Imperial Federation
Such proposals were never put into effect, and decolonisation would eventually happen to a vast majority of Britain's colonies beginning from the mid 20th century.
The new parliament was envisioned to cooperatively deal with internal trade, foreign relations, defence, and other issues that affected the entire federation.
The new parliament would have representatives from India that would rule the latter directly, while the dominions such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Newfoundland, and South Africa as well as crown colonies such as Cyprus, Gibraltar, Malta, and Singapore would have internal self-government, although still accountable to this new parliament in London, similar to devolution that was granted to Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales during the late 20th century.
There was no doubt about the vastness of the potential, and there was agreement that opportunities were largely wasted because politically and constitutionally there was no unity, no common policies, no agreed central direction, no "permanent binding force" said Alfred Milner.
[4] The British Empire consisted of many colonies, several of which were largely self-governing dominions (Canada, Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the Straits Settlements).
Growing autonomy for Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa led to each of them adopting coats of arms of their own rather than continuing to use those of the United Kingdom.
[8] The Imperial Federation League was founded in London in 1884 and subsequent branches were established in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Barbados, and British Guiana.
While the proposal was often associated with segments of the British Conservative Party, it was also popular among Liberal Imperialists (proponents of New Imperialism) such as William Edward Forster.
Several members of the Imperial Federation League were motivated by ethnonationalism, drawing inspiration from the writing of theorists such as Sir Charles Dilke and John Robert Seeley to call for a "Greater Britain" which would also encompass the predominantly white self-governing colonies and dominions.
[citation needed] Support for imperial federation waned with World War I which produced greater feelings of national identity in several dominions, Canada and Australia in particular.
[citation needed] In recent years, following the United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union, many of the concepts behind the Imperial Federation have found a new life within the CANZUK movement.
[13] Conversely, advocates argue that technological advances now make it possible to fly from the United Kingdom to Australia in under 24 hours, seriously overcoming the limitation of distance which hampered the idea a century ago.
