Nationalism and Devolution in the UK

Question 1

What is the history of pre-devolution Wales?

Answer 1

• Long and bloody middle ages history; Tudor’s were Welsh, Henry VXIII formalised peaceful union
• Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542
• Extensively integrated into the systems of English governance
  
  • i.e. integrated into England, not Britain
• Plaid Cymru established in 1925
  
  • Nationalist party, but not pro-independence
• Welsh administrative units in many government departments
• 1964 Secretary of State for Wales and the Welsh Office established to emulate Scotland

Question 2

What is the history of pre-devolution Scotland?

Answer 2

• James VI of Scotland became James I of England (Stuart, 1603) after Elizabeth’s death
  
  • Union of Crowns: first union
• The Glorious Revolution (1688)
  
  • Scotland lose their sovereign (James II), by English parliamentary decree (to William of Orange)
• The Darien Venture (1699 - c1700)
  
  • Popularly funded East India - esque ‘colonial’ endeavour: complete bankrupting disaster, blamed on English aggression in trade deals
• The Acts of Union (1707) - political union whilst leaving Scotland its own legal, education and religious system
• 1885 Secretary of State for Scotland and Scottish Office

Question 3

What were the initial 20th C attempts at devolution?

Answer 3

• Two referendums in 1979 (Labour):
  
  • Referendum on the creation of a Welsh assembly failed to 79.7% (turnout of 60%)
  • Referendum on the creation of a Scottish assembly won 51.6%, but did not pass due to 32.9% turnout

Question 4

What effect did the 80’s Conservatives have on devolution?

Answer 4

• North/South Divide became more prominent
• Focus on centralised ‘efficient’ administration cf Scottish and Welsh offices
• Focus on all forms of government - cf Stoker lecture about Thatcher and local government Bulpitt (1983) ‘High’ Politics (London) and ‘Low Politics’ (Local): Thatcher says everything should be run from London
• Recession and increasing unemployment in the 1980s
• 1989 Scottish Constitutional Convention - Labour and Liberal Democrats; boycotted by the SNP and Conservatives
  
  • Report: Scotland’s Parliament: Scotland’s Right

Question 5

What happened to Welsh devolution under New Labour?

Answer 5

• Labour Party strong in Wales and concerned with the effects of devloution
• Plaid Cymru not an independence party like the SNP
• 1997 White Paper A Voice For Wales
• 1997 Welsh devolution referendum 50.3% win at 50.2% turnout (10% drop from last time!)
• The National Assembly
  
  • Government of Wales Act 1998
    
    • No primary law-making powers
  • Unicameral, 60 seats, MMP electoral system (New Zealand), 40 constituency ‘AMs’, 20 list ‘AMs’ (5 regions x 4’AMs’)
    
    • Both devolved legislatures were designed to not have a majority government; move away from adversarial politics towards European consensus politics: see round chambers vs house of commons
  • Government of Wales Act 2006
  • 2011 Welsh devolution referendum for more law-making powers
    
    • Yes 63.49%, Turnout 35.6%

Question 6

What happened to Scottish devolution under New Labour?

Answer 6

• Labour 1997 manifesto for Scotland ‘firmly based on the agreement reached in the Scottish Convention’
• 1997 White paper Scotland’s Parliament
• 1997 Referendum on devolution
  
  • Two questions
    
    • Scottish parliament - 74% to 26%
    • Was raising powers 63% to 37%
    • Turnout 64%
• 1998 Scotland Act
  
  • Power in all but reserved areas
  • Unicameral; MMP elections; 129 seats (73 constituencies and 56 list constituencies (7 MSPs from 8 regions)
    
    • Both devolved legislatures were designed to not have a majority government; move away from adversarial politics towards European consensus politics: see round chambers vs house of commons
  • SNP - took office in 1997; majority in 2011; lost majority in 2016
    
    • Counter non-majority design!

Question 7

What is English Devolution?

Answer 7

• The West Lothian or The English Question
• Regionalism
• 2015 English Votes for English Laws (EVEL)
  
  • Scottish MP’s can’t vote on English only laws
• Reforms in local government

Question 8

What shifted support for devolution in Scotland between 79 and 97?

Answer 8

Thatcher