On my mind

THEY say the way to empty a room in Westminster is to suggest a discussion about Scottish and Welsh independence. This might be because at the moment they think the government couldn’t deliver a pizza let alone a formula to satisfy the Scottish and Welsh parliaments.

While we watch a botched attempt to control a virus with a depleted NHS, the elephant in the room refuses to budge and has no intention of packing its trunk and saying goodbye to the circus.

Apparently, the rhythm and tempo of the ‘Nellie the Elephant’ song is often used to teach the rhythm of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, something a failing government might wish to consider. For its heart must have skipped a few beats at the revelation of the Scottish National Party’s ‘roadmap to a referendum’ on Scottish independence, following possible success at this year’s Holyrood election.

Then cue on stage Plaid Cymru’s pledge that Wales will be offered an independence referendum within five years if the party has a majority in the coming Welsh Parliament elections. This is as likely as a flying sheep or a walking haggis, but it’s ‘indyref’ time in the minds of the nationalists.

For me nationalism is as welcome as a bat in a bowl of soup and offers our ‘me me’ culture a shabby and outdated rationale for making a country ‘great again’; and we have recently seen the disastrous results of that mantra.

Yet there is another, more challenging but achievable strategy for decentralisation and the devolution of power and resources in the whole of the UK. It’s called federalism.

Whereas nationalism is divisive, conservative and exclusive, federalism is radical and inclusive. It builds unity and ensures collaboration while maintaining regional integrity and local autonomy. What could be better than that?