IS THERE any possibility that Tory David Melding will follow the path carved out by that other UK federalist, William Gladstone, writes Clive Betts from the National Assembly press gallery.
Gladstone, who tried to introduce home rule all round (ie federalism) to Scotland and Wales in a bid to keep Ireland within the UK, started life as a Tory. He ended up as one of the greatest leaders of the Liberal Party.
Melding, the South Central AM for the Tories, is often seen as a bit detached from his party, standing much too far to the Left. He would no doubt be horrified to think of himself as a Welsh Lib Dem.
Perhaps the answer to the conundrum is that Mr Melding stays where he is politically, and the rest of the Welsh Tory Party moves leftwards, and becomes a winnable organisation once more.
Certainly Mr Melding is even less likely to follow the other federalist active at the end of the 19th century.
That was a gent by the name of Karl Marx, who went as far as using the “f” word, which Gladstone may never have done. At the same time as Gladstone was trying to sort out Ireland, Marx wrote that the way to sort out the problem was for England’s working class to “take the initiative in dissolving the Union … substituting a free federal relationship for it”.
Mr Melding provides a truly fascinating tour of the federal scenery in his Will Britain Survive Beyond 2020 ?, just published by the Institute of Welsh Affairs.
It’s a pity the volume does not include an index. Which means I’m unsure whether Mr Melding mentions Marx’s interest in the subject. My own reference is the current edition of Prospect magazine.
Speaking to Mr Melding in the Welsh equivalent of a dungeon (the area surrounding the debating chamber in the Senedd building), he assured me that he had not, in fact, mentioned Marx. No doubt, however, he is glad of an extra name for his list.
One of Mr Melding’s Tory colleagues was hardly put out by the South Central member’s thoughtful meanderings. While he himself thought federalism meant going “a bit far”, he was glad that Mr Melding was promoting thought and discussion on the issue.
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