Devolution Flashcards
(8 cards)
What is devolution?
the transfer or delegation of power to a lower level especially by central government to local or regional administration
What quote did Nicola Sturgeon use?
being shown to be worthless
What did Nicola sturgeons quote mean?
The sewel convention was surpassed in the leading up to brexit showing that whilst in theory devolution works to keep culture , when down to legal scenarios such as brexit it does not hold any legal power and therefore was not incorporated in the decision.
What are some negatives of devolution 9
- Asymmetrical system means that different nations have different powers for example scottland had varyiong powers for tax since 1998 but wales only received this recently in 2017 . As well as this due to england not having a devolved parliament it means they are left out
- barnett formula means that if westminster spends money on a certain section such as education it would mean they would have to send this money to wales and scottland as these parts of their parliament is devolved
- Leads to an appetite for independance just under 50% of scottland want it - for brexit 63% - 38% voted remain
- West lothian question is that why should non english mps vote on only english matters when it didnt effect them - for example foundation homes in 2003 were voted against by one vote but then due to other votes from non english mps it got passed
- different rules for different parts is confusing e.g covid
6.allows for undesirable relationships for example there was a scretary of state for each devolved parts but due to them now having different political views it makes it much harder. - devolution has not been stable in northern ireland
- devolution in london is unsuccessful and is completely limited in its power and took manchester 8 years to do something
- EVEL broke down due to a two tier system meant it was hugely complicated and it was difficult to decipher what was meant by an english law
What happened with devolution in northern ireland?
1998 - 2007 executive suspended 4 tiimes between 2002 and 2007 as uup refused to share power with sinn fein
2007 - 2011 did not meet up for six months in 2008 due to boycott for sinn fein
2011-2016 - uup withdrew from executibe in protest against ira
2016-2020 executive collapsed due to rhi scandal
2022-2024 collapsed due to ni protocol
positives for devolution 6
- enhanced democracy and accountability increases democracy aorund the uk and the devolved parts also use proportional representation . NI use stv and wales and scotland use ams . Not as high as westminster turnout
- cultural growth due to the union remains in place support from the union remains strong with 68% from egnalnd 52% from Scotland and 66% from Wales allowing culture to reemerge eg welsh language
- devolution is very unlikely to be reversed and can only e reversed if the devolved parts choose for it to be reversed
4.troubles have not reemerged - devolution is bespoke to each nation and suits their current needs
6.creates legislative labortories so it can be tested in one place before being used in an another area e.g In 2020 smacking was considered illegal in Scotland and was followed by Wales in 2022.
smoking ban in England and Wales in 2006 and to build case for it it referenced Scotland smoking ban
2015 voting age brought down to 16 in Scotland in 2019 Wales followed
devolution turnout
81% for northern ireland to which 71% said yes 1998
35.6 % turnout in Wales to which 63% said yes 2011
brexit turnout ref
62% remain scottland
53.4% leave uk
52.5% leave wales
55.8% remain ni
