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1 - Scotland

Union and Devolution

from Part I - Five Case Studies of Acts of Union and Disunion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2023

Sionaidh Douglas-Scott
Affiliation:
Queen Mary University of London
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Summary

The union of Scotland and England was the founding act of the UK in 1707, and consensually agreed between two sovereign parties. Scotland was never a colony of England and post-union retained considerable autonomy, including its distinct and separate legal and education systems and Church. As a result of the 1707 union, the UK Parliament (which was not simply the English Parliament enlarged) came into being. The doctrine of unlimited parliamentary sovereignty is not accepted by everyone in Scotland, where there exists an alternative Scottish tradition of popular sovereignty, and the belief that Scotland’s place in the UK Union rests on its consent. Since devolution in 1998, Scotland has developed some progressive constitutional forms, as well as more pro-European inclinations that challenge the unitary constitutional approaches of London. Brexit, however, has placed the UK union under strain, and there have been demands for a second Scottish Independence referendum. Surprisingly, despite the threat of Scottish independence, there has been little debate about what the ‘Union’ or ‘Britain’ is or should be.

Type
Chapter
Information
Brexit, Union, and Disunion
The Evolution of British Constitutional Unsettlement
, pp. 23 - 77
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Scotland
  • Sionaidh Douglas-Scott, Queen Mary University of London
  • Book: Brexit, Union, and Disunion
  • Online publication: 26 October 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108894951.003
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  • Scotland
  • Sionaidh Douglas-Scott, Queen Mary University of London
  • Book: Brexit, Union, and Disunion
  • Online publication: 26 October 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108894951.003
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Scotland
  • Sionaidh Douglas-Scott, Queen Mary University of London
  • Book: Brexit, Union, and Disunion
  • Online publication: 26 October 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108894951.003
Available formats
×