Sunday 26 March 2017

A Federal UK would be blocked by England.


The Labour Party in Wales may be looking at what appears to be the demise of the Party in Scotland and realising that it could face a similar fate.

Neath AM has said that The time has come to lay the foundations for a “distinctly Welsh Labour party in a changing UK”, arguing the party cannot afford to ignore the challenges a Scottish exit would pose.

Mr  Miles  apparently wants Welsh Labour’s constitution updated so it is “fit for the future”.

In an article setting out his hopes for change, he said: 
“We need a debate within the party – members, local parties, trade unions, affiliates, elected representatives – to agree how we can reframe our purposes and objectives as a distinctly Welsh Labour party in a changing UK.”

“We should also reaffirm that the Welsh Labour party is not the party of the Assembly, but is also the party of our members, our councillors, and our Parliamentarians – that our MPs are in part, the custodians of the Welsh national interest in the House of Commons. And whether or not there is a distinctly Welsh view on matters of policy isn’t governed by whether that policy area happens to be devolved – it is the product of the political values of the labour movement in Wales.
“So we should also develop policy on a Welsh Labour-wide basis not just for currently devolved matters, but also on trade union rights and employment, on tax, on justice.
“A Labour Party reimagined in this way will help us secure the kind of United Kingdom we aspire to be – radically decentralised, redistributive, and strengthened in its unity as a result.”

“To state the obvious, if enough Scottish voters want Scotland to leave the United Kingdom, it will happen sooner or, more likely, later. What once seemed fanciful seems now entirely possible.
“Let’s be clear: this would be bad for the United Kingdom. Scotland makes an enormous contribution to the UK and is a strong ally in democratising the way the UK works.”

“I have long argued for a federal United Kingdom and a federal Labour party. I have always been strongly supportive of the call by Welsh labour leader Carwyn Jones for a constitutional convention.
“And it is absolutely clear, not just in the context of Brexit but also the wider debate about devolution – including devolution within England – that we need a full constitutional discussion on where power and decision-making authority should lie within the United Kingdom, including not just the responsibilities of devolved parliaments and assemblies but also looking at, for example, the composition of the House of Lords and the role of the courts in adjudicating disputes between different levels of government.
“I think we should be looking much more closely at Canadian or Australian models of federalism rather than the piecemeal and complex process of devolution to date.”
“I’m all for the f-word... This is the way that politics is going, the way that devolution has one and the parties should follow the logic [and] have a system that is as federal as possible...
“Clearly, there are differences in the four countries and the more we move towards a federal state the better.”
I do not complacently dismiss  Mr Mills thoughts any move that sees our AMs and MPs of any Political Party  expressing  a distinct Welsh is welcomed.

Of course whether the likes of Owen Smith and Nia Griffiths have believe that there is a distinct  Welsh view  beyond  who they want to win the Six Nations Championship  is a moot point.

Probably the last time virtually every Welsh MP expressed  a "Welsh View" was  In 1956, when a private bill sponsored by Liverpool City Council was brought before Parliament to develop a water reservoir from the Tryweryn Valley. The development  include dthe flooding of the village Capel Celyn. 
By obtaining authority via an Act of Parliament, Liverpool City Council did require planning consent from the relevant Welsh local authorities. This, together with the fact that the village was one of the last Welsh-only speaking communities, ensured that the proposals became deeply controversial. Thirty-five out of thirty-six Welsh Members of Parliament (MPs) opposed the bill (the other did not vote),

Over fifty years on, the views of Welsh Members of Parliament  in a Federal Parliament ,would still not count as English MPs could still outvote them.

You could have a system where at the very least the combined number of Welsh Scottish and Northern Irish MPs equalled that of English ones. Which lets face is never going to be accepted over the boarder.

You could have devolved English Regions in a Federal UK but would that also make us merely another Region akin to Yorkshire?

The problem of any Federal solution  as a response to Scotland (in particular) leaving the Union is England and I really do not see "The English Question" being answered.

I do not believe you can reform either a Unionist Party like Labour or the UK as a whole by federalism , because we would never be treated as equal partners.

Mr Mills and others are welcome to try and if given a choice over the Status Quo I would vote for it . but the only real solution is Independence,

1 comment:

TheStone said...

The Labour Party exists to send MPs Westminster. It has no hope of forming a government in that place before 2035 we are told. Here it runs a rotten third world one party state where it gives jobs to the boys and girls. Its demise would greatly improve the lot of mankind.