The US needs to have federal city-states. More stars for the flag.
And also to eliminate gerrymandering and either eliminate or reform the EC to avoid the Republicans winning forever, even when the Democrats win the popular vote.
Hanging Together - A Guide to 21st Century Federalism in the "United" Kingdom
- Thread starter Cevolian
- Start date
The US needs to have federal city-states. More stars for the flag.
And also to eliminate gerrymandering and either eliminate or reform the EC to avoid the Republicans winning forever, even when the Democrats win the popular vote.
Though I think certain regions of the US do have pretty distinct identities and in some cases moral codes - looking at you Deep South.Everything needs more devolved city states though, that's just a given
City States, though perhaps a little impractical, have to be up there amongst the coolest forms of sovereign organisation!But yeah it would help to solve the issues of the Electoral College - E.g. The Dems would get something for all those wasted votes in places like Austin where they never had a realistic chance of winning the state...
But anyway, I have update four queued up and nearly ready and we've strayed a little off topic now (though into very interesting territory!)
Part Four: Cornwall
PART FOUR
CORNWALL
CORNWALL
My next encounter with Mebyon Kernow came, rather unsurprisingly, on the “border” between The West Country Devolved Region and Cornwall, and it came in the form of the single most bizarre protest I have ever seen. The protestors had erected a barrier of sorts in the middle of the motorway, creating a huge pileup of traffic and my assistant cum driver Francois was forced to break sharply as we finally approached to avoid simply hurtling straight through it. A policeman attempting, vainly, to corral them into inaction gave us a sympathetic grimace and then returned to shouting toned down abuse at the – largely middle aged, bearded, white, male – Cornish Nationalist fanatics who were so ardently and fervently blocking our way.
We rolled down the driver’s side window of our car as we approached the makeshift roadblock and two burly men in poorly designed party t-shirts approached us. If the whole thing hadn’t been so irritating they may even have been a little menacing. In the distance I could, faintly, now here chants of “Down with Mogg” and “Return our stolen lands” – what stolen lands they meant was not yet something which I had quite worked out. I tried to smile as charmingly as I could at the two men from the passenger’s side – at least as charmingly as a bureaucrat can – but was met with a sneer from one and a look of ever so slight confusion from the other.
“Name, official purpose in Cornwall and passport please.” The sneering one declared, “From next year a visa may also be required, pending a decision by the Stannary Parliament.” This was an institution I would later learn sought to act as an “alternative” to the “illegitimate” assembly, deriving its name from Cornwall’s medieval institutions.
Before I could react to the requests the apologetic policeman returned and moved the men out of the way with a shove and a threatening wave of his truncheon. They lurched off to rejoin the rest of their protest angrily, but the policeman was happy to wave us through the gap in the roadblock which his colleagues had made and were now holding open. I would later learn that these supporters of the “Stannary Parliament” were part of Mebyon Kernow’s radical non-“Coleite” “radical Celtic” wing which, alongside the Green Radicals – themselves a West Country secession from the Ecology Party – were consistently attempting to annex parts of the West Country and then secede from the UK. In fact, since the defeat of Scotland’s independence campaign in 2014 and the Pacification of Northern Ireland, Cornwall’s had become one of the most vitriolic independence movements within the UK. My time in the country not only saw the infamous “Border Protests” but also the far more harmful Truro riots co-led both factions of the party.
Naturally we made quick progress away from the protest.
Cornwall’s’ Assembly was, in many ways, an inversion of its counterpart in the West Country. In Cornwall the Liberal Party had never lost power after winning it in the early days of the Assembly despite the Closed Party List system being used for her elections since the 90s, but were now forced into a coalition with the Conservatives and their allies on the uniquely Cornish “Cornish Independent-Liberal League”. The Liberals’ early dominance had ended, as in the West Country, when they lost ground after the party’s leftward shift as part of Purnell’s “Rainbow Coalition” of left-wing parties. The Liberals now seemed to have soared back to a point where they could win again, especially having taken a more “centrist” route since the coalition with the Conservatives began despite the trends in the national party away from “Lawsian” monetarism under Norman Lamb – unfortunately they were locked into coalition for another two years under the Cornish Assembly’s ironclad Fixed Terms Assemblies Act.
Cornwall’s First Minister, despite his incredibly modest national profile, was remarkably popular in his home region and Steve Gilbert, the young and dynamic successor to Andrew George, who had resigned to become a junior treasury minister under Purnell, seemed to be at the head of a regional Liberal Revival. A “Meadowcroftite” localist at heart, Gilbert was seen as strong opponent of the leadership’s more “equalising” attitudes to federalism, but had also opposed the so-called “Green Liberals” under Steve Radford (and had played a role at their expulsion following the 2012 party conference). His party was, and still are, one of the most Europhilic in Britain (certainly far more so than the Tories or BIP), and that was part of the reason they had gone into coalition with the party of my then boss, the former centrist UK PM and then European President, despite their being to the left of Labour. It had helped that Mandelson, a key ally of the President’s “New Labour” project seemed at times to be far more of a liberal than a Labour leader had any right to be.
The First Minister of Cornwall’s house – officially known, rather blandly, as Cornwall house – is located in Truro, near the former Hall for Cornwall, repurposed to be the Cornish Assembly in 1995 when the region had secured devolution. It was a modest old Georgian House, but there were four or five armed policemen stood at the front, alongside high iron gates more than a little reminiscent of Downing Street. Perhaps most obviously, however, a large Cornish flag hung from a flagpole on the house’s second story balcony, the black and white sigil billowing slightly in the breeze. Not all Cornishmen were Mebyon Kernow fanatics, but they were very proud of their heritage.
