There has been a lot of debate (some heated) going on within the AGI
recently with regards to national identity and how the various nations of the
UK fit in to the AGI as a whole. Obviously this is a topic open to much personal
bias so I’ll lay my cards on the table before discussing the debate. I'm
English but apart from my long suffering support of the England football and
cricket teams and a love of real ale I am not really interested in national
identity. I don’t mind being described as English, British or if you like
European, in fact I probably identify with my city (London) more than any of
those other labels.
With my bias of apathy exposed there are two main issues, one of which
has grown out of the other. The first is the relationship between AGI Cymru, NI
and Scotland and the AGI as a whole (AGI UK if you will). Secondly coming out
of this debate there is the question as to whether there is a need for and AGI
England and this is the issue I am particularly keen to here comment on (as you
may have guessed I’I'm not fussed).
Currently there is a feeling that there is an imbalance between the AGI
as a whole and the national (and indeed regional) groups and that there is not
enough engagement between the bodies. This is a fair point and definitely
something that the AGI as a whole recognises and wants to address. There is
also a perception that the AGI Council somehow corresponds to London and a
narrow London view. Perhaps some of this perception is a result of how
devolution has worked in the wider political landscape but it is one that I
would challenge from my experience at the AGI. Although the AGI offices are based
in London the significant majority of council members do not live in London and
are in fact scattered as widely as Belfast, Edinburgh and Bristol (among
others). Secondly (and crucially) all the national and most of the regional groups
(except AGI North at the moment) have a representative on council. We are far
from perfect but I would argue we are doing much better than Westminster.
It has been suggested by some that a good solution to this would be to
create an AGI England group thereby ensuring that all the constituent nations
of the UK have equal representation. The current lack of ‘AGI England’ is due
to the wider nature of devolution. Devolved Government means different policies
and different policy access points and this (along with new stronger
identities) was the driver for setting up the national groups. Currently
England in my opinion has no such driver for a national group; we are ruled
from Westminster with no local representation and the main AGI is geared at the
Westminster level. I can see the identity arguments for creating AGI England
but I fear that without a devolved English state we would be expending some of
our scant resources on a group that served no practical function.
Of course this is just my opinion and many will disagree. Really this
is an attempt to assess whether our members feel there is a need for an AGI
England group. I would also be keen to hear from members of the existing
national groups as to what their perspective on this would be. Any thoughts on
greater co-operation between the nations and the AGI as a whole also most
welcome!
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