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, [...]
by Glyndwr Cennydd Jones In recent years, the national borders extant within these isles have been reaffirmed through Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. Further, the trend for significant divergence in policy stances across the various parliaments has compounded other clear political disagreements centred on constitutional reform and change, with different [...]
In this new Federal Trust video Brendan Donnelly and John Stevens discuss the speech of President Macron to the European Parliament and its possible implications for relations between the UK and the European Union. They also discuss the likely outcome of the current negotiations on the Northern Ireland protocol and [...]
Joint event by the Federal Trust, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and Global Policy Institute 10th May 2022 WATCH THE WEBINAR HERE or in the player below: At this timely webinar, held a few days after the elections in Northern Ireland, our expert speakers analysed the elections results and their possible implications. [...]
In this new video our Director Brendan Donnelly and Council member John Palmer discuss the forthcoming elections in Northern Ireland and their likely implications for the Northern Ireland Protocol and relations with the rest of the island of Ireland. WATCH THE VIDEO HERE or in the player below: SPEAKERS: John Palmer is a [...]
Professor Julian Hoppit (UCL) talks about his new book “The Dreadful Monster and its Poor Relations – taxing, spending and the United kingdom 1707-2021” with Professor Colin Talbot (University of Manchester and The Federal Trust). Modern arguments over public finances within the UK, and how far the nations of England, [...]
March 2022 sees the release of A League-Union of the Isles. Conceived as a reflection on Glyndwr Cennydd Jones’s constitutional writing since 2016, it encompasses an exploration of devolution, federalism, confederalism, and more significantly—that possible middle ground—confederal-federalism. Not wishing to alienate the generally moderate elements of both unionism and nationalism [...]
In this interview, our Senior Research Fellow Professor Colin Talbot talks to Professor Rod Rhodes of Southampton University about relations between UK central government and local and regional tiers of government. In 1988, Professor Rhodes published his seminal book on this topic, “Beyond Westminster and Whitehall”. At the time the dominant [...]