I was allowed into the house after flashing my pass to the police outside the gates and explained who exactly that I was and how very important it was that I be let in. Following that I was led politely up a set of stairs to a nondescript little conference room and sat at the end of a long, black, over-polished wooden table. There were only two chairs, one at each end, and the one I was facing was high-backed and leather. It felt more like a synthesis between a board room and a supervillain’s lair than the usual offices in which I had met the other regions’ representatives. After about five minutes a door at the other end of the room opened and – finally – I was greeted by my host. A tall man with thinning blond hair, dressed in an open necked white shirt, sleeves rolled up to convey his youth and charm. This was the First Minister; an energetic if rarely remembered man, often overshadowed by his neighbouring First Minister. His smile was broad, if obviously fake, and as he sat at the end of the table and placed his palms face down on it in synchronicity, I wondered if he was made of plastic.
“So, you’re the interviewer?” He asked.
“Yes, yes I am.” I replied flatly.
“I shan’t be engaging in any of the mannerisms and frivolities you no doubt received from Mister Rees-Mogg. I recognise we’re both busy people. So, we may as well get down to business.” He said. He was certainly more aligned with myself politically, but I couldn’t help but like Gilbert less than his Conservative opponent to the East.
“Of course, First Minister.” I said. I gestured to my TouchPhone to him and he nodded and I pressed record. “Steve Gilbert, First Minister of Cornwall, Cornwall’s place in the Federal System.” There was a moment of terminally awkward silence.
“So, Mister Gilbert, your region is one those most gripped by a desire to secede from the UK. Is devolution not enough for the people of Cornwall?”
“Well it certainly isn’t enough for the fanatics in Mebyon Kernow, certainly, but most people are shown to support remaining in the UK by every poll taken. The federal system suits Cornwall excellently; not only are we able to hold onto both our independent Cornish roots but also our proud heritage as part of the UK. More than that, despite what Cole’s fanatics might say, we are dependent on the UK, so any serious secession would be impossible anyway.” He said. His tone was brusque and matter of fact. It wasn’t, I noted, passionate.
“Ok. Cornwall is one of the Devolved Regions which has been granted more powers than others – second only in power to the other, larger, Celtic nations. What do you think of this remarkable disparity of powers?”
“I think it’s a travesty. The Liberal Party, as you will doubtless know, is the largest member of the Cross-Party Alliance for True Federalism; we want Britain to be able to move away from her unfair system of quasi-federal inequality and to implement a structure which is genuinely fair and democratic.” Gilbert replied. I noted that this response was far more passionate, it seemed as if he actually cared about what he was saying for a change.
“One complaint about the Cornish Closed Party List electoral system was that it crushed the plethora of Independent Legislators on the old Cornish County Council, forcing them to become the Independent-Liberal League and run as a list in alliance with your own. Such events, often described as “Bonfires of the Independents” have been quite common in the UK, and many have claimed that these systems have been implemented to give parties advantages over individual candidates standing for local issues who lack the resources to register a party of their own.”
“Well, the Liberal Party has always campaigned for voting reform – since the 1920s, in fact – but we think that the system we have here is the best for the UK, and that’s why we’re so determined to keep it in place. Whilst the effect on the Cornish independents has been unfortunate, political parties play a far more important role in contemporary British political life. It was not unreasonable, in a party-based democracy, for the Independents to need to join a party or form their own, or die out as they lost voters,” I couldn’t help but think that having the system rigged against them was hardly “losing voters” but I didn’t comment, “and it is simply a sad fact of the kind of confrontational and toxic two-party politics seen in this country today that minor parties cannot easily survive.” He explained. That was all party line, of course, but Gilbert didn’t even make an attempt to hide it.
“Now, the Cornish question. Should Cornwall, in the face of an already extant and larger West Country Devolved Region, truly remain an independent region of the UK or be subsumed into the West Country?”
“I’d say that political separation – political independence – is the only way for the Cornish people. We simply have no desire to be part of the so-called ‘Mogg-Topia’ across the border, and many of us are repulsed by the bigoted, faux-traditionalist policies which he has spent his years in office trying to implement, to the rightful anger of even his own people. In fact, it’s no wonder that some of his policies haven’t been taken to the European Court of Human Rights like some of the London borough’s Burkha Bans or Minimum Pricing Laws. We in Cornwall, we Cornish, are happy to remain independent, and have a proud tradition of both independence and steadfast political liberalism.” He was clearly getting flustered, so I continued on this line of attack.
“And yet your own party is in coalition with the Conservatives, and they frequently poll as the favoured alternative party for your own party’s supporters – those who don’t support the Cornish or West Country BIP, usually. Indeed, some claim that, were it not for the social illiberalism and Euroscepticism of the Tory party you would fold into it, or at least figures from your ideological wing like your form leader David Laws might. You have many of the same economic and foreign policies of moderate Conservatives like Nick Boles or Nick Clegg, and the grassroots of your party, especially in regions like Cornwall, have very similar ideologies indeed.” That may have been too far, but I always did like to get a raw and emotional response from my interviewees. There were some amongst my superiors who disliked that, but the President wasn’t one of them.
“That data is largely outdated or misrepresentative. Besides this is meant to be about federalism. The majority of Cornish people want to remain separate and I, and my political allies, want to remain loyal liberals, and that is the end of the matter.” He said coldly.
“Ok, one last question; how do you think the British federal system could be applied in the EU?”
“The Liberal Party is hugely supportive of further European Integration, and a federal system is something we should support for the EU, especially instead of the current deadlock in Euro-British relations enforced by the Conservative Party and tacitly accepted by the Labour Party and her closet left-wing Eurosceptics. Despite that the system we have here in the UK is simply too… convoluted, and undemocratic. I don’t think it would work for the EU.”
“Ok, than you First Minister.” I ended the recording and, suffice to say, I did not receive a friendly smile or a warm handshake, and I certainly did not receive an offer to stay even a second longer.
We rolled down the driver’s side window of our car as we approached the makeshift roadblock and two burly men in poorly designed party t-shirts approached us. If the whole thing hadn’t been so irritating they may even have been a little menacing. In the distance I could, faintly, now here chants of “Down with Mogg” and “Return our stolen lands” – what stolen lands they meant was not yet something which I had quite worked out. I tried to smile as charmingly as I could at the two men from the passenger’s side – at least as charmingly as a bureaucrat can – but was met with a sneer from one and a look of ever so slight confusion from the other.
