The Lib Dems and The F-Word

Are the Lib Dems really federalists, whether British or European?

Their academic grandees and their think tank boys doubtless are. But the rest of them are local communitarian populists, battlers for pet causes, or both. There is of course absolutely nothing wrong with that. Quite the reverse, in fact. There are many things badly wrong with the Lib Dems. But not this.

Under both Tory and Labour governments, they have seen Brussels, or some actual or potential devolved body, or both, as a more reliable or sympathetic means to their local or their single-issue ends. But there is no point of principle involved. If Westminster delivered the goods, then that would be great. As, in many cases, it would be.

Likewise, neither the EU nor the devolved bodies can expect any loyalty, except perhaps from the academic grandees and the think tank boys, if it fails to deliver the goods.

The Lib Dems do strikingly well in those extremely and understandably Eurosceptical areas with fishing industries, from every seat in Cornwall, round North Norfolk, Berwick-upon-Tweed and North-East Fife, to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.

The No vote to devolution was high (relatively in Scotland, absolutely in Wales) in areas where the Lib Dem vote was and is also high. Remember, that was even before the Central Scottish Parliament or the South Welsh Assembly was actually up and running. No wonder that, to say the least, little enthusiasm for the regional assembly was manifest at the ballot box in North Northumberland, or Durham City, or the Wear Valley.

And it is mathematically possible to win every vote in, for example, Herefordshire or Cornwall and not win a single seat on a West Midlands or a South West regional list. So not much enthusiasm for a federal Britain (or Europe) of the Regions there, I bet. Nor in plenty of other places that spring very rapidly to mind.