiftly visit all of his counterparts across the UK: John Swinney, first minister of Scotland; Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly, respectively first minister and deputy first minister in the Northern Ireland Executive; and Vaughan Gething, first minister of Wales.
A reception at Downing Street followed for the regional mayors including Tracy Brabin (West Yorkshire), Andy Burnham (Greater Manchester), Sadiq Khan (London) and Ben Houchen (Tees Valley). All 12 metro mayors attended except for Oliver Coppard, the mayor of South Yorkshire, who has Covid.
Starmer wanted to introduce himself and to put this nexus of internal UK relationships on a more formal basis. To this end, he has established a new Council of Regions and Nations in order to allow ministers and mayors to meet regularly. It’s a constitutional innovation that some see as another step toward a more federal UK.
What is the Council of Regions and Nations?
As presently envisaged, it will be chaired by Starmer (no deputies or substitutes) and its members will be the various first ministers and metro mayors. Starmer reportedly stated: “I don’t want to overly formalise it, but I do want a degree of formality so that it’s a meeting that everybody knows is a meeting where business is done, where decisions are properly recorded and actioned.”
What will it do?
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Carse justifies England faith as the archetypal bold pick
If you won a boxing match after your opponent continually punched themselves in the face, how much credit can you take?
Tenacious Diallo the key to Amorim pressing machine
Old Trafford has not seen anything like this before.
Gold King Cole packs the Bridge with merry old souls
In the 83rd minute, the ball rolled to the feet of Cole Palmer in a bubble of space outside Aston Villa's box, and the crowd snapped to attention.
Vibrant Anfield marks the changing of the Guardiola
There was a lull in the noise, a break in the Anfield atmosphere, when a defiant chant emerged from a corner near Stefan Ortega’s goal.
What is so daunting about Spain's new data checks?
Q You have written about the new “red tape” for visitors to Spain. So, as well as your usual passport details you will give a contact number, address and email. Not exactly the Spanish Inquisition, is it?
Sectarian clashes claim at least 130 lives in Pakistan
At least 130 people were killed in deadly sectarian clashes in Pakistan's northwestern Kurram district in spite of a tentative ceasefire, days after gunmen opened fire on a convoy of vehicles carrying Shia Muslims, local officials said.
Coalition government likely in Ireland as count proceeds
Fianna Fail say decisions on power-sharing for another day’
How Syria's forgotten war is back on the world's agenda
Many believed the country was lost in an unsolvable conflict, until everything changed in a matter of days, writes Bel Trew
Assad regime scrambles to halt Syrian rebels’ advance
Civilians reportedly killed by Russian and Syrian airstrikes
Mother of poisoning victim says she knew she would die
Lawyer Simone White succumbed to the effects of methanol while backpacking in Laos with two of her childhood friends
