Is this a missed opportunity?

摘要

Since the 1980s the overriding trend for successive UK governments has been one of deepening centralism. The local state lost many of its functions to privatisation, which also generated a need for centralised regulatory bodies. In those areas that were not fully privatised, the introduction of quasi-markets generated a complex and all-encompassing system of centralised targets and performance regimes across various areas of public administration - which political scientist Christopher Hood compared to that of the Soviet Union. Despite the reluctant creation of regional administrations in Scotland, Greater London, Wales and Northern Ireland giving decentralisation a small boost, the UK state is now one of the most centralised in the developed world.