“Name, official purpose in Cornwall and passport please.” The sneering one declared, “From next year a visa may also be required, pending a decision by the Stannary Parliament.” This was an institution I would later learn sought to act as an “alternative” to the “illegitimate” assembly, deriving its name from Cornwall’s medieval institutions.
Before I could react to the requests the apologetic policeman returned and moved the men out of the way with a shove and a threatening wave of his truncheon. They lurched off to rejoin the rest of their protest angrily, but the policeman was happy to wave us through the gap in the roadblock which his colleagues had made and were now holding open. I would later learn that these supporters of the “Stannary Parliament” were part of Mebyon Kernow’s radical non-“Coleite” “radical Celtic” wing which, alongside the Green Radicals – themselves a West Country secession from the Ecology Party – were consistently attempting to annex parts of the West Country and then secede from the UK. In fact, since the defeat of Scotland’s independence campaign in 2014 and the Pacification of Northern Ireland, Cornwall’s had become one of the most vitriolic independence movements within the UK. My time in the country not only saw the infamous “Border Protests” but also the far more harmful Truro riots co-led both factions of the party.
Naturally we made quick progress away from the protest.
±±
Cornwall’s’ Assembly was, in many ways, an inversion of its counterpart in the West Country. In Cornwall the Liberal Party had never lost power after winning it in the early days of the Assembly despite the Closed Party List system being used for her elections since the 90s, but were now forced into a coalition with the Conservatives and their allies on the uniquely Cornish “Cornish Independent-Liberal League”. The Liberals’ early dominance had ended, as in the West Country, when they lost ground after the party’s leftward shift as part of Purnell’s “Rainbow Coalition” of left-wing parties. The Liberals now seemed to have soared back to a point where they could win again, especially having taken a more “centrist” route since the coalition with the Conservatives began despite the trends in the national party away from “Lawsian” monetarism under Norman Lamb – unfortunately they were locked into coalition for another two years under the Cornish Assembly’s ironclad Fixed Terms Assemblies Act.
Cornwall’s First Minister, despite his incredibly modest national profile, was remarkably popular in his home region and Steve Gilbert, the young and dynamic successor to Andrew George, who had resigned to become a junior treasury minister under Purnell, seemed to be at the head of a regional Liberal Revival. A “Meadowcroftite” localist at heart, Gilbert was seen as strong opponent of the leadership’s more “equalising” attitudes to federalism, but had also opposed the so-called “Green Liberals” under Steve Radford (and had played a role at their expulsion following the 2012 party conference). His party was, and still are, one of the most Europhilic in Britain (certainly far more so than the Tories or BIP), and that was part of the reason they had gone into coalition with the party of my then boss, the former centrist UK PM and then European President, despite their being to the left of Labour. It had helped that Mandelson, a key ally of the President’s “New Labour” project seemed at times to be far more of a liberal than a Labour leader had any right to be.
The First Minister of Cornwall’s house – officially known, rather blandly, as Cornwall house – is located in Truro, near the former Hall for Cornwall, repurposed to be the Cornish Assembly in 1995 when the region had secured devolution. It was a modest old Georgian House, but there were four or five armed policemen stood at the front, alongside high iron gates more than a little reminiscent of Downing Street. Perhaps most obviously, however, a large Cornish flag hung from a flagpole on the house’s second story balcony, the black and white sigil billowing slightly in the breeze. Not all Cornishmen were Mebyon Kernow fanatics, but they were very proud of their heritage.
I was allowed into the house after flashing my pass to the police outside the gates and explained who exactly that I was and how very important it was that I be let in. Following that I was led politely up a set of stairs to a nondescript little conference room and sat at the end of a long, black, over-polished wooden table. There were only two chairs, one at each end, and the one I was facing was high-backed and leather. It felt more like a synthesis between a board room and a supervillain’s lair than the usual offices in which I had met the other regions’ representatives. After about five minutes a door at the other end of the room opened and – finally – I was greeted by my host. A tall man with thinning blond hair, dressed in an open necked white shirt, sleeves rolled up to convey his youth and charm. This was the First Minister; an energetic if rarely remembered man, often overshadowed by his neighbouring First Minister. His smile was broad, if obviously fake, and as he sat at the end of the table and placed his palms face down on it in synchronicity, I wondered if he was made of plastic.
“So, you’re the interviewer?” He asked.
“Yes, yes I am.” I replied flatly.
“I shan’t be engaging in any of the mannerisms and frivolities you no doubt received from Mister Rees-Mogg. I recognise we’re both busy people. So, we may as well get down to business.” He said. He was certainly more aligned with myself politically, but I couldn’t help but like Gilbert less than his Conservative opponent to the East.
“Of course, First Minister.” I said. I gestured to my TouchPhone to him and he nodded and I pressed record. “Steve Gilbert, First Minister of Cornwall, Cornwall’s place in the Federal System.” There was a moment of terminally awkward silence.
“So, Mister Gilbert, your region is one those most gripped by a desire to secede from the UK. Is devolution not enough for the people of Cornwall?”
“Well it certainly isn’t enough for the fanatics in Mebyon Kernow, certainly, but most people are shown to support remaining in the UK by every poll taken. The federal system suits Cornwall excellently; not only are we able to hold onto both our independent Cornish roots but also our proud heritage as part of the UK. More than that, despite what Cole’s fanatics might say, we are dependent on the UK, so any serious secession would be impossible anyway.” He said. His tone was brusque and matter of fact. It wasn’t, I noted, passionate.
“Ok. Cornwall is one of the Devolved Regions which has been granted more powers than others – second only in power to the other, larger, Celtic nations. What do you think of this remarkable disparity of powers?”
“I think it’s a travesty. The Liberal Party, as you will doubtless know, is the largest member of the Cross-Party Alliance for True Federalism; we want Britain to be able to move away from her unfair system of quasi-federal inequality and to implement a structure which is genuinely fair and democratic.” Gilbert replied. I noted that this response was far more passionate, it seemed as if he actually cared about what he was saying for a change.
