In this video the former First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, discusses with Brendan Donnelly and Glyndwr Cennydd Jones current thinking in Wales on the UK’s constitutional future. All three participants drew attention to the apparent contradiction between claims of Welsh and Scottish sovereignty on the one hand and the [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
by Glyndwr Cennydd Jones Glyndwr Cennydd Jones is an advocate for greater cross-party consensus in Wales and for a UK-wide constitutional convention. A catalogue of his articles and essays can be found here. In this article, Glyndwr Cennydd Jones explores Whose Wales? The Battle for Welsh Devolution and Nationhood, [...]
Northern Ireland will mark 100 years of its existence on the 3rd of May 2021. Meantime the Government of the Republic has launched a radical new policy calling for “A Shared Island”. This new emphasis on SHARING points to a United Ireland as an aspiration rather than a policy. In [...]
President Clinton admonished us that it was “the economy, stupid”. Perhaps, in the current febrile situation this should be amended to being “it’s the politics, stupid”. Faced with a 25% drop in GDP in the UK in quarter 2, this might seem surprising to some. But take a closer look. [...]
