by Britain risks becoming a “failed state” without serious reform to its governance structures, Gordon Brown has warned.
The former prime minister urged the government to devolve more power to regions and to replace the House of Lords with a regionally elected chamber.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph newspaper Mr Brown said “the choice is now between a reformed state and a failed state”.
His latest intervention comes as polls continue to show strong and consistent support for Scotland leaving the United Kingdom, which the former PM is supposed to.
Mr Brown added: “It is indeed Scotland where dissatisfaction is so deep that it threatens the end of the United Kingdom.
Read more
“For the first time, a majority of Scots now feel, according to recent polls, that Scotland and the rest of the UK are moving inexorably in opposite directions and nearly half of all Scots who have a view believe – against all the evidence – that Scotland would be better off economically independent, and they feel that the Union undermines Scotland’s distinctive identity.
“While the crisis is deepest in Scotland, it is far from alone.
Inside Politics newsletter
The latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekday
Inside Politics newsletter
The latest news on Brexit, politics and beyond direct to your inbox every weekday
“Regional metro mayors – from Newcastle, Manchester and Liverpool to Sheffield, Bristol and London – are demanding more powers from what they see as an insensitive, out-of-touch and overcentralised centre.
“And in Wales it is not nationalists but the pro-Union First Minister Mark Drakeford who is leading calls for change.
“But perhaps for too long we have left unstated the shared purpose and values that bind the UK together, and we have said too little about what we have in common: our shared beliefs in tolerance, liberty, civic responsibility and fairness, and our conviction that all benefit when we pool and share risks and resources across the country.”
Speaking on BBC Radio 4 on Monday morning Mr Brown said there was no democratic mandate for another Scottish independence referendum.
1/50UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures
24 Janaury 2021
People go sledging in the snow on Parliament Hill on Hampstead Heath
Getty
UK news in pictures
23 January 2021
People sledging and enjoying the snowy weather on Wychbury Hill in Hagley, Worcestershire
PA
UK news in pictures
22 January 2021
The clean up as floodwater begins to recede from the town of Northwich, Cheshire, in the aftermath of Storm Christoph
Getty
UK news in pictures
21 January 2021
Members of the Emergency services work to evacuate Care Home residents after they became stranded by flood water, in Northwich, northwest England as Storm Christoph brings heavy rains and flooding across England
AFP via Getty
UK news in pictures
20 January 2021
Flooding underneath the A46 at Six Hills Lane in Leicestershire, as Storm Christoph is set to bring widespread flooding, gales and snow to parts of the UK
PA
UK news in pictures
19 January 2021
A surfer rides a wave in the sea off of Boscombe beach in Dorset
PA
UK news in pictures
18 January 2021
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stands outside a room where technicians are manufacturing the AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine at Oxford Biomedica, in Oxford
Reuters
UK news in pictures
17 January 2021
People on the sea front in Brighton during Englands third national lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus
PA
UK news in pictures
16 January 2021
Cubicles erected inside Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, for people to receive an injection of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine
PA
UK news in pictures
15 January 2021
Vehicles negotiate a flooded road in Mountsorrel, Leciestershire, with a large swathe of England covered by 30 flood warnings by lunchtime Friday
PA
UK news in pictures
14 January 2021
NHS workers from hospitals across the capital during a socially distanced protest outside Downing Street, London, timed to coincide with the weekly clap for heroes
PA
UK news in pictures
13 January 2021
A public health notice to stay home at a bus stop in London
EPA
UK news in pictures
12 January 2021
The sun rises behind Scarborough Castle in Yorkshire
PA
UK news in pictures
11 January 2021
A healthcare workers fills a syringe with a Covid-19 vaccine at the NHS vaccine centre that has been set up at the Centre for Life in Times Square, Newcastle
PA
UK news in pictures
10 January 2021
Grey seals on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, where Friends of Horsey Seals, who monitor the coast from Winterton to Horsey, have recorded over 2000 births this season
PA
UK news in pictures
9 January 2021
An open water swimmer holds up a sheet of ice as she enjoys a socially-distanced dawn swim after breaking the ice on the surface of a lake near Scunthorpe, northern England
AFP via Getty
UK news in pictures
8 January 2021
Sledgers have fun in the snow surrounding the Angel of the North near Gateshead, Tyne and Wear
PA
UK news in pictures
7 January 2021
A dog wearing a jacket running in Queen’s Park in Glasgow
PA
UK news in pictures
6 January 2021
A pedestrian crosses a deserted road in Leeds
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures
5 January 2021
Pigeons gather outside the shuttered entrance to a John Lewis department store, closed down due to pandemic restrictions, on an empty Oxford Street in London as Britain enters another national lockdown
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures
4 January 2021
Supporters of Julian Assange celebrate after the verdict outside the Old Bailey in London. District judge Vanessa Baraitser denied the extradition of Assange to the United States. He faces charges for hacking computers and violating the country’s Espionage Act. The US has confirmed it will appeal the decision
Getty
UK news in pictures
3 January 2021
Allenheads in Northumberland, after heavy snowfall overnight
PA
UK news in pictures
2 January 2020
A paraglider flying over Mam Tor, a 517m hill near Castleton in Derbyshire
PA
UK news in pictures
1 January 2020
Ollie King, 22, and his sister Laura, 19, take a dip into the sea at King Edward’s Bay in Tynemouth
PA
UK news in pictures