“One complaint about the Cornish Closed Party List electoral system was that it crushed the plethora of Independent Legislators on the old Cornish County Council, forcing them to become the Independent-Liberal League and run as a list in alliance with your own. Such events, often described as “Bonfires of the Independents” have been quite common in the UK, and many have claimed that these systems have been implemented to give parties advantages over individual candidates standing for local issues who lack the resources to register a party of their own.”
“Well, the Liberal Party has always campaigned for voting reform – since the 1920s, in fact – but we think that the system we have here is the best for the UK, and that’s why we’re so determined to keep it in place. Whilst the effect on the Cornish independents has been unfortunate, political parties play a far more important role in contemporary British political life. It was not unreasonable, in a party-based democracy, for the Independents to need to join a party or form their own, or die out as they lost voters,” I couldn’t help but think that having the system rigged against them was hardly “losing voters” but I didn’t comment, “and it is simply a sad fact of the kind of confrontational and toxic two-party politics seen in this country today that minor parties cannot easily survive.” He explained. That was all party line, of course, but Gilbert didn’t even make an attempt to hide it.
“Now, the Cornish question. Should Cornwall, in the face of an already extant and larger West Country Devolved Region, truly remain an independent region of the UK or be subsumed into the West Country?”
“I’d say that political separation – political independence – is the only way for the Cornish people. We simply have no desire to be part of the so-called ‘Mogg-Topia’ across the border, and many of us are repulsed by the bigoted, faux-traditionalist policies which he has spent his years in office trying to implement, to the rightful anger of even his own people. In fact, it’s no wonder that some of his policies haven’t been taken to the European Court of Human Rights like some of the London borough’s Burkha Bans or Minimum Pricing Laws. We in Cornwall, we Cornish, are happy to remain independent, and have a proud tradition of both independence and steadfast political liberalism.” He was clearly getting flustered, so I continued on this line of attack.
“And yet your own party is in coalition with the Conservatives, and they frequently poll as the favoured alternative party for your own party’s supporters – those who don’t support the Cornish or West Country BIP, usually. Indeed, some claim that, were it not for the social illiberalism and Euroscepticism of the Tory party you would fold into it, or at least figures from your ideological wing like your form leader David Laws might. You have many of the same economic and foreign policies of moderate Conservatives like Nick Boles or Nick Clegg, and the grassroots of your party, especially in regions like Cornwall, have very similar ideologies indeed.” That may have been too far, but I always did like to get a raw and emotional response from my interviewees. There were some amongst my superiors who disliked that, but the President wasn’t one of them.
“That data is largely outdated or misrepresentative. Besides this is meant to be about federalism. The majority of Cornish people want to remain separate and I, and my political allies, want to remain loyal liberals, and that is the end of the matter.” He said coldly.
“Ok, one last question; how do you think the British federal system could be applied in the EU?”
“The Liberal Party is hugely supportive of further European Integration, and a federal system is something we should support for the EU, especially instead of the current deadlock in Euro-British relations enforced by the Conservative Party and tacitly accepted by the Labour Party and her closet left-wing Eurosceptics. Despite that the system we have here in the UK is simply too… convoluted, and undemocratic. I don’t think it would work for the EU.”
“Ok, than you First Minister.” I ended the recording and, suffice to say, I did not receive a friendly smile or a warm handshake, and I certainly did not receive an offer to stay even a second longer.
Thanks Ben
Just like the concept and the style.
Look forward to the updates on the North and Yorkshire.
Thank you very much
I'm especially happy to hear people don't just like the concept but think the style is good too! And if you want spoilers those chapters were posted on the original draft, but I wouldn't recommend spoiling it, not long now until those updates anyway!It's not actually Wessex, it's the West Country, but as the region has no proper flag I thought that would be the best one to use! Especially to emphasise the slightly back of a napkin nature of Britain's new federal constitution.
I'm curious what makes FM Gilbert claim that the federal system is undemocratic. It definitely asymetrical, which is definitely strange. I'm sure we'lll know more as it goes.
The different voting systems and how proportional they are, I guess.
It’s mostly the extremity of the assymetry and the results of that which we’ll see later on...
Thank you guys so much for commenting so often by the way
makes writing this much more fun!I figured it also has to do with power disparity between the regions.It’s mostly the extremity of the assymetry and the results of that which we’ll see later on...
Thank you guys so much for commenting so often by the way
And hey, I'm enjoying this and feel like commenting with every update. Keep it up!
Sideways
Donor
Just caught up.
Some feelings:
React is such a brilliant uber-Activate. I love it.
Jack Buckby. Oh my God Jack Buckby Oh my God. Oh fuck. What is happening in London? Then we see a little more on that in later bits.
Hahaha Stannary Parliaments and Green Radicals. TTL's Sideways is hopefully having a lot of fun, even with Mogg around.
Some feelings:
React is such a brilliant uber-Activate. I love it.
Jack Buckby. Oh my God Jack Buckby Oh my God. Oh fuck. What is happening in London? Then we see a little more on that in later bits.
Hahaha Stannary Parliaments and Green Radicals. TTL's Sideways is hopefully having a lot of fun, even with Mogg around.
Part Five: Wales
PART FIVE
WALES
WALES
It was actually on my first night in Cardiff that the ‘Edinburgh Plan’ came to light; Scotland’s First Minister had come out in opposition to the UK’s policies towards the EU after years of SNP complaints, and was now applying to sign the Treaty of Antwerp himself, separately from the rest of the UK and just in time for a referendum on closer integration into the UK. To make matters worse, he had made comments “accidentally” leaked to the press which seemed to imply that the incumbent Conservative Government was incompetent and illegitimate, and that a Unilateral Declaration of Independence was on the Scottish Government’s mind pending a referendum which it was not unlikely they would win. It was the biggest Constitutional Crisis since the Civil War, and George Smith had already demanded that the First Minister step down.
I got a text from the President almost as soon as the plan was announced;
‘Coming to Edinburgh in time for the end of your mission to hammer out a deal. Want you there.’
It was an instruction and not a request.
