Federalism, and all that: is there hope? Perhaps ...

I suspect I have taken leave of my senses, but today I found myself contributing to the 2020 Liberal Democrat Federal Conference, speaking for my allotted 3 minutes in favour of the F11 policy motion, Creating a Federal United Kingdom (for text see below).

There were many voices in the debate critical of the motion for not dealing sufficiently (at all?) with the question of the position of England within a federal UK, and some voted against on that basis (there was also an attempt to "refer back" the matter to the Federal Policy Committee). 

But the motion was nevertheless passed by 681 to 96. A commitment from the Federal Policy Committee to address the question of England and bring proposals back to Spring Conference may have helped with the overall result.

My preferred constitutional reform is still somehow to achieve true federalism between the 4 component parts of the UK. I am not hopeful that this, rather than Scottish independence, will happen. Other than regretting the inevitable quite serious transitional pain, I am not against that outcome, if federalism cannot be achieved.

My comments on the debate

Hello conference. It is great to be able to speak, via this excellent online platform, from Orkney.

In fact, I’m going to use some of my time on the unique constitutional history of the northern isles (that’s Orkney and Shetland). Prior to becoming part of Scotland in 1472, the semi-autonomous earldom of Orkney ( which included Shetland), for 600 years, owed fealty to the Norwegian crown. In 1707 (with the rest of Scotland, and with England and Wales) Orkney was absorbed into an early version of the United Kingdom. During the 300 years since then, Orkney (with the rest of Scotland) has seen many constitutional changes, mainly involving Ireland, the rest of the Empire, and various European structures (including the EU).

We need to reflect on our historical context because we need to understand that the UK’s constitutional arrangements have evolved and changed over many centuries. It is only right that we keep them under review, as envisaged in the motion before us. Some factors make this specially important now: Brexit, covid-19, climate change, and the worrying rise of nationalism and populism around the world – including in all parts of the UK.

Looking now at the present; some would have you believe that there is currently an appetite in Orkney and Shetland for independence from Scotland – I see very little evidence of this in Orkney, other than a few sensationalist headlines in the press. Of course, e are always looking for ways to bring decision-making closer to the people, devolving it from London and Edinburgh (and even, dare I say it, within and between our own islands).

Looking forward, and hoping against hope for progress on creating a federal United Kingdom, let us not forget about the issue of England. All the other parts of the UK now have representative assemblies or parliaments, and devolved governments. England continues to make do with using, and confusing, the UK (or federal) structures to govern itself as well as the whole UK. We need to look at this, and give England *national* (and I do not mean regional!) structures of its own. All 4 UK nations must be represented properly within a federal framework. Unfortunately, I don’t see a great deal of focus on this crucial issue. And without that focus, I believe that the break up of the United Kingdom is all but inevitable. But I still hope that, somehow, serious people can make serious progress towards creating a properly federal UK. But we need to get on with it; and we will need to be much more rigorous in thinking through how it will work. Otherwise, our well-meaning, liberal efforts will be swept away by simplistic, sometimes nationalist, alternatives.

I’ll finish by paraphrasing Jo Grimond (he was speaking in 1979 about the devolution proposals, but his words also apply now, to this motion): "vote for this scheme, not because it is any way adequate to the job, but we'll be able to improve it later."

Text of the F11 Policy motion 

Chair: Geoff Payne (Chair, FCC). Debate Aide: Cara Jenkinson (Vice Chair, FCC). Technical Aide: Cllr Jon Ball (Vice Chair, FCC). 

F11 The Creation of a Federal United Kingdom 

Scottish Liberal Democrats, Welsh Liberal Democrats, Rutherglen & Hamilton West. Mover: Wendy Chamberlain MP (Spokesperson for Political & Constitutional Reform, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). Summation: Cllr Robert Brown. 

Saturday Online Autumn Conference 2020 25 Saturday 26 September 

Conference notes that: 

A. The future cohesion and existence of the United Kingdom is threatened by a sense of alienation and powerlessness amongst many of our citizens which has fuelled Brexit and the growth of nationalism. 

B. The COVID-19 crisis and Brexit have demonstrated both the value of the United Kingdom and the damaging inadequacies of its current constitutional arrangements. 

C. Most people across the United Kingdom have multiple identities which they recognise to varying degrees and which should be reflected in the institutions of government. 

D. There is growing support for constitutional reform across the nations and regions of the United Kingdom. Conference believes that: i) The constitution of the United Kingdom is not fit for the needs of a 21st century liberal democracy. ii) The best way to ensure the continued union between Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland is to create a truly federal United Kingdom, as long advocated by Liberal Democrats. 

Conference calls for: 

1. A Declaration that the United Kingdom is a federal union that exists by the consent of the people of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland where the founding principles of the Union are: a) Democratic government based on liberal values in compliance with the European Convention of Human Rights and which fully respect the diverse identities of our people. b) An equitable distribution of resources between different parts of the United Kingdom based on their respective needs. c) A duty of co-operation on both the Federal and State governments to work for equality of opportunity, guarantee the essentials of a decent life for our citizens, tackle climate change and meet the challenges of a global economy. d) Subsidiarity so that the Federal Parliament does not have the power to legislate in areas of competence of the parliaments of the nations and regions of the Union without their consent and that the exercise of public responsibilities is decentralised as much as reasonably practicable. 

2. Early measures to implement the Federal Declaration including: a) Creating a Declaration of Rights as a foundation document of a Federal United Kingdom which includes a new, modern, inclusive definition of citizenship. b) The enactment and endorsement of the Federal Declaration by Westminster and the Parliaments and Assemblies of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. c) The creation of a United Kingdom Constitutional Convention to lead the creation, on a wide civic and popular basis, of a codified written constitution for Britain. d) The election of the House of Commons by Single Transferable Vote and replacement of the House of Lords by an Upper House with a proper democratic mandate on a basis that represents the nations and regions of the United Kingdom. 

3. The creation of powerful institutions to encourage and enable co-operation between the governments and parliaments of the various parts of the United Kingdom that would include: a) Creating a United Kingdom Federal Council of Ministers to enable the governments and parliaments of the various parts of the Union to work better, building on the work of the joint Ministerial Committees. b) A power for one government to request formally that another take specific necessary action to facilitate policy objectives in an area where the other government has the policy lead. c) A duty on the Federal Government to consult with the governments of the particular parts of the Union on federal policies that would impact on their statutory responsibilities. d) Reform of United Kingdom-wide institutions to enable them to serve all governments and parliaments within the United Kingdom.

4. The transfer of additional powers to the Senedd Cymru (Welsh Parliament) to create broad parity with the powers of the Scottish Parliament including the creation of Wales as a distinct legal jurisdiction. 

5. Liberal Democrats in positions of power or influence in the Scottish Parliament, Senedd Cymru and in local and regional government to collaborate in campaigning and using their influence to build a federal United Kingdom. 

Applicability: Federal. 

Mover: 7 minutes; summation of motion and movers and summation of any amendments: 4 minutes; all other speakers: 3 minutes.