The Federal Union AGM and annual conference will be held in London on Saturday 17 March 2012.
It will discuss:
– the fate of the European Union after the latest treaty
– the fate of the Anglo-Scottish union in the light of the forthcoming referendum
Non-members welcome.
Venue: Room CLM.7.03 in Clement House, LSE, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE (nearest tubes Temple, Holborn) – click here for a map
Programme
10.30 am coffee and registration
11 am Can the European Union be saved?
Speakers: Gerald Wolf, German embassy; Philip Whyte, Centre for European Reform
What is in the new eurozone-plus treaty? Will the economic model that it embodies will be adequate to deliver growth and prosperity in the future? Will its political model will be sufficient to establish the legitimacy of that economic model? Will the new treaty enable the European Union and/or the euro to survive?
1 pm lunch
1.45 pm AGM session
2 pm Can the Anglo-Scottish union be saved?
Speakers: Dr Andrew Blick, Federal Trust, Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Contemporary History, Senior Research Fellow at Democratic Audit; Sir Brian Barder, former diplomat, now writing and blogging about politics, constitutional and other current issues
Does a referendum in Scotland have the legitimacy to settle the fate of the Anglo-Scottish union? What kind of reforms to that union might be possible that would satisfy both the Scots and the English, short of outright dissolution? Can the traditional notions of parliamentary sovereignty and a unitary state survive?
4 pm close
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Please complete and return the form below, or send an e-mail to [email protected], if you able to come to the AGM and annual conference. We ask for a contribution of £20 (waged) or £10 (student/unwaged) towards the costs of the catering and room hire. Please make a contribution if you can.
You can make a contribution by sending a cheque payable to “Federal Union” to the address below, or via our PayPal account by clicking here:
Programme correct as at 4 March 2012. Federal Union reserves the right to change the programme without notice if circumstances should require.
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Please return to: Federal Union, 61 Leopold Road, London N2 8BG, or e-mail to [email protected]
[ ] I will be attending the AGM on Saturday 17 March 2012
[ ] I will not be able to attend the AGM – please report my apologies for absence
[ ] I enclose a cheque payable to “Federal Union” for £20 (waged) / £10 (student/unwaged)
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posted by Keith Tunstall:
The tension between Democracy and the Markets is worth a debate. Arguably, democracy got young democracies in southern Europe into the financial mess – politicians bribing the electorate to get votes. Technocratic governments, following the demand from the Markets for austerity, are aiming to get them out of the mess. Rising unemployment and opposition to austerity from the people may well thwart these efforts. In other words, Democracy opposes what the Markets want. There has to be a middle way, some sort of compromise. Politicians have to understand more of the complexities of a modern state and be better at explaining things. Slogans like “Austerity” and “Stimulus” are not enough.
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