JEREMY Corbyn supports the creation of a federal United Kingdom, Kezia Dugdale has suggested.

The revelation by the Scottish Labour leader comes ahead of a major pro-federalism event next week at the Welsh Assembly, involving not only Ms Dugdale but also Carwyn Jones, Wales’s First Minister, Gordon Brown, the former Prime Minister, who last weekend promoted the argument for a federal UK, and Jon Trickett, a close ally of Mr Corbyn’s, who is believed to be drawing up plans for a people’s constitutional convention to examine in detail how a federal option would work in practice.

This would not only examine creating an English Parliament but also turning the House of Lords into an elected senate with guaranteed representation from the nations and regions.

Earlier this year, John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, said: “I believe there is immense potential in developing a radical federal structure [for the UK].”

Ms Dugdale has for weeks now been pushing the case for a federal UK underpinned by a new Act of Union; her colleague Ian Murray, Labour’s only Scottish MP, made clear the party was seizing the “the mantle as the party of federalism”.

However, the Scottish party leader’s case appeared to have been undermined after Mr Corbyn said he did not support new legislation and failed to mention the issue when he spoke last month to the Scottish Labour conference, saying only he was “committed to redistributing more power and wealth across our nations and regions”.

At a Westminster briefing, Ms Dugdale, when asked about her federalist crusade, said: “It is being advocated by Labour figures and you will hear more of that in the weeks ahead.”

She explained that the federalist case was not just being made by Labour figures but also “people in wider Scottish civic life, who don’t want to be forced to choose between these two extremes[Nationalism and Conservatism]”.

The party leader went on: “It represents what Scots want, which is a secure place within the United Kingdom for Scotland but with the ability to have a close relationship with Europe because of the repatriation of powers from Brussels to Britain. The federalist argument is about bringing many of those powers to the Scottish Parliament so Scotland can choose to do things differently from the rest of the UK.”

However, the creation of a federal UK has not yet caught the public imagination; certainly not in England. In 2004, Labour’s plan for a regional assembly in north east England was rejected when 78 per cent of voters said no to it on a turnout of 48 per cent.

Ms Dugdale explained: “I understand that just now there is a lot more that is needed to be done to advocate this but that is exactly what I am going to do over the next few weeks and months; make that case because people in Scotland are crying out for an alternative to these two extremes.”

Asked if the fact that Mr Trickett, the MP for Hemsworth in Yorkshire and a close ally of Mr Corbyn, will be at the event next week meant the UK party leader was now supporting the federalist view, she replied: “Yes.”

The Scottish party leader said a people’s constitutional convention had been Mr Corbyn’s policy for months if not years. “We had John McDonnell at one of his economic conferences at the weekend in England advocating a federal solution.

“You’ve got a UK Labour Party that understands we need to have a conversation as a country about power, who has it and how it is exercised, which is at the root of Jon Trickett’s work. He’s been doing a series of speeches across the UK talking about exactly this for a couple of months now.”

She added: “So, in Wales next week there will be the four of us, myself, Carwyn, Gordon and Jon Trickett, advancing this case for a federal argument.”

Last week, Mr Brown set out his case for a federal solution dubbed the “third option” for Scotland beyond Nationalism and Conservatism, which would involve giving Holyrood more powers over tax, agriculture, fisheries and the environment with the Scottish Government having the ability to negotiate international treaties.