Constitutional marriages can be delicate things, having to resist constant pressures from within and without. Which perhaps makes it all the more remarkable that the one between Scotland and England has lasted for more than three centuries. But are the divorce lawyers now preparing their briefs? Last week, Mark Drakeford warned the Union had never been so fragile and change was needed urgently or the “case for the break-up of the UK will only increase”. Music, no doubt, to Nicola Sturgeon’s ears. The Wales First Minister produced a 20-point plan to improve devolution and see the constitutional marriage survive into the future.
THE WESTMINSTER Government must show more respect to devolved parliaments if the union of the United Kingdom is to survive, a former top civil servant has said. Philip Rycroft, a former leading civil servant on devolution from 2012 to 2019 and former permanent secretary at the Department for Exiting the European Union, said experts are “puzzled” by the approach taken by the UK Government to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. He also said Boris Johnson s government was showing signs of adopting an assertive unionism strategy towards Scotland, which differs from the approach taken by his predecessors in trying to develop a collaborative partnership between governments.
AS teenagers we start to form political opinions. Anyone living in Scotland younger than 35 has always lived with the normality of Scotland having its own parliament. Reconvened in 1999, the Scottish government immediately started making a difference, reflecting the mood of the Scottish people, changing aspects of Scottish society and altering our sense of ourselves. Without knowing it we were starting to acquire a new normal, a Scotland where the wishes and aspirations of the Scottish people were reflected in the policies our government pursued. A more caring, supportive and equal society began to emerge. As the people of England moved right-of-centre in their opinions and politics and by weight of numbers had the biggest say in the makeup of UK Governments in Westminster (Brexit being a prime example), the hopes and aspirations of the people of Scotland have been increasingly side-lined. A democratic deficit has been consolidated, denying us any chance of getting the UK gov
England s difficulty is Scotland s opportunity? Garnier likened FM to Irish Nationalist leader Eamon de Valera UNIONISTS have been warned that if they do not up their game, they will see the creation of an independent Scottish republic as Nicola Sturgeon was described as “Glasgow’s de Valera” in the House of Lords. The intervention from Lord Garnier came as another Conservative peer suggested more airtime should be given to UK ministers in Scotland and across the UK to help strengthen a sense of Britishness. The comments were made as the UK Government was pressed over the absence of the publication of the Dunlop Report into strengthening the Union.