Shaun Ley's week

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/7600986.stm

Version 0 of 1.

By Shaun Ley Presenter, BBC Radio 4's The World at One

In China, the phrase is "one country, two systems", at once a description of Hong Kong's relationship with the mainland and a reassurance that the former British colony will retain its identity.

Which country are we talking about again?

But how to describe the United Kingdom now, with its devolved powers? And how much description can you take?

I ask those questions because throughout this week, the news has been dominated by reminders of how different parts of the UK are from one another. Some of these require little explanation by journalists.

On Wednesday, the International Monitoring Commission published its report on the IRA, an important pre-cursor to further negotiations between the political parties which make up the Northern Ireland Executive.

Sinn Fein wants policing and justice powers to be devolved from the UK government, and Whitehall is pretty keen, too.

But the Democratic Unionists want guarantees that the leadership of the IRA is no longer operating, especially because of suspicions about the murder of Paul Quinn in County Monaghan.

Car parking fees

If you're listening outside Northern Ireland, you might need a bit more detail, but there's no Scottish or Welsh dimension to be explained.

With an increasing number of stories, though, it's important to be clear where exactly it applies.

Take Tuesday's announcement in Scotland that most of its publicly-funded hospitals will scrap car parking fees.

You ca not read a headline which says "car parking charges are to be scrapped in NHS hospitals" because that tells only part of the story, and would mislead any listener who's not in Scotland.

It needs explaining that charges have already been scrapped in Wales, and that in England, the UK government says they will remain.

Actually, the NHS is a particularly difficult case.

'The country'

There is still a national - that is, UK-wide - health service, but powers over hospitals, GPs, and many other elements, are devolved.

However, the UK government still pays for the service (since taxes are still centrally determined and collected) and the Health Secretary Alan Johnson has some overarching responsibilities, and is of course a member of the cabinet which determines funding levels across the UK, and still makes a variety of policies affecting the whole of the country - foreign policy, defence, welfare benefits, and some controversial subjects, such as abortion.

Are we too obsessed with what Gordon Brown's government is up to, or conversely for a UK-wide programme, do we spend too much time explaining the differences?

I have just realised that I have used a phrase there which can be confusing - "the country".

To be fair, it has always been potentially misleading.

For example, Scotland's distinctive legal system dates back centuries, and education was different there long before devolution.

We were probably all a bit cavalier in the past when we used the phrase "across the country", and at least the recent changes have encouraged us to be a bit more careful.

But we still make mistakes, myself very much included.

No answer

Statistics, too, can be England and Wales, England only, or UK-wide.

Even when we do get it right, the story can become pretty complicated.

The announcement on Tuesday that the threshold at which stamp duty is levied was being raised for a year, and of moves to prevent repossessions and help people buy their first home illustrates the difficulty.

Stamp duty applies across the UK, but the other changes only apply to England.

We did explain that, but should we also have set out what Scotland and Wales have already been doing, or would that have made it even harder for listeners to follow?

The answer is probably that there is no answer.

It really depends on the story; and it would be interesting to know what you think.

'White City question'

Are we too obsessed with what Gordon Brown's government is up to, or conversely for a UK-wide programme, do we spend too much time explaining the differences?

In a way, we are struggling with our own version of the West Lothian Question.

After all, if we keep telling part of our audience about a story which doesn't apply to them, how long before they decide it isn't a programme for them, either?

You might call that the White City question.

Martha will be back next week. From here in our office across the road from White City station, let me wish you a good weekend.