Greater self-rule within the wider union
Interesting reading in The Guardian’s editorial piece on 2 March – not only for the results of the annual BBC/ICM St David’s Day Poll, but also for the Guardian’s take on those results.
The well-publicised headline results are that 56% of those polled would vote for an Assembly with full legislative powers in a referendum, with 35% intending to vote against – a staggering 14% increase in the gap between the nos and the yeses over just 2 years.
The Guardian’s take on the results is that people all over Britain, in their own way, are expressing a desire for greater devolved power – with the implication that Westminster power is tainted power, devolved power is good power.
The editorial also points out that the increase in support for devolution in Wales coincides with a decrease in support for independence – neatly giving the lie to the “slippery slope to independence” line of argument. “Greater self-rule within the wider union” is the Guardian’s diagnosis of the Welsh mood.