Tag: Scottish Independence
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Roger Masterman and Colin Murray: A House of Cards?
The ability of the constitution of the United Kingdom to respond to the ebb and flow of political and societal change has long been presented as a strength, and as one of the defining features of a system whose fundamental features have otherwise remained relatively stable. Significant renovation has occurred, but for the most part…
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Manifesto Watch: Aileen McHarg: The Constitutional Implications of the Rise of the SNP
Editors’ note: The blog has asked constitutional lawyers to review the main party manifestos ahead of the May elections, drawing out key constitutional proposals. You can read the other contributions in this series here. The phenomenal rise of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in the wake of last year’s independence referendum has been the story…
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Stephen Tierney: ‘And the Winner is… the Referendum’: Scottish Independence and the Deliberative Participation of Citizens
Only 45% of Scots said yes to independent statehood, but a massive majority said yes to direct democracy. The turnout of 84.65% was the highest for any UK electoral event since the introduction of universal suffrage, significantly trumping the 65.1% who voted in the 2010 UK general election and the 50.6% who bothered to turn…
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Aileen McHarg: What Does the Union Need to Do to Survive?
The victory for the No campaign in last week’s referendum means that, for the foreseeable future, Scotland will remain part of the United Kingdom, and that its (domestic) governance will continue to be split between Westminster and Holyrood. The result was a decisive one in that there was a clear margin of victory, achieved through…
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Nick Barber: If Scotland Had Voted Yes…
This is a copy of a blog post that was, in the event, not needed. My colleagues have told me that my writing has a calming, if not soporific, quality, and I thought that I should use this skill to good effect by preparing a post for publication in the event of a ‘yes’ vote…
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Cormac Mac Amhlaigh: For a Constitutional Convention for the United Kingdom
The referendum has come and gone and there is a mix of numbness and relief intermingled into the haar which descended upon Edinburgh several days ago but failed to dampen the electrified atmosphere which accompanied the referendum. It was said long before the referendum even happened, that whatever the outcome, more and deeper constitutional change…
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Paul Reid: Where now after ‘no’? A starter for 10.
It is often said that one of the greatest characteristics of the United Kingdom’s unwritten constitution is its ability to evolve and adapt to change. From the Prime Minister’s statement this morning, it appears that this 307year-old constitution has a lot of evolving to do in a very short space of time. Perhaps a strength,…
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John Stanton: Democracy and Scotland: Turning out for something special
And so the 2014 Scottish Referendum is done. The people of Scotland have voted and have rejected independence to the tune of 55% – 45%. Of course, the matter is far from settled and over the next few months, talk of devolution and of the English Question will no doubt feature prominently and be at…
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Mark Elliott: Scotland has voted “no”. What next for the UK constitution?
After a very long — and at times electrifying — campaign, a modest but decisive majority of those who participated in the referendum on Scottish independence have voted “no”. In one sense, this is the end of the process — even if, bearing in mind the main UK parties’ still-to-be-fulfilled promises about further devolution, it…
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Aileen McHarg: The Vow: Vote No for More Devo
Today’s papers carry the text of a pledge by David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg that a No vote in Thursday’s referendum is not a vote for the status quo. Rather, they claim, a No vote will mean ‘faster, safer and better change’ to the devolution settlement than a Yes vote would bring. This…