That of course meant that I had to stick tightly to the schedule, despite the potential for things to go awry, and it meant that there was no time for the then anticipated delays in Northern Ireland as both parties tried to slow my mission down. I would have to get everything down there on schedule and without the fuss which we were expecting. Fortunately, before travelling to Northern Ireland, I had first had to visit Wales, a trip which – by comparison – was to seem very easy and very tranquil indeed. The First Labour dominated region I was to visit; Wales, after all, benefited hugely from Britain’s EU membership, still receiving subsidies in spite of the confusing arrangement between the supranational body and the UK. European Union membership was, and is, in the minds of the Welsh Government essential to keeping the country afloat.
I arrived at the First Minister’s office in the Welsh Assembly early on my second day in Cardiff and was greeted by a charming young Welshman who explained to me that he was the First Minister’s Personal Private Secretary in the Welsh Assembly – unlike the English the Welsh certainly no how to do charm. Though the Assembly building itself was a nasty work of brutalist architecture – oh so typical of the 70s and 80 milieu in which it had been designed – the waiting room I was left in there felt far nicer than any of the others on my little journey. Perhaps this was simply due to the lack of an air of naked hostility, but I was able to sit and observe my surroundings in comfort.
In spite of the initial failure of the devolution referendum in Wales the Welsh had eventually been granted an assembly after a second referendum in 1981 after it became obvious that they were dissatisfied with Westminster rule (and which was more akin to the Scottish Parliament than the plans proposed by the Callaghan government) partly in order to dampen the effects of the Liberal Revival and partly in response to a mass political movement in support of such a measure. It had won Thatcher the support of conservative Plaid voters, and had won her embattled government two more Welsh seats at the 1983 General Election. After Labour won the first elections to the Welsh Assembly – then still under First Past the Post – there was no clear leader in Welsh politics, and a power-sharing deal at the top wherein the office of First Minister would be rotated quickly collapsed, and the leader of the Opposition at Westminster was forced to recall the man of the hour back from Europe; Roy Jenkins. Riding high on the end of a successful stint as President of the European Commission, Jenkins (on the right of his party like the President) had initially harboured sentiments about leaving or splitting Labour, especially after Tony Benn was elected as Healey’s deputy leader, these died with his appointment as First Minister. Power, as always, helped to curb unruly ambitions. Jenkins finally retired in the late 1980s as Labour swept back into power from the dominant Conservatives, one of the most beloved and effective of the new First Ministers and the Grand Old Man of both Welsh and British politics.
I had always found the history of the Welsh Assembly particularly curious; appearing just three years after seeming to have been decisively rejected by the very people it had claimed to represent, and then nearly falling apart as Labour struggled to balance out its vying internal factions. Jenkins too was an interesting figure, seemingly a model for an ideal Anglo-European relationship, and a huge inspiration for the New Labour revival of the British left in the 1990s. Indeed, I could have gone on and on, my thoughts perhaps touching on how the very English, if Welsh born, Jenkins had miraculously readopted the Welsh nationality, if it had not been for the arrival of the First Minister. Entering the room with an unquestionable air of grace and dignity, Nia Griffith smiled politely at me, shaking my hand firmly as I stood to greet her. The well-regarded left-wing First Minister smiled, and then welcome me in a perplexingly indistinguishable accent, which of course prompted me to rather tactlessly inquire about her origins.
“Oh, I’m Northern Irish by birth, but I grew up in Hull, and then after being an undergrad at Cambridge I went to Bangor – nearly didn’t mind you – and I’ve been in Wales ever since.” She replied. It was a detailed origin story, and one few would expect to end in the office of the Welsh First Minister.
“Ah well, its always good to meet someone else from Ireland here in the UK.” I said.
“Though I’d assume you’re from the Republic?” She asked, one eyebrow arching ever so slightly before falling back into place.
“Yes indeed.” I replied.
“Thought so,” He smiled and then paused for a moment, looking beyond me at a portrait hung in the waiting room, seeming to consider Roy Jenkins’ sombre gaze, “Anyway we have an interview to conduct, don’t we!”
“Yes, of course.” We went into her office and, as had become routine, sat on opposite sides of a desk – far more comfortable than in conference room Cornwall. She smiled at me broadly once again. I placed my phone on the desk. The whole process was, by that point, starting to get really rather dull.
“Nia Griffith, First Minister of Wales, Wales’ place in the federal system.” I intone carefully; I was nervously aware that complacency breeds mistakes, and that one little error would mean restarting the whole recording or else forever being remembered as the man who said the name of Wales’ First Minister wrong in a seminal EU report, “So, First Minister, the most obvious thing to ask you about first is your very recent appointment to high office.”
“Yes, I’ll admit that it’s an unusual state of affairs.” She said, wincing. Nervous.
“Indeed. The previous First Minister, Owen Smith, was considered to have drifted from the soft left to what is widely regarded as the ‘Jenkinsite’ tendency within Welsh Labour, that is on the right of the party. He was removed when Labour’s current leader came to power just after the last election, and took a far more left-wing stance than Mr Purnell had previously. Don’t you think its undemocratic of the Labour leadership to dismiss – and to be able to dismiss - the leader of a regional party on a whim due to ideological differences?” I asked.
“Let’s be clear on the matter – John made me First Minister to battle the corruption and lax attitudes which had plagued the last Labour administration in Wales. Whilst our new leader and I are from the same ideological wing of the party broadly speaking, I haven’t been placed her as part of some Stalinist ideological purge as you and most of the media seem to be alleging. Owen Smith’s government was notorious for its pro-corporate leanings and dodgy dealings – the opposition’s Crab Report proved that, so it was time for him to go. When even the Tories think you’re too in bed with big business something is definitely up.” She replied earnestly, if a little confusingly.
“That’s all well and good, but is it acceptable that the national party leader has the ability to force the party to remove and replace the duly elected First Minister of a region?” I asked.
“I was appointed First Minister in a vote in Welsh Labour if you recall, not merely appointed. Labour’s central structure has always reserved the power to dismiss regional leadership figures if the NEC will allow it – it isn’t like the current American President’s attempts to remove State Governors she dislikes which, as we all know, is thoroughly unconstitutional.” She smirked, “And she accused Mr Trump of wanting to go above and beyond constitutional powers in the election.”
