By David Melding and Glyndwr Cennydd Jones
June 2025 saw release of The Federal-Confederal Letters by David Melding and Glyndwr Cennydd Jones. This booklet includes their correspondence spanning October 2023 to March 2025, a period encompassing the UK General Election of July 2024 and the beginnings of the second US Trump presidency.
As the authors jointly explain:
‘When we embarked on this correspondence roughly two years ago, in the context of a different government, nations gradually emerging from beneath the carapace of Covid, and the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbouring democracy, Ukraine, we neither of us knew quite what to expect.’
‘We first met in person as panellists at a joint conference arranged by the Federal and James Madison Trusts in Westminster London during October 2022, going on to appear in two episodes of a podcast for the Institute of Welsh Affairs in June 2023, and it was shortly after these that we agreed to explore further. Our intention was to have an open and creative conversation, not a narrow argument, and we hope to have succeeded. To us personally it has been a rewarding dialogue from which we have learned much.’
The letters explore issues of constitutional history and development both in the UK and internationally, making the case for much needed reform of the UK’s governing framework through sharing views and experiences on models of devolution, federalism and confederalism.
David Melding writes:
‘If multi-national states are worth protecting in the interest of international comity and stability, then a high value needs to be placed on their judicious reform. Where nationalists might be criticised for the speed at which they would dissolve states, unionists are liable to equally condign judgement if they refuse necessary reforms to make multi-national states more sustainable.’
‘And so I arrive at the principle of federalism because it allows us to divide sovereignty and use its powers more constructively. I have argued for the greater use of federal mechanisms since Scotland and Wales voted for devolution in 1997. To my mind this constitutional watershed made the old reasoning of a unitary state founded on Westminster’s parliamentary sovereignty obsolete.’
Glyndwr C Jones affirms:
‘The accepted distinctiveness and common interests of the constituent nations of the UK demands a new form of governance: firstly to ensure that the link between the people of each territory and their respective democratically elected parliaments is articulated in terms of their sovereignty rights, at a national level, and secondly to remind the overarching, central structure that, when administering the pooled responsibilities, it exists to serve the peoples of all four nations. ‘
‘Intergovernmental relations should therefore be redefined on a stronger formal footing and codified in a new constitutional framework which enhances arrangements for self-government and secures mechanisms for effective isles-wide collaboration.
The booklet is introduced by Guardian columnist Will Hayward, who writes:
‘Whatever your political outlook, inherent biases, or where you live in the UK, it is obvious that the current constitutional framework we have in this country doesn’t work. It clearly doesn’t work for Wales or Scotland, but I think you can make a pretty strong argument that people in parts of England may be the worst served by it. ‘
‘For those who are interested in how one of the oldest democratic systems in the world can run better this is a fascinating exchange. I sincerely hope that many of our elected representatives and decision-makers in London, Cardiff and Edinburgh take the time to read these letters. Not only for the content, but for the manner in which they were conducted.’
The Federal-Confederal Letters highlight the fact that the establishment of a new written framework for these isles, with the support of the parliaments, would prove invaluable across the political spectrum. Some will find reassurance in attempting to articulate the more distinctive elements of the UK’s practices in a codified federal constitution, whilst others will seek to cement the sovereignty position of the four nations individually in relation to a common confederal British structure.
What is important is that the debate is had, and had publicly. As both David and Glyndwr reflect at the end of their correspondence:
‘To coin a phrase from Lao Tsu, our thoughts, in the form of these letters, have become words. For our words to become the actions of others will, of course, require a wider forum, and more voices. In the roomy perspective of historical time, we are but thinking aloud, though pleased to have made a contribution to the continuation of this important debate.’
The Federal-Confederal Letters is available here as an e-book and here as an easily printable pdf version.
David Melding CBE was the Welsh Conservative Party’s Director of Policy from 2000 to 2011. David served in the Senedd as one of the list members for South Wales Central from 1999 until retiring in 2021. He was Deputy Presiding Officer between 2011 and 2016, and he chaired several committees during his parliamentary career including the Health and Social Care, and the Legislation and Constitutional Affairs committees. He is the author of Will Britain Survive Beyond 2020? (2009) and The Reformed Union: The UK as a Federation (2013). He is working on his third book- Wales in an Age of Disunion.
Glyndwr Cennydd Jones is a writer on constitutional matters. He released joint publications with Lord David Owen and Lord Elystan Morgan in 2017 and 2018 respectively. In March 2022, he published a booklet of constitutional reflections titled A League-Union of the Isles, which includes a preface by Lord Carwyn Jones, former First Minister of Wales, and an afterword by Lord David Owen. He is currently writing the book Confederal-Federalism. Glyndwr works as the Director of a UK-wide industry body in the education and arts sectors, a position he has held since 2012.
Will Hayward is a leading journalist. He is a regular columnist at The Guardian as well as contributing to Times Radio, the BBC, Sky News and LBC. Will was previously Welsh affairs editor at WalesOnline and the Western Mail.
EBook of The Federal-Confederal Letters (2025)
https://simplebooklet.com/thefederalconfederalletters1#page=1
EBook of The Reformed Union: The UK as a Federation (2013)
https://www.iwa.wales/wp-content/media/2013/09/reformedunion-smallpdf-com.pdf
EBook of A League-Union of the Isles (2022)