Irreconcilable sovereignties? Brexit and Scottish self-government

McEwen, Nicola

doi:10.1080/21622671.2022.2044898

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…While the Scottish and Welsh governments have been politically obliged to engage in these deals, they have increasingly been seen as mechanisms to undermine devolution (Keating, 2021; Andrews, 2021). These actions on the part of the Westminster government showed an early intention to change the devolution project before this became more explicit in the post-Brexit agenda (McHarg, 2018; McEwen, 2022; Andrews, 2021). The increased centralising role of the state appears to run counter to the economic evidence of the extent to which devolved power can support increases in national GDP (OECD, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This discussion is set within the wider challenge to DA powers that have been reduced or returned to Whitehall through a range of means by the UK Government. This has included through post-Brexit legislation (Morphet, 2021), the reduction in the use of the Sewel Convention (McEwen, 2022), Miller 2 (Hasz, 2019) and the use of s35 powers to remove powers of decision making on devolved matters in 2023. In Westminster, Prime Minister May introduced the Dunlop Review (2019) which indicated how Westminster could have a more interventionist role in the DAs and introduced policy on new intergovernmental relations which established machinery for regular and closer working together with a range of inter-ministerial groups for different areas of responsibility with a secretariat located within the Cabinet Office (Cabinet Office, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Deals and devolution: The role of local authority deals in undermining devolved decision making

Morphet¹

2022

Local Economy: The Journal of the Local Economy Policy Unit

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The introduction of the devolved administrations (DAs) in the UK in 1999 was based on specific legal powers for this new scale of governance which included control of national and local priorities for expenditure within devolved matters. The legal powers conferred on these administrations included freedoms to determine expenditure within budgets which, in the case of DAs, included specific allocations linked to the Barnett Formula ensuring proportional allocations of UK state expenditure in a range of policy areas and later in the DAs, powers were provided to allow direct access to borrowing and raising funding through a range of means. In the period 1999–2014, DA powers were gradually increased, first in Scotland then in Wales and Northern Ireland. However, since 2014, in the DAs, UK Central Government has been using the provision of local and sub-regional ‘deal’ funding models, controlled by Whitehall, to gradually undermine this devolved decision making. This article discusses the role devolution and deals within the context of increasing EU principles of subsidiarity and the exercise of the UK Government’s de facto and de jure powers in response. It examines the role of deals in the DAs and their lack of accountability within the UK state.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deals and devolution: The role of local authority deals in undermining devolved decision making

Morphet¹

2022

Local Economy: The Journal of the Local Economy Policy Unit

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The reduction of devolved powers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland has subsequently continued, through the removal of devolved competencies in post-Brexit legislation, including through the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, the Internal Market Act 2020 and the Subsidy Control Act 2022, as well as through the repeated failure to adhere to the Sewel convention on legislative consent. 20 Brexit is bringing about other changes in the way in which infrastructure decisions are made in the UK. The legal basis of the Planning Act 2008 was an EU regulation on TEN-T, which had primacy over UK law, and as a result of Brexit the government is having to rethink the legality of the inquisitorial process for the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects that were included in this legislation.…”

Section: The Effects Of Brexit and The 'Levelling Up' Agendamentioning

confidence: 99%

Regionalism, Devolution and Infrastructure

Morphet¹

2023

Soundings

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The relationship between devolution, regions and infrastructure is at the core of much of the current discussion about 'levelling up' in the UK. The lack of investment in infrastructure, together with centralised control over project investment, is a longstanding issue that is causing continuing frustration for sub-national politicians, even those supporting the same political party as the government. This article examines the nature of these relationships over the past and more recent period, considering both the devolved nations and the absence of devolution in England. It considers the role that infrastructure has in regional development and in centralised state control, and its consequences for economic growth. It highlights that the UK, unlike any other EU member state, has no national development or infrastructure plan. The cultural politics of 'levelling up', it argues, therefore remain set in a centralised state with no mechanisms for specific interventions to make social, economic and physical differences to localities that are left behind.

show abstract

“…By bringing about serious challenges to Scottish 'voice ' (McEwen and Murphy, forthcoming) in an area of major policy significance, Brexit helped undermine the devolved settlement established in the late 1990s (Keating 2022b, 9). It did so not only by exposing the ambiguities of the UK constitution with respect to territorial politics and the pre-eminence of parliamentary sovereignty (Eeckhout 2018;McEwen 2022, 8, Mitchell 2018) but also by destabilising existing arrangements for managing intergovernmental relations (Baldini et al, forthcoming;Mullen 2019, 277). The upshot of these difficulties arising out of the withdrawal process, on top of the dynamics unleashed by the 2014 referendum on independence, has led scholars to view Brexit as -in the words of one observer -a "severe constitutional shock to a territorial settlement that had already been destabilised by other political developments and unresolved issues" (Mullen 2019, 277).…”

Section: Brexit and The Devolved Settlementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Negotiating secession: Brexit lessons for Scottish independence

Martill

2022

Br Polit

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Brexit has contributed to increased discussion of a second independence referendum in Scotland, so-called IndyRef2. A successful Yes vote would require negotiations between Scotland and the rest of the UK to settle distributional questions and coordinate on cross-border policies, but there are few precedents for this and little scholarly discussion as a result. This article argues that the lessons from Brexit can help us understand what negotiating secession might look like, insofar as British withdrawal from the European Union illustrates the specific dynamics associated with exiting a pluri-national and institutionally dense union under conditions of asymmetric interdependence. Drawing on recent research on the politics of exit, this article suggests the period following a successful independence referendum will be characterised by efforts to reinterpret the referendum mandate, political change within and between parties and institutions, altered preferences in London, and a highly asymmetric bargaining environment. Understanding the lessons of Brexit can aid our understanding of the dynamics of independence and help policymakers prepare in advance for the eventuality of a Yes vote.

show abstract

Irreconcilable sovereignties? Brexit and Scottish self-government

Cited by 10 publications

References 45 publications

Deals and devolution: The role of local authority deals in undermining devolved decision making

Deals and devolution: The role of local authority deals in undermining devolved decision making

Regionalism, Devolution and Infrastructure

Negotiating secession: Brexit lessons for Scottish independence

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About