Federal Britain
de John Barnes
This pamphlet contains the first thinking by Conservatives on the structure of the constitution of the United Kingdom since the 1920’s. The authors start from the premise that, by the time that the Conservative Party is next in power, the Bristish constitution will have changed dramatically. Scotland and Wales will have their assemblies; proportional respresentation in some form may have been introduced; the House of Lords reformed; and regional assemblies created in England. It is clear that these propoesed reforms wil be neither corherent nor stable. Yet what will be the Conservative rsponse? Conservatives believe that it is in the paramount interests of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England to remain part of a strong and united Kingdom particularly in the light of the possible development of Europe into a Europe of Regions, instead of the present Europe des Patries. And John Barnes argues that the best way of preserving the Union is to embrae a new codified constituional structure which will enable a proper dispersion of powers to provincial parliaments while establishing a clear role for a federal government. John Barnes’ proposal for a federal United Kingdom is radical – and not all Conservatives will agree with it: this pamphlet also contains a response to the federal proposal from three leading Conservative thinkers on the constitution (Ferdinand Mount, Noel Malcolm and Lord Alexander). But one conclusion is clear: Conservatives must break their traditional silence on constitutional issues and take up the debate which this pamphlet iniates.