“Though one would note that President Fiorina hasn’t actually directly called for State Governor’s, like Mr Trump in New York himself, to be dismissed, she’s merely stated that she wishes she could fire them, but anyway we digress, back to the matter at hand.” I paused, trying to make it clear with my facial expressions that we weren’t here to talk about the US, as much as it seemed to be in vogue for British politicians to insult the former HP CEO and one term California Senator now residing in the White House, “Regardless, whilst you were voted for as First Minister, the government essentially whipped that vote, and despite many of your Plaid Cymru coalition partners voting against your appointment, every Labour assembly member supported you under threat of deselection if they did not support what the Westminster leadership wanted.”
“That’s simply a dynamic of the Westminster Party system,” She said with a shrug, “What has been done was perfectly legal and fair, both within the Labour Constitution and the British one, and has allowed us to make huge strides towards reforming Wales and pursuing a more efficient and just government which works for the many and not for the few.”
“Ok. Another complaint often levelled at you, First Minister, is that you were born outside of the region you now control, is that something which you have found impacts upon how you do your job?”
“In short, no. I might not have been born in Wales, but I still understand the struggle of her people. The point of Federalism was to stop people from suffering the tensions between regions, not as a way for people to point them out and create further divisions between us. I have in Wales for decades now, and I am more than qualified to serve as her First Minister.”
“Thank you. With regards to last night’s declaration in Edinburgh, do you think there should be more devolution of foreign policy in the UK?” I asked. It had certainly caused a very serious international incident but, thinking cynically, I could not help but recognise that the declaration was like a goldmine for my mission.
“No. As much as I abhor the current government’s foreign policy – especially with the ongoing intervention in Pakistan and the rising death toll, I simply can’t agree with our allies in the SNP. For once the Conservatives are right on an issue, and the Labour, and I myself, strongly believe in a shared foreign policy set by our central government.” She said tersely.
“On the subject of the Conservatives in Scotland, what do you think of the Conservative Party’s much more federal structure? The Scottish Unionist and Conservatives, the Ulster Unionists and Conservatives and the Welsh Conservatives are all co-equal to the English Conservative and Unionist Party within the Conservative and Unionist Alliance, but run separate campaigns under separate leaders, which is a far more devolved system than in your party.”
“It’s certainly an interesting system, but not necessarily one I think is best for party unity – even with the reactionary George Smith and his Reaction cronies at the helm the English Conservatives are far more progressive than the Ulster Unionists, whilst the Scottish Unionists take a more economically interventionist and pro-European stance than the rest of their alliance. John’s leadership is divisive enough already, and although democratic, I think the Conservative system is bad for party unity. The Conservatives’ current situation is one born of historical circumstances, namely the breakaway of the Scottish Unionists over the implementation of the poll tax in Scotland and then their later reunion. Labour, proudly, has no such history of division and defection over ideological disputes.”
“Although Labour has entered a similar electoral alliance with the SDLP-Fianna Fáil and did with the SNP at the last election, what with Purnell’s ‘Grand Coalition’ of the left, though that has now been dropped. That helped Labour to stay in power despite losing Mandelson’s majority, so would you be in favour of a similar ‘Popular Front’ with Plaid, the Liberals and the SNP to implement a cohesive set of progressive policies across the country?”
“Well, I personally believe that Purnell’s government actually represents four wasted years, and the Liberals were able and willing to exploit the frailty of our coalition government’s majority to drag us all to the right. That said, I can certainly see Labour working with Plaid on a national level as we do in government here in Cardiff, though the SNP have rather shot themselves in the foot over this whole Edinburgh plan affair.” She explained.
“Ok, one more question. How do you think the British federal model could be applied to the European Union as a whole?”
“I don’t think the EU should be doing anything to become more centralised, so very badly indeed. My party is unwhipped on the European issue, but I am in agreement with our leader; the EU is not only undemocratic, but anti-democratic and are too focused on free market economics to do this country any good. I cannot support it, but nor can I support the current state of British relations with the EU as established by the Conservatives. The internationalism at the heart of the European project is admirable, but how it has manifested in reality is not. As for the UK’s federal system, it certainly leaves something to be desired, though the balance of power between weak and strong members, and those members who want closer or looser integration, may be highly applicable to the EU, what with the reluctance of many members to enter a project so dominated by the French and Germans.” She replied cautiously and methodically.
“Ok, thank you for your time.” I ended my recording, but remained secret for the moment, perhaps surprising even myself, and sat in silence for a moment before speaking again, “What could make you change your mind on Europe, out of interest?”
“You’d need to curb the power of your President. His faux-leftist agenda not only damaged our party for a generation, but his authoritarian streak seems worrying as he clings onto power, even if he has tried to present himself as the champion of Europeans’ civil liberties. He was a disaster for Labour despite the brief success of New Labour, and he’ll be a disaster for the EU too.”
“Ah, I understand.” I didn’t really, but I had no time for an argument.
I got a text from the President almost as soon as the plan was announced;
‘Coming to Edinburgh in time for the end of your mission to hammer out a deal. Want you there.’
It was an instruction and not a request.
That of course meant that I had to stick tightly to the schedule, despite the potential for things to go awry, and it meant that there was no time for the then anticipated delays in Northern Ireland as both parties tried to slow my mission down. I would have to get everything down there on schedule and without the fuss which we were expecting. Fortunately, before travelling to Northern Ireland, I had first had to visit Wales, a trip which – by comparison – was to seem very easy and very tranquil indeed. The First Labour dominated region I was to visit; Wales, after all, benefited hugely from Britain’s EU membership, still receiving subsidies in spite of the confusing arrangement between the supranational body and the UK. European Union membership was, and is, in the minds of the Welsh Government essential to keeping the country afloat.
