Impact of Devolution on the UK

Question 1

Political consequences

Answer 1

-Led to an increased sense of national identity within Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and also led to questions over English national identity
-More widespread acceptance of plurinational democracy
-Differing policies between nations, e.g. the voting age was reduced to 16 by the Scottish Parliament, free tuition fees for university, kept the peace in Northern Ireland

Question 2

Constitutional implicatinos

Answer 2

-Significantly altered the unitary anture of the UK constitution, questions parliamentary sovereignty
-Highlighted the asymmetric nature of devolution powers - Scotland has the most significant powers followed by Wales and then Northern Ireland
-Introduced the ‘Sewel Convention’, which holds that the UK parliament will not legislate on devolved matters without legislative consent

Question 3

Challenges

Answer 3

-Riased questions about the constitutional status of England - this is sometimes referred to as the ‘West Lothian Question’
-Has brought about the potential for constitutional crisis, for example in the refusal of the Scottish Parliament to consent to the EU Withdrawal Bill
-Led to increased strain on the union, particularly in the context of Brexit

Question 4

Arguments that devolution has been successful

Answer 4

-UK union still exists, devolution has appealed to separatists
-July 2020, Plaid Cymru. an internal vote on pushing for indyref was lost.
-Devolved policing has led to peace in Northern Ireland, as the police are not a purely unionist force
-Devolved bodies can make policies closer to people affected. Scotland has more left-wing or socialist policies, including free university
-Has led to the introduction of PR voting systems, representation of smaller parties

Question 5

Arguments that devolution that has not been successful

Answer 5

-Undermined parliamentary sovereignty and unitary nature of UK (quasi-federal) West Lothian question
-Asymmetric devolution, Welsh body given less legislative powers
-N. Ireland has been under direct rule for a large proportion of the time since 1998, lack of trust remains between unionists and republicans
-Nationalist sentiment still strong, especially in Scotland. Poor performance by the SNP is due to scandals. Support for independence atill high (47%)