More than one English question

As we reach the tenth anniversary of the devolution settlement introduced by the first New Labour administration, IPPR considers the political implications for the governance and stability of the UK. Two of its senior researchers, Michael Kenny and Guy Lodge, consider whether England is losing out in comparison with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland by not having its own political institutions.

The authors show that it is not true that the English want their own parliament or wish to quit the Union. But they also demonstrate that a sense of English national identity is an increasingly important force within English social and political life, and can provide an important source of anti-political disaffection, if the political class continue to ignore or disapprove of a growing sense of Englishness.

This is a chapter from Breaking up Britain: Four nations after a Union, Edited by Mark Perryman, Published by Lawrence & Wishart (2009), ISBN 9781905007967. More sample chapters are available to download via the above link.