Dear Fellow Federalist,
Firstly, I hope you and your loved ones are well and safe in these troubled times.
Britain’s less than successful centralised response to the Covid-19 crisis has demonstrated the need for a Federalised system of Government. Germany and South Korea, two of the countries which responded most successfully, both have public-health systems embedded in local government. In Germany, the Federal Government provided extra resources, but the response was run by 375 local authorities. In South Korea, the decision-making was mostly done by central government, but the implementation was local. It is to be hoped that the proposed replacement for Public Health England will be more successful.
The Federal Union over the past year has focused on influencing the Labour Manifesto with respect to devolution, with a certain amount of success, and has contributed to the recent Conservative Paper “Infrastructure, Investment and Devolution”.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Federal Union committee and individual members for providing valuable support and ideas over the year. In particularly I would like to thank our outgoing Treasurer, Lawrence Fullick, for his many years of support for the Federal Union. Chris Powers has taken over his role in addition to his position as deputy Chair for European Issues. In this latter role, he has worked closely with the UEF and liaised with other Federalist branches on the continent. Keith Best continues to work closely with the World Federalist Movement.
Our sister organisation, the Federal Trust, organises some excellent events. Brendan Donnelly, the organisation’s Director, continues to write some very insightful articles on Brexit. These can be found on the Federal Trust website.
This year our AGM will be held on Tuesday 22nd September 2020 via Zoom. Richard Corbett, Dr Andrew Blick and Brendan Donnelly will be discussing Brexit. The event will start at 17.00. RSVP to [email protected] and we will send you a link to the event.
Finally, a plea with respect to funding. Please do ensure your membership fees are paid and any additional contributions will be gratefully received. I will forward a standing order form and details of electronic payment shortly. Please also encourage interest from potential new members.
With my best wishes,
Mark Paterson
Chair – Federal Union