Oppose Federalism and More Powers
The first thing to point out is that Federalism is not Unionism. It is not an 'alternative' to Unionism or Independence. It is a stepping stone to Separation.
The second thing to point out is that when we think of Federalism we tend to think in terms of an English Parliament.
However, it has become obvious over time that when the Labour Party in Scotland speaks about Federalism, they don't actually mean having a full-blown "English Parliament".
That's not really on their radar.
They only mean "having as many powers for Scotland as possible"; and whatever happens in England just isn't on their mind. Sometimes they call this "Home Rule".
For our part, as Unionists, there is little point in the SNP losing Holyrood in 2021, only for a Labour/Lib Dem Coalition to start advocating Federalism – or in this case, basically even more "Home Rule" powers for Holyrood!
This would be especially dangerous if there were a Labour or Labour/Lib Dem Coalition to follow at Westminster in 2022; and if it had gone into that General Election promising "Federalism for the UK".
In Scotland, all this would be doing would be to lay the groundwork for a situation where Scotland had so many powers, that it would soon be independent in all but name.
This would mean it would be very easy for the SNP to achieve its goal by simply pointing out that nothing substantial is going to change.
This could happen within one Holyrood Parliamentary cycle!
It just takes the SNP to get re-elected again, next time round! Lo and behold, it will find it has been given almost all the powers it needs to make another, perhaps successful, attempt at a break-away!
Therefore, one of our Political Aims at A Force For Good is to oppose Federalism/More Powers by campaigning to explain and educate about its dangers on an on-going basis.
Some might ask: "Why are you against more powers for Scotland?"
1. As Unionists we believe that the nature of a Union is joint commitment to a collective good. The question is: "To what extent do more powers compromise that joint commitment to our collective good?"
2. And to what extent is demanding more powers for oneself inconsistent with membership of a union?
3. We are Unionists. That means we care about Scotland and, unlike the ScotNats, we care about the best interests of Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
We don't want power to be given to the ScotNats for them to use it to destroy the United Kingdom – which is what they've been doing so far.
4. Giving them "more powers" simply creates more political differences and feeds the political division between Scotland and the rest of the UK. It does nothing to bring us closer together. It does nothing to heal the divide. It does nothing to create common political bonds.
It only creates more political divisions and makes it harder to bring all of us in the UK together, via shared political experiences.
5. It is also a never-ending process because the ScotNats will never be satisfied; and they will never thank us for it anyway. They've proven that post-2014.
For example, the Scotland Act 2016 delivered massive new powers to Holyrood, but virtually all ScotNats are in denial about that fact; that is, if they've even heard of the Scotland Act 2016 at all!
6. In any case, more powers make absolutely no difference to their demand for Scottish independence because their demand for "independence" is not primarily based around some kind of localist argument about which legislative powers are best utilised at the level of Westminster, Holyrood, or Local Councils!
Their demand for "independence" is based upon a belief in a fundamental difference between the Scottish and English, which (in their minds) can only be satisfied with complete separation.
FURTHER READING from AFFG
i. Virtually the entire argument against Federalism is summed up in our article on our Legacy Site here: "12 Reasons why Federalism is a Stepping Stone to the Break Up of Britain" (14-3-18)
ii. On the 7 Feb 2014, we published Devo-Danger, a 20-page Manual warning in explicit details about the dangers of the "more powers" which the Conservatives, Labour and Lib Dems were promising to cede to the SNP. We basically laid out why all of this was dangerous to Unionism and would, in no way, influence voters in our direction.
We also laid out the correct Strategic Philosophy necessary to Scatter the ScotNats to the Wind. We sent it to several hundred MPs, MSPs, Lords and Opinion Formers over the course of several months. We have since been proven to be 100% correct.
It can be read on our Legacy Site here
iii. "'More Powers' Debate: Labour must be Careful not to Concede anti-UK Premise to Nats" (5-10-12)
