I find these attitudes odd. To me federalism is a form of government that is inherently superior to a unitary state. I came to this view by living for twenty-one years in Canada and observing one of the 20th century's most remarkable political figures, Pierre Trudeau. One of Trudeau's virtues is that he is one of the best educated individuals ever to head a government. He knew what he believed about liberty, authority, democracy, justice, human rights, collective rights, nationalism, patriotism and federalism.
Federalism is a product of reason in politics.
The world's population is heterogeneous and politicians have to find a rational compromise, based on the will of the people, between the divergent interest groups that history has thrown together. Furthermore, in today's world so-called sovereign states are experimenting with rational forms of integration, like a European common currency. This means that the exercise of sovereignty is not only divided within states through bodies such as the Scottish parliament. It is further divided between states and communities of states. This seems to cause Britain considerable difficulty.