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Future of the Union

Contact Email: k.schmuecker@ippr.org

Introduction

The Union between England and Scotland is often considered one of the most successful the world has known. However, the devolution settlement, designed to preserve the Union, has thrown up a number of anomalies and tensions that look set to test the strength of Anglo-Scottish relations, while recent trends in public attitudes also raise serious questions about the health of the Union in the 21st century.

Public debate about the Union in the media and beyond often seems ill-informed and conducted in crude terms. Whether one is pro or anti Union, some of the recent tensions in the relationship should cause concern, and all sides share an interest in an informed debate.

Changes to the political landscape mean there is currently a great deal of debate reflecting on the Union and its future prospects. This work will add considerable value by looking at the relationship between Scotland and England in its contemporary context. Furthermore, most work on the state of the Union looks only at constitutional and political matters. While these are important, ippr north seeks to look beyond this one-dimensional view, taking in economic, social and cultural ties too, as well as public attitudes to the Union. This project will draw together these diverse themes and tensions for the first time and set the terms of debate about the state of the Union in 2008.

This joint ippr north and ippr project will set the terms of debate about the future of the Union in both England and Scotland, and develop a set of practical policy recommendations intended to tackle the tensions and challenges it faces.

Further Information

ippr north's work on Anglo-Scottish Relations has appeared in various media outlets:

• On the tercentenary of the Act of the Union between England and Scotland ippr north Director Sue Stirling explored the future of the Union.
• In the New Statesman, Sue Stirling looks at English votes on English laws: Right Question, Wrong Answer. 
• In Tribune Magazine, Katie Schmuecker explains why Brown must answer 'the English Question'.
• In May Katie Schmuecker also appeared in the Herald, examining relations between Holyrood and Westminster.
• See Guy Lodge and Katie Schmuecker's article in the June-August edition of PPR, ippr's research journal, which argues that addressing existing tensions within the Union must play a central role in any reform agenda.
• In July 2008 Guy Lodge set out in the Telegraph why it is time for the controversial Barnett Formula to be reformed.
• Katie Schmuecker argues intergovernmental relations in the UK could be improved by creating a Department for Nations, Regional and Local government in Comment is Free .

Files

Read the project proposal here.

Publications

Nation Speaking Unto Nation:
Does the media create cultural distance between England and Scotland?

This paper looks first at the development of a Scottish national press, and its role in facilitating a national conversation in Scotland. It also considers the trend for London based newspapers to 'put a kilt' on their Scottish output, and the implications this has for the UK's ability to hold a national conversation. The paper also looks at the broadcast media, which finds itself in the position of being both an influential promoter of Britishness, as well as having played a key role in building a sense of Scottish identity.

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Where stands the Union now?
Lessons from the 2007 Scottish Parliament election

Giving Scotland its own devolved parliament was supposed to help cement its place in the Union while maintaining Labour’s hegemony within the country itself. But on 3 May 2007, in just the third election to the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish National Party, advocates of independence for Scotland, outpolled Labour and seized the reins of power in Edinburgh. This paper uses survey evidence to assess the apparent implications of the election for the health of the Union.

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Beyond the Constitution?
Englishness in a post-devolved Britain

The notion that we are currently witnessing a growing commitment to English nationalism and deeper and wider identification with Englishness, as opposed to Britishness, is becoming part of the political wisdom of the age. The suggestion that the English are beginning to think of themselves as a nation with a separate identity from the other nationalities within the United Kingdom feeds into a vexed debate among politicians and commentators about the identity and future of ‘Britishness’ itself. This paper argues for the adoption of a greater sense of historical proportion about these trends, and challenges the widely held presumption that the rise of Englishness signals the death-knell of values and identities associated with Britishness.

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