The German way

I was going to put this on the GN manifesto thread but it's a bit of a tangent. I've been away for a bit and read through all the comments there especially Granny 23's contribution about devolved powers which seem very sensible.

I'd like to flag up the 15 minute talk on Radio 4 by Neil McGregor which was broadcast yesterday (can be downloaded from the R4 website) where he spoke about the different experiences of Britain and Germany. In Britain unity has always been the watchword and Westminster reluctant in the extreme to relinquish any powers. While in Germany - the heirs of the Holy Roman Empire - federalism has been the norm with each land retaining its distinctive culture and many local powers.

It links to the forthcoming exhibition at the BritMus and is really thought provoking.