31 December 2020
Fencing around Trafalgar Square, London, ahead of New Year’s Eve celebrations. People are being urged to stay home on New Year’s Eve to prevent the “dire” situation in hospitals from getting worse
PA
UK news in pictures
30 December 2020
Ambulances outside the Royal London Hospital. NHS England figures show England’s hospitals now have more Covid-19 patients than during April’s first-wave peak, with reports of ambulances carrying coronavirus patients forced to queue outside hospitals
PA
UK news in pictures
29 December 2020
A lorry travels along the M9 near Falkirk, Scotland after severe lockdown restrictions were announced for December and January with all of the country moving into the highest level of lockdown
PA
UK news in pictures
28 December 2020
Krystyna (right) pulling Isaac,7, making the most of the snowfall, going sledging in Tatton Park, Knutsford, in Cheshire
PA
UK news in pictures
27 December 2020
Anthony Gleave and his son Arthur, 3, canoe along the flooded A1101 in Welney, Norfolk
PA
UK news in pictures
26 December 2020
Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy, left, celebrates with James Maddison after scoring their second goal during the boxing day Premier League match against Manchester United at King Power Stadium
AFP via Getty
UK news in pictures
25 December 2020
Picture taken with permission from the Twitter feed of @markstockdale69 showing snowfall on Christmas Day in Hessle, East Yorkshire
PA
UK news in pictures
24 December 2020
Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he holds a remote press conference to update the nation on the post-Brexit trade agreement, inside 10 Downing Street
AFP via Getty
UK news in pictures
23 December 2020
Swimmers prepare for dip in the Thames estuary at Chalkwell Beach near Southend On Sea in Essex
PA
UK news in pictures
22 December 2020
The MS Princess Seaways arrives at the mouth of the Tyne as the sun rises on the North East coast of England
PA
UK news in pictures
21 December 2020
The closed entrance to the Port of Dover. France has closed its border with the UK for 48 hours over concerns about the new coronavirus variant. Freight lorries cannot cross by sea or through the Eurotunnel and the Port of Dover has closed to outbound traffic
EPA
UK news in pictures
20 December 2020
Police officers at Euston Station, London, with more being deployed to enforce travel rules at Londons stations
PA
UK news in pictures
19 December 2020
Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a news conference in response to the ongoing situation with the coronavirus disease pandemic, inside 10 Downing Street, London. He announced London and southeast England set for tier 4 rules with Christmas bubbles canceled
Reuters
UK news in pictures
18 December 2020
Actors from the Wintershall Estate perform an adaptation of their traditional Nativity play on December 18, 2020 in Guildford, England. The Wintershall Estate have adapted their traditional Nativity play to accommodate the Coronavirus pandemic restrictions and this year it takes the form of a walk through the estate set in the Surrey Hills. Walkers will enjoy beautifully staged mini-tableaus from the Nativity story, performed by a cast of volunteers with a full complement of sheep, cows and horses
Getty
UK news in pictures
17 December 2020
People walk through Ashford in Kent as Tier 3 restrictions are planned for large areas of England
PA
UK news in pictures
16 December 2020
A dog retrieves a hard hat from flood water in Sutton in Cambridgeshire, as the Met Office have warned the next couple of months are likely to be wetter than normal in the UK, raising the prospect of flooding
PA
UK news in pictures
15 December 2020
Queens Park Rangers fans cheer on their side in the stands during the Sky Bet Championship match at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, London
PA
UK news in pictures
14 December 2020
An empty restaurant in the West End of London after the announcement that the capital and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire will face Tier 3 restrictions from Wednesday following a rise in coronavirus cases
PA
UK news in pictures
13 December 2020
Lobsters are processed at the fishing port at Bridlington Harbour in Yorkshire, after European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said she and Boris Johnson had agreed to continue negotiations on a post-Brexit trade deal
PA
UK news in pictures
12 December 2020
Shoppers on the streets of tier 3-restricted Birmingham ahead of Christmas
PA
UK news in pictures
11 December 2020
People take pictures of a new street artwork entitled ‘Aachoo!!’ by Banksy in Totterdown, Bristol
Reuters
UK news in pictures
10 December 2020
Wollaton Hall in Nottingham which has been transformed into an enchanted light experience to create Christmas at Wollaton Hall, a unique, socially distanced festive outdoor light installation
PA
UK news in pictures
9 December 2020
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson adjusts his face mask as he meets European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels
Reuters
UK news in pictures
8 December 2020
Margaret Keenan, 90, is applauded by staff as she returns to her ward after becoming the first person to receive the Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine at University Hospital in Coventry
AFP via Getty
UK news in pictures
7 December 2020
Amanda McGurk (left) and Cara McCann outside Belfast City Hall after becoming the first couple in Belfast to convert their civil partnership into a marriage. From today same-sex couples across Northern Ireland are able to marry through the official conversion of existing civil partnerships following a change in the law
PA
UK news in pictures
6 December 2020
Shoppers on Oxford Street in London on the first weekend following the end of the second national lockdown in England
PA
Asked whether he thought there was one, he said: “No, no, I don’t think so.
“People in Scotland are worried about the virus, they’re worried about jobs, they’re worried about the future of young people, this is their priority at the moment.
“Anything that diverts from that at the moment, holding a referendum this year, in the midst of a virus when you can’t even have public meetings or door-to-door canvassing, would seem quite unfair to the democratic process.”
