Federal Republic of Scotland?

I have received an email about a Federal Republic of Scotland and the position of Scottish republicans. I am not an expert on federalism so could only give a general reply.

Hi, I wanted to ask a question regarding your movement. Is a "Federal Republic of Scotland" being advocated for or against by the Scottish republican movement, and what is the opinion of the Scottish republicans regarding intra-Scotland federalism?

I wanted to ask this because this was put forth by Irish republicans as part of an "Éire Nua" proposal ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89ire_Nua ), although the Éire Nua is controversial among Northern Irish republicans like Sinn Fein because of its concessions to Northern Irish protestants (who desire no less than a pronounced degree of autonomy, preferably, in protestant eyes, under a Protestant ruler than a Catholic one) in a United Ireland; outside of the republican movement, a federal republic of Ireland has also been proposed for pragmatic, local reasons, including the geopolitical distance between the services of the government in Dublin and the needs of local governments in other areas.

My supposition is that a federal republic of Scotland would address concerns regarding social self-governance at the local and regional levels better than a unitary, Glasgow-centric republic would post-independence. Furthermore, it would give greater political flexibility to local areas of Scotland in the same way that devolution and further future liberalizations of Westminster's hold over Scotland have for the political and economic viability of the country.

So, what is the opinion of the Scottish republican movement regarding a "Federal Republic of Scotland?"

Rayne
USA

And my reply:

Hi

The concept of federalism has never been debated by Scottish Republicans or Scottish Republican Socialists that I am aware of.

The Eire Nua model as advocated by Republican Sinn Fein and dropped by Gerry and his Provos is probably one of the most workable constitutional arrangements for a United Ireland. This is because the island is made up of 4 provinces one of which Ulster remains in the chains and bondage of British imperialism. I have a lot of respect for RSF's Eire Nua programme.

In Scotland the regions are different so where would we place the devolved parliaments? Or should our regions eg: Highland's & islands, Strathclyde, Tayside etc..become federal states within an independent Scotland?

You raise interesting questions on federalism of which I am not an expert on these matters.

As for a unitary state as an independent Scotland the parliament is likely to be situated in Edinburgh and yes it would be true to say Scotland is no different than any other country that the regions have specific issues and problems where a federal solution within independence could be an interesting programme to implement.

What we do not support is preservation of the union with Britain so would not be happy to settle with a Federal state within the UK.

Saying all this the pressing matters for republicans in Scotland has been the independence arguments and the need for a referendum to settle the matter for time being.

It would be interesting to debate the merits of federalism within an independent Scotland if I knew what forum would debate this I would be glad to hear about it. So far the independence movement have not been known to debate the merits of federalism within an independent Scotland.

Slainte
LM