Welcome
The Federal Trust is a research institute studying the interactions between regional, national, European and global levels of government. Founded in 1945 on the initiative of Sir William Beveridge, it has long made a powerful contribution to the study of federalism and federal systems. It has always had a particular interest in the European Union and Britain’s place in it.
The Federal Trust has no allegiance to any political party. It is registered as a charity for the purposes of education and research.
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FEATURED ARTICLE
VIDEO: After Brexit, a federal UK?
In this video, Federal Trust Senior Research Fellow Dr Andrew Blick comments on the emerging debate about a more federalised United Kingdom. He argues that the nature of federalism has often been misunderstood in the UK because of the confused and confusing debate surrounding a European “federal superstate.” A growing [...]
RECENTLY PUBLISHED
How Much Patience with Boris Johnson is Left in Europe?
by Denis MacShane Former Minister for Europe. His latest book Brexiternity. The Uncertain Fate of Britain is published by IB Tauris-Bloomsbury. The most famous speech made in the Roman Senate was by Cicero denouncing a [...]
VIDEO: After Brexit, a federal UK?
In this video, Federal Trust Senior Research Fellow Dr Andrew Blick comments on the emerging debate about a more federalised United Kingdom. He argues that the nature of federalism has often been misunderstood in the [...]
The North East after Covid-19 and Brexit
by Alastair Balls [*] Alastair Balls is a former Senior Economic Adviser to HM Treasury and former Northern Region Director for the Departments of Environment and of Transport. Most recently his main involvement in the [...]
London’s Future as a City
by Jeremy Melvin Jeremy Melvin is an architectural historian, a curator, a writer, a journalist, and a regular consultant on matters of architectural history, politics, and practice. He is a Visiting Professor at The Bartlett [...]
Covid and Brexit – two knock out blows for the North East, or a wake up call for change?
by Nick Forbes Councillor Nick Forbes, CBE, has been the Leader of Newcastle City Council since 2011. He is also Senior Vice-Chair at the Local Government Association. If you were to stop people [...]
London: Learning from History
by David Long David Long, a writer and journalist for more than 25 years, has appeared regularly on television and radio and has written for the Times, Sunday Times and London Evening Standard and a [...]
Federalism for the United Kingdom: an answer that raises questions
Federalism is best defined as a system in which constitutional authority is divided between a ‘federal’ tier of government and a set of territorial ‘states’. It is a comprehensive and symmetrical model in which the [...]
An autonomous London
by John Stevens and Dr Andrew Blick John Stevens is the Chairman of the Federal Trust. He is a former MEP (1989 - 1999). Dr Andrew Blick is Head of the Department of [...]
The North East of England: Economic and political challenges and opportunities post-Covid and post-Brexit
by Joyce Quin Photo credit: UK Parliament/ CC BY 3.0 The Rt Hon. Baroness Joyce Quin is a member of the House of Lords. She previously served in both the European Parliament and the [...]
The European Union: From organisation ‘sui generis’ to democratic regional organisation
The author wishes to dedicate the present essay to the memory of the ever inspiring Michael Burgess, in live Founder and Director of the Centre for Federal Studies at the University of Kent. For [...]