±±
I arrived at the First Minister’s office in the Welsh Assembly early on my second day in Cardiff and was greeted by a charming young Welshman who explained to me that he was the First Minister’s Personal Private Secretary in the Welsh Assembly – unlike the English the Welsh certainly no how to do charm. Though the Assembly building itself was a nasty work of brutalist architecture – oh so typical of the 70s and 80 milieu in which it had been designed – the waiting room I was left in there felt far nicer than any of the others on my little journey. Perhaps this was simply due to the lack of an air of naked hostility, but I was able to sit and observe my surroundings in comfort.
In spite of the initial failure of the devolution referendum in Wales the Welsh had eventually been granted an assembly after a second referendum in 1981 after it became obvious that they were dissatisfied with Westminster rule (and which was more akin to the Scottish Parliament than the plans proposed by the Callaghan government) partly in order to dampen the effects of the Liberal Revival and partly in response to a mass political movement in support of such a measure. It had won Thatcher the support of conservative Plaid voters, and had won her embattled government two more Welsh seats at the 1983 General Election. After Labour won the first elections to the Welsh Assembly – then still under First Past the Post – there was no clear leader in Welsh politics, and a power-sharing deal at the top wherein the office of First Minister would be rotated quickly collapsed, and the leader of the Opposition at Westminster was forced to recall the man of the hour back from Europe; Roy Jenkins. Riding high on the end of a successful stint as President of the European Commission, Jenkins (on the right of his party like the President) had initially harboured sentiments about leaving or splitting Labour, especially after Tony Benn was elected as Healey’s deputy leader, these died with his appointment as First Minister. Power, as always, helped to curb unruly ambitions. Jenkins finally retired in the late 1980s as Labour swept back into power from the dominant Conservatives, one of the most beloved and effective of the new First Ministers and the Grand Old Man of both Welsh and British politics.
I had always found the history of the Welsh Assembly particularly curious; appearing just three years after seeming to have been decisively rejected by the very people it had claimed to represent, and then nearly falling apart as Labour struggled to balance out its vying internal factions. Jenkins too was an interesting figure, seemingly a model for an ideal Anglo-European relationship, and a huge inspiration for the New Labour revival of the British left in the 1990s. Indeed, I could have gone on and on, my thoughts perhaps touching on how the very English, if Welsh born, Jenkins had miraculously readopted the Welsh nationality, if it had not been for the arrival of the First Minister. Entering the room with an unquestionable air of grace and dignity, Nia Griffith smiled politely at me, shaking my hand firmly as I stood to greet her. The well-regarded left-wing First Minister smiled, and then welcome me in a perplexingly indistinguishable accent, which of course prompted me to rather tactlessly inquire about her origins.
“Oh, I’m Northern Irish by birth, but I grew up in Hull, and then after being an undergrad at Cambridge I went to Bangor – nearly didn’t mind you – and I’ve been in Wales ever since.” She replied. It was a detailed origin story, and one few would expect to end in the office of the Welsh First Minister.
“Ah well, its always good to meet someone else from Ireland here in the UK.” I said.
“Though I’d assume you’re from the Republic?” She asked, one eyebrow arching ever so slightly before falling back into place.
“Yes indeed.” I replied.
“Thought so,” He smiled and then paused for a moment, looking beyond me at a portrait hung in the waiting room, seeming to consider Roy Jenkins’ sombre gaze, “Anyway we have an interview to conduct, don’t we!”
“Yes, of course.” We went into her office and, as had become routine, sat on opposite sides of a desk – far more comfortable than in conference room Cornwall. She smiled at me broadly once again. I placed my phone on the desk. The whole process was, by that point, starting to get really rather dull.
“Nia Griffith, First Minister of Wales, Wales’ place in the federal system.” I intone carefully; I was nervously aware that complacency breeds mistakes, and that one little error would mean restarting the whole recording or else forever being remembered as the man who said the name of Wales’ First Minister wrong in a seminal EU report, “So, First Minister, the most obvious thing to ask you about first is your very recent appointment to high office.”
“Yes, I’ll admit that it’s an unusual state of affairs.” She said, wincing. Nervous.
“Indeed. The previous First Minister, Owen Smith, was considered to have drifted from the soft left to what is widely regarded as the ‘Jenkinsite’ tendency within Welsh Labour, that is on the right of the party. He was removed when Labour’s current leader came to power just after the last election, and took a far more left-wing stance than Mr Purnell had previously. Don’t you think its undemocratic of the Labour leadership to dismiss – and to be able to dismiss - the leader of a regional party on a whim due to ideological differences?” I asked.
“Let’s be clear on the matter – John made me First Minister to battle the corruption and lax attitudes which had plagued the last Labour administration in Wales. Whilst our new leader and I are from the same ideological wing of the party broadly speaking, I haven’t been placed her as part of some Stalinist ideological purge as you and most of the media seem to be alleging. Owen Smith’s government was notorious for its pro-corporate leanings and dodgy dealings – the opposition’s Crab Report proved that, so it was time for him to go. When even the Tories think you’re too in bed with big business something is definitely up.” She replied earnestly, if a little confusingly.
“That’s all well and good, but is it acceptable that the national party leader has the ability to force the party to remove and replace the duly elected First Minister of a region?” I asked.
“I was appointed First Minister in a vote in Welsh Labour if you recall, not merely appointed. Labour’s central structure has always reserved the power to dismiss regional leadership figures if the NEC will allow it – it isn’t like the current American President’s attempts to remove State Governors she dislikes which, as we all know, is thoroughly unconstitutional.” She smirked, “And she accused Mr Trump of wanting to go above and beyond constitutional powers in the election.”
“Though one would note that President Fiorina hasn’t actually directly called for State Governor’s, like Mr Trump in New York himself, to be dismissed, she’s merely stated that she wishes she could fire them, but anyway we digress, back to the matter at hand.” I paused, trying to make it clear with my facial expressions that we weren’t here to talk about the US, as much as it seemed to be in vogue for British politicians to insult the former HP CEO and one term California Senator now residing in the White House, “Regardless, whilst you were voted for as First Minister, the government essentially whipped that vote, and despite many of your Plaid Cymru coalition partners voting against your appointment, every Labour assembly member supported you under threat of deselection if they did not support what the Westminster leadership wanted.”
