There is a mystery for me in contemplating the political career of Nicola Surgeon. I first faced this during the 2015 General Election, which I spent largely in Scotland, campaigning for Unionist friends. I was hoping to see the “No” campaign victory in the 2014 referendum (in which I was [...]
An Elected Upper Chamber of the Devolved Nations and English Regions 30th January 2023 WATCH THE RECORDING HERE Or in the player below Britain's sufferance of an unelected House of Lords has expired. Reforms have been promised since 1911, but now Sir Keir Starmer has declared an incoming Labour government, [...]
It is fair to say that federalism makes most UK unionists uncomfortable when it is considered at all. It is seen as foreign and alien to the principle of absolute parliamentary sovereignty located in Westminster. In the 1970s the Kilbrandon Commission notoriously dismissed federalism as a constitutional structure for states not [...]
On 29th October 2022, I took part in the Federal Trust’s conference on the future of the United Kingdom. Though the day had a focus on federalism my preferred model leans towards a form of close constitutional confederalism, which neatly deals with the sovereignty aspirations of the home nations in [...]
In this video, the former head of the European Commission office in Belfast, Geoff Martin, discusses recent developments in Northern Ireland with our Chairman John Stevens. Geoff Martin predicts that new elections for Stormont will make very little difference to the political stalemate in Northern Ireland, for which he principally [...]
Even with the introduction of devolution in Scotland and Wales at the end of the 20th Century, there is a sense that these isles are now approaching a significant constitutional crossroads. Each nation has, in recent decades, developed an individual political culture with clear distinguishing features from the workings of [...]
Joint Conference by The James Madison Charitable Trust and The Federal Trust for Education and Research 29th October 2022 The union holding together the nations of the United Kingdom has come under strain. Challenges include the announcement of a referendum on independence in Scotland, the constitutional review by the Commission [...]
With Nicola Sturgeon having recently addressed the Scottish Parliament about her plans for a second independence referendum, and the Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, established by the Welsh Government, currently considering options for fundamental reform of the UK’s constitutional structures, the four nations of these isles are potentially approaching a crossroads of [...]
This is an updated version of an article which first appeared on the website of the Institute of Welsh Affairs on 29th March 2022. With Nicola Sturgeon having recently addressed the Scottish Parliament about her plans for a second independence referendum, and the Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales, established by the Welsh [...]
21 July 2022 “Rejoining is the only satisfactory means of addressing the manifest problems caused by Brexit…When faced with growing harm, the time to commence reversing the action that has caused it is now.” At this webinar, Professor Andrew Blick of King’s College London presented his new Federal Trust report, [...]
