At a time when UKIP are pushing their anti-Europe message, often without regard for decency or accuracy (Sparrow, 2014; Jones, 2014), it is important that new parties are springing up with less nationalist views. The Yorkshire First Party was founded to promote a regional assembly with devolved powers for Yorkshire, akin to those in Scotland and Wales (Collier, 2014) Like their equivalent parties in Scotland and Wales, they have managed to steer clear of the politics of identity in which UKIP have engaged.
The founder of Yorkshire First, Richard Carter, has stressed that the underlying purpose behind the group is to move power closer to the people over whom decisions are to be made. What is interesting, like with those who champion Scottish Independence, is that the vision is not isolationist. The talk is of regional autonomy within a larger federalised system.
That distinction is important. Reining politics in, and restricting power of local decisions to an increasingly local level, could have unfortunate consequences if not done in conjunction with an openness to broader interaction politically, diplomatically, and economically with other communities.
Right now the traditional nation state model is receiving criticism for its limitations (Orr, 2014). Power continues to be hoarded by the governing bodies of these agglomerate 'nations', despite their two-way limitations. Nation states are insufficient in scope to tackle the problems caused by international corporations, and are too far removed from local issues to involve those local people affected in the decision making process.
The emergence of local assemblies provides a solution to one of these problems. Yet, community self-governance, even within a nation state, risks reducing even further the ability of people to protect their rights. By focussing too much on our immediate surroundings we risk isolating ourselves from potential allies, something that will only make the wealthy and the influential, even more readily, too big to touch.
A well balanced federal system offers a solution. Local assemblies, governing local communities, standing alongside others in larger federations, offers a way to keep power close to the people while ensuring that the wider issues can also be tackled. Power dispersed and decentralised into the hands of the people, but within an
institutional framework capable of coping with major international issues: high-earner and corporation tax-dodging, consistency in humans rights and civil rights, and protections of basic freedoms like movement and healthcare.
The narrow borders of nation states and nationalism, with their flags, anthems and patriotism, are becoming chains. Their limited view of identity is being exposed as dangerously problematic. Groups like Plaid Cymru in Wales, Mebyon Kernow in Cornwall, and the Scottish National Party all seem to have distanced themselves from the nation state forms of old and embraced the idea of local self government combined with a wider federal model.
Yorkshire First look like the next group in Britain to pursue that approach. As they do, they must remain wary of the dangers of being sucked in by the politics of nation and identity, and must remain open to the worth and indispensable value of openness and friendship towards other self-governing communities. As a community cannot stand without the participation of the individuals composing it, so the wider issues of the world cannot be tackled without communities working together in co-operation.
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References:
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+ Andrew Sparrow's 'UKIP likely to come out top in European elections, warn Hain and Tebbit'; in The Guardian; 27 April 2014.
+ Andrew Sparrow's 'UKIP candidate's comments on Lenny Henry disgusting, says Jeremy Hunt'; in The Guardian; 27 April 2014.
+ Owen Jones' 'Stand with Lenny Henry, not just against UKIP's bigots'; in The Guardian; 27 April 2014.
+ Hatty Collier's 'God's Own Party? Yorkshire First to contest the Euro elections'; in The Guardian; 24 April 2014.
For more information of the Yorkshire First Party:
James Reed's 'New party promises to put 'Yorkshire First''; in The Yorkshire Post; 12 April 2014.
http://www.yorkshirefirst.org.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yorkshire_First
+ Deborah Orr's 'There is a lot more to British democracy than Westminster – or there should be'; in The Guardian; 14 March 2014.
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