“That’s simply a dynamic of the Westminster Party system,” She said with a shrug, “What has been done was perfectly legal and fair, both within the Labour Constitution and the British one, and has allowed us to make huge strides towards reforming Wales and pursuing a more efficient and just government which works for the many and not for the few.”
“Ok. Another complaint often levelled at you, First Minister, is that you were born outside of the region you now control, is that something which you have found impacts upon how you do your job?”
“In short, no. I might not have been born in Wales, but I still understand the struggle of her people. The point of Federalism was to stop people from suffering the tensions between regions, not as a way for people to point them out and create further divisions between us. I have in Wales for decades now, and I am more than qualified to serve as her First Minister.”
“Thank you. With regards to last night’s declaration in Edinburgh, do you think there should be more devolution of foreign policy in the UK?” I asked. It had certainly caused a very serious international incident but, thinking cynically, I could not help but recognise that the declaration was like a goldmine for my mission.
“No. As much as I abhor the current government’s foreign policy – especially with the ongoing intervention in Pakistan and the rising death toll, I simply can’t agree with our allies in the SNP. For once the Conservatives are right on an issue, and the Labour, and I myself, strongly believe in a shared foreign policy set by our central government.” She said tersely.
“On the subject of the Conservatives in Scotland, what do you think of the Conservative Party’s much more federal structure? The Scottish Unionist and Conservatives, the Ulster Unionists and Conservatives and the Welsh Conservatives are all co-equal to the English Conservative and Unionist Party within the Conservative and Unionist Alliance, but run separate campaigns under separate leaders, which is a far more devolved system than in your party.”
“It’s certainly an interesting system, but not necessarily one I think is best for party unity – even with the reactionary George Smith and his Reaction cronies at the helm the English Conservatives are far more progressive than the Ulster Unionists, whilst the Scottish Unionists take a more economically interventionist and pro-European stance than the rest of their alliance. John’s leadership is divisive enough already, and although democratic, I think the Conservative system is bad for party unity. The Conservatives’ current situation is one born of historical circumstances, namely the breakaway of the Scottish Unionists over the implementation of the poll tax in Scotland and then their later reunion. Labour, proudly, has no such history of division and defection over ideological disputes.”
“Although Labour has entered a similar electoral alliance with the SDLP-Fianna Fáil and did with the SNP at the last election, what with Purnell’s ‘Grand Coalition’ of the left, though that has now been dropped. That helped Labour to stay in power despite losing Mandelson’s majority, so would you be in favour of a similar ‘Popular Front’ with Plaid, the Liberals and the SNP to implement a cohesive set of progressive policies across the country?”
“Well, I personally believe that Purnell’s government actually represents four wasted years, and the Liberals were able and willing to exploit the frailty of our coalition government’s majority to drag us all to the right. That said, I can certainly see Labour working with Plaid on a national level as we do in government here in Cardiff, though the SNP have rather shot themselves in the foot over this whole Edinburgh plan affair.” She explained.
“Ok, one more question. How do you think the British federal model could be applied to the European Union as a whole?”
“I don’t think the EU should be doing anything to become more centralised, so very badly indeed. My party is unwhipped on the European issue, but I am in agreement with our leader; the EU is not only undemocratic, but anti-democratic and are too focused on free market economics to do this country any good. I cannot support it, but nor can I support the current state of British relations with the EU as established by the Conservatives. The internationalism at the heart of the European project is admirable, but how it has manifested in reality is not. As for the UK’s federal system, it certainly leaves something to be desired, though the balance of power between weak and strong members, and those members who want closer or looser integration, may be highly applicable to the EU, what with the reluctance of many members to enter a project so dominated by the French and Germans.” She replied cautiously and methodically.
“Ok, thank you for your time.” I ended my recording, but remained secret for the moment, perhaps surprising even myself, and sat in silence for a moment before speaking again, “What could make you change your mind on Europe, out of interest?”
“You’d need to curb the power of your President. His faux-leftist agenda not only damaged our party for a generation, but his authoritarian streak seems worrying as he clings onto power, even if he has tried to present himself as the champion of Europeans’ civil liberties. He was a disaster for Labour despite the brief success of New Labour, and he’ll be a disaster for the EU too.”
“Ah, I understand.” I didn’t really, but I had no time for an argument.
Thanks
I'm glad you're liking it so far
I thought that the conservative equivalent of momentum would have to be something like that - a bit of abstract naming in the same style which I think Reaction works well for!
And yeah Jack Buckby... Jack Buckby... I think it's fair to say that London is going down a dark path in places, with local governments granted more and more power which they're steadily abusing to create their own little uptoias... think the dystopic suburban "burbclaves" in Snowcrash if any of you have read that.
And well I had to throw in a little fan service
Yes Labour is delightfully messy in all universes, and this one is no exception...
They're elected by the Parliaments yes rather than being appointed by the Queen, though London's Assemby has a symbolic opening with the Queen present just because they can. I haven't read the report in a long time now, but I belibe it all had the FMs elected by the parliament. Basically it's just OTL's Welsh and Scottish Assembly systems! But as you can see national leadership still has a fair amount of influence...
Oh and since I nearly forgot, for those of you who haven't already, fans of this TL (if any exist!) should check out Speaking for England by @BrotherSideways which metals deconstructs the tropes of the whole "Lets visit and examine an assembly where everyone's identity is ambiguous until the end!" genre.
Damnit, I was hoping that at least Labour would be fairly interested in federalising Europe.
I'm curious about popular opinion at this point and if it matches these politicians' claims.
I'm curious about popular opinion at this point and if it matches these politicians' claims.
There are some in Labour who do support federalising the EU (it's current President, after all, was a Labour PM) but the left have the same opinion as IOTL, just a lot more vocally...
And the fact that the public keep voting for two parties which are, at best, ambiguous on EU policy should tell you everything you need to know... (I.E. The public are about as enthused about a more integrated Europe as they are IRL)