Sceptical Scot

The social democratic case for federalism: Sceptical Scot podcast

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What is Scotland’s future ? What lies ahead for Britain after Brexit? How to restore public trust in democracy – and politicians?

As a new case for Scottish independence emerges and #indyref2 looms, other campaigners say it’s time to debate federalism as the best route to true community empowerment.

 

This Sceptical Scot podcast presents pro-federalist arguments made by Henry McLeish, former first minister of Scotland, and Ian Murray, Labour MP for Edinburgh South, former shadow secretary of state for Scotland.

A debate on federalism, organised by the online magazine Labour Hame, took place before Nicola Sturgeon’s recent announcement promising to restart the debate on independence. Long-awaited findings of the Growth Commission are due to be released this week (Friday 25 May).  The  commission led by former SNP MSP Andrew Wilson was set up in 2016 to make recommendations on monetary policy and an evidence-based case for economic growth in an independent Scotland.

Invitation to debate

So independence is up for debate again. But for the two speakers in our podcast it is just one option – and not necessarily the most exciting one.

To Ian Murray, power is concentrated in the hands of too few people, whether in Holyrood or Westminster. The shambles of Brexit is an opportunity to devolve more power not just to parliaments but also to the communities that lie at the heart of a genuinely accountable democratic process – or should do.

To Henry McLeish the debate needs to focus on better governance – of the economy and society as well as politics. ‘What kind of Scotland, what kind of country, what kind of Britain…that’s not to decry independence but there are many bigger issues and bigger ideas that we should be discussing.’

With thanks to Duncan Hothershall, editor of Labour Hame, for permission to record and publish extracts from the debate Federalism and More.

These are two Labour voices but what they have to say should be of interest to anyone prepared to think open-mindedly and critically about our future as we approach the epochal moment when we leave the EU in March 2019.

As ever, we welcome comments and contributions from all those prepared to engage in genuine debate.

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Comments

3 responses

  1. Joseph Mellon

    Nice thought and in a reasonable world…. but Federalism is unlikely to work in the UK because it requires the centre (Westminster) to relinquish sovereignty: real final power. Scotland could say ‘no’ in certain – important – circumstances and Westminster could not overrule that. It goes against the political instincts, practice, and realpolitik of the UK.
    For instance would England/rUK accept that Scotland would have had a veto over Brexit?

    Reply
    1. David Hood

      Joseph above just beat me to it; regardless if (even) there are some genuine aspirations for some Federal ‘solution’, the solution-problem disconnect is apparent. Westminster and the UK state is a defunct structure for a modern (supposed) democracy. It is failing on so many – too many- counts. A federal structure will *never* be agreed to by the bigger neighbour and established interests.
      Remember this – those establishment interests (yes, represented by Mr Murray and McLeish) softly supported devolution as *power retained*! Federalism is nothing like the devolved model of ‘power retained’ and would *only* be mooted by the establishment to thwart the best and more comprehensive way to improve Scotland (and the rest of the UK nations), which is independence as self-government. Last minute scrambling together with a hotchpotch of ideas that are tabled to thwart true democracy and power is not an alternative to independence; it is another pipe-dream, last-minute and desperate throes of a defunct elitist state, trying to hold on to its privileges, patronage and power.

      Reply
  2. Daniel Murphy

    Here are some of the arguments I advanced for a rebooting of the UK constitution five years ago. I’ve see no reason to change my mind , and many reinforcing events, since. Rather than those who seek a binary solution (yes or no to independence) – the kind of binary approach which divides rather than unites, can those of us in the centre to left of politics not seek agreement and consensus, try to find what unites us rather than what divides us?
    I particularly address these remarks to the earlier commentators on this post.
    httpss://dannymurphyvso.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/a-federal-uk-why-not/

    Reply

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