BOLTON School "old boy" Derek Prag gave the annual Marcus Tillotson Lecture to an audience of students, parents, governors and guests.

Mr Prag, a former long-serving member of the European Parliament, told the 500 strong audience that he "strongly supported" the recent devolution referendum decisions for Scotland and Wales and urged the need for a similar system to spread to all regions of the UK.

In his lecture "democracy and the rule of law" he claimed Britain's government was the most centralised in Western Europe when contrasted with other federal systems.

He attacked the British press for their ability to paint the European Union as a "madhouse run by lunatics". He said, in reality, the EU legislates within carefully defined limits.

Mr Prag talked about democracy and the ways of ensuring it can be maintained. He spoke of human rights, a change in the method of elections and the democracy within parliament.

Mr Prag was a Bolton School student from 1934 to 1941. He read modern languages at Cambridge before entering a career in journalism.

He then transferred to work for the EU. He was EU MP for Hertfordshire from 1979 to 1994. He did not stand for re-election at the last European elections but is heavily involved in a large number of political and European initiatives.

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