John McDonnell Quotes

I'm a strong supporter of states' rights to do what they need.

That's what I think regions are about, making central government more accountable and fairer.

States should have enormous input into the decisions that affect them.

I think that the more we, as a state, yield and cede decisions to the federal government, the lesser we'll be for it as a state.

I hope that we increasingly shift power to local governments.

A strong devolved government is vital so that we have proper local decision-making, helping to strengthen the economy and build a more united community.

We are entering an era in which national government, instead of directing, enables powerful regional and local initiatives to work, where Britain becomes as it should be - a Britain of nations and regions.

Those of us who were part of creating the Scottish parliament believe we must always test constitutional arrangements. The real test is where do the powers lie? Is it in the best interests of Scotland?

We have to allow people in the states to make their own decisions, to get government agencies out of the way and let local people make decisions about what's best for them.

Separation and devolution are two completely different concepts which cannot be mixed together. One is not a stop on the way to the other.

I would support a devolution of power out of Washington for education, health care, transportation.

Devolution [decentralization of government] cannot stop at the State House. It must go down to City Hall.

From Kurdistan to Catalonia to Scotland, from Syria to Chechnya to South Sudan, from indigenous communities in the Andean nations to tribal communities in sub-Saharan Africa, many people are shifting their primary political identities away from the nation-states in which they lived for many generations.

… far from making one single Republic, this land has reverted to a state of many little republics of towns and localities.

13 years after Indonesia began devolving power from the federal government to hundreds of sub provincial units, the link between local and national political interests have become extremely tenuous… although locally elected politicians may be delivering things that people want in their own back yards, they are not, collectively meeting the nation’s needs.

In the space of just 18 months from 1999 to 2001, one of the world’s most centralized nations [Indonesia] burst apart to become one of its most decentralized.

Solutions and ideas should come from the bottom up, generated by local communities and not mandated from Washington.

I think regional parties are very important if they fulfil regional aspirations.

I think it is time for a radical federalism in this country, where people trust innovation coming from the local level and ramp that up.

Lisa Nandy is absolutely right that we need to devolve economic power away from Westminster and learn from what Labour councils around the country are doing.

I am for the people of the whole nation doing just as they please in all matters which concern the whole nation; for that of each part doing just as they choose in all matters which concern no other part; and for each individual doing just as he chooses in all matters which concern nobody else.

I'm not going to impose my vision on the people of Puerto Rico.

Republicans believe that problems are best solved at the level closest to the people and that the nation's strength comes from the diversity of its people, not from an all-powerful central government.

The regional parties have emerged as a strong force, and they, too, deserve a place in national politics.

No, I don't think I've ever really favoured English independence. My view is that if the Scots want to be independent then we should aim for the same thing.