Tag: Scottish Referendum
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Stephen Tierney: Is a Federal Britain Now Inevitable?
The Smith Commission Report issued today promises a restructuring of the United Kingdom which may prove to be more significant than the devolution settlement of 1997-98 itself; the acquisition of extensive tax and welfare powers would make Scotland one of the most autonomous regions in western Europe. Notably the UK’s economic and fiscal coherence has…
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Stephen Tierney: Solomon Grundy Does Constitutional Change: The Smith Commission Timetable to Transform the Scottish Parliament
In the month of November the Smith Commission is set to draw up the most significant programme of constitutional change for the United Kingdom since 1998. Already the period within which citizens could submit their views on this process has passed; the Commission having set a deadline of 5 p.m. on 31 October. Such a…
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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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Barry Winetrobe: The West Lothian Dead End: Asking the Wrong Question after the Scottish Referendum
Barry Winetrobe argues that the sudden focus on the ‘West Lothian/English Question’ is misconceived, and that it is just a surrogate for the more salient issue of sub-national financial arrangements. “Hello darkness, my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again.” With apologies to Simon & Garfunkel, we note the post-referendum retrieval, from the…
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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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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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Alan Trench: What follows the referendum: the process of negotiating Scottish independence, or of delivering Devo More
Back in May, I gave a lecture at the University of Ulster’s Belfast campus about what might follow the vote in the Scottish referendum. I’m afraid I’ve only now had the chance to tidy that up for wider reading. It’s available on the Social Science Research Network here, or can be downloaded directly HERE. The…
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Mark Elliott: A lack of constitutional imagination lies at the heart of the Scottish independence debate
Opinion polls suggesting that the pro-independence campaign in Scotland may have taken a narrow lead have had an electrifying effect, causing the mainstream UK media and political establishment — both of which have been curiously disengaged from the debate so far — to sit up and take notice. The point of this post is not to make the case…