The Federal Union is a

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...

British political group launched in November 1938, to advocate a

federal Europe A federal Europe, also referred to as the United States of Europe (USE) or a European federation, is a hypothetical scenario of European integration leading to the formation of a sovereign superstate (similar to the United States of America), ...

as a post-war aim. The founders of the organisation were Charles Kimber, Derek Rawnsley and Patrick Ransome.Peter Barberis, John McHugh, Mike Tyldesley, ''Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century'', Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000, . (p.135) Other noted members of the Federal Union included

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

Barbara Wootton Barbara Frances Wootton, Baroness Wootton of Abinger, CH (14 April 1897 – 11 July 1988) was a British sociologist and criminologist. She was the first of four women to be appointed as a life peer, entitled to serve in the House of Lords, und ...

C. E. M. Joad Cyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad (12 August 1891 – 9 April 1953) was an English philosopher, author, teacher and broadcasting personality. He appeared on ''The Brains Trust'', a BBC Radio wartime discussion programme. He popularised philosophy and ...

Stephen King-Hall William Stephen Richard King-Hall, Baron King-Hall of Headley (21 January 1893 – 2 June 1966) was a British naval officer, writer, politician and playwright who served as the member of parliament for Ormskirk from 1939 to 1945. Early life and ...

and

Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian Philip Henry Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian, (18 April 1882 – 12 December 1940) was a British politician, British Ambassador to the United States and editor of various journals. He was private secretary to Prime Minister David Lloyd George ...

. In 1940 the group set up a Federal Union Research Institute (FURI), chaired by

William Beveridge William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was a Progressivism, progressive, social reformer, and eugenicist who played a central role ...

, to discuss the direction of post-war

European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

. FURI attracted contributors from across the political spectrum, including

F.A. Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek (8 May 1899 – 23 March 1992) was an Austrian-born British academic and philosopher. He is known for his contributions to political economy, political philosophy and intellectual history. Hayek shared the 1974 Nobe ...

, J. B. Priestley, H. N. Brailsford,

Lionel Robbins Lionel Charles Robbins, Baron Robbins, (22 November 1898 – 15 May 1984) was a British economist, and prominent member of the economics department at the London School of Economics (LSE). He is known for his leadership at LSE, his proposed de ...

and Arnold Toynbee.Michael Burgess, ''The British Tradition of Federalism''. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 1995. (p.142) In 1956 it argued for British participation in the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

. It continues to exist today, arguing for federalism for the whole of Europe and the world. The organisation argues that

federalism Federalism is a mode of government that combines a general level of government (a central or federal government) with a regional level of sub-unit governments (e.g., provinces, State (sub-national), states, Canton (administrative division), ca ...

is the division of political power between levels of government to achieve the best combination of democracy and effectiveness, and does not necessarily involve the bureaucratic centralisation of common assumption. The Federal Union believes that democracy and the rule of law should apply between states as well as within them. It is also the British section of the

Union of European Federalists The Union of European Federalists (UEF) is an international non-profit association originally founded in 1946 and refounded in 1973, promoting the advent of a European federal State based on the idea of unity in diversity. In 1946, it brought ...

and of the

World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy The World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy, Ltd. is an organization that advocates for a democratic world government of a world federalist system, formed in 1947 in Montreux, Switzerland. History In 1947, five small world feder ...

References

External links

Home pageCatalogue of the Federal Union papers held at LSE Archives
Eurofederalism Pro-Europeanism in the United Kingdom European Union–related advocacy groups in the United Kingdom World federalist movement member organizations Political parties established in 1938 1938 establishments in the United Kingdom {{UK-org-stub

See also

References

External links