12

1

Under what legislation does the Welsh language have equal status with the English language in Wales?

The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, passed by what was then the National Assembly for Wales (now the Welsh Parliament).

12

2

What document provides the main basis for the Northern Ireland peace process?

The Belfast/‘Good Friday’ Agreement of 1998

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3

Name some key ways in which the UK is a divergent state

• Legal system
• Local government
• Forms of devolution or no devolution
• Language
• Provision for official religion or not
• Party systems

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4

What perceived problems was the system of ‘English Votes for English Laws’ intended to remedy? How effective is it at performing these tasks?

The ‘West Lothian Question’ – why Members of the House of Commons from constituencies in devolved territories can vote in English matters, while MPs from English constituencies cannot vote on those same matters as they impact in devolved areas.

The lack of a positive institutional expression of English identity.

It provides a separate voice for MPs from English constituencies.

But it is a means of veto, rather than of positive initiative. It does not amount to a full elected English assembly or Parliament, or a system equivalent to devolution for England.

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5

What is the significance of the relative population size of England to the UK state?

Historically, England has often asserted itself on other parts of the British Isles. The formation of the UK had an element of coercion to it. The creation of a single UK Parliament was intended to impose a single point of authority upon the state. For this reason, traditionally, the label ‘unitary’ was applied to the UK.

Nonetheless, there has always been a tendency to allow for some degree of divergence within the UK system. It has taken forms including the preservation of different legal systems and forms of local government across the UK. Some parts of the UK have been allowed more diversity than others. For instance, Scotland was given various guarantees under the Treaty of Union, while Wales was absorbed legally speaking into England.

In the contemporary UK, non-English diversity is provided by measures such as language promotion and by the system of devolution. But the size of England is still of great significance. The results it produces in general elections, for instance, have considerable impact upon the final outcome; as did the way it voted in the 2016 EU referendum. In this sense, while England to a large extent drove the formation of the UK, it also creates tensions that might threaten its continued existence in its present form.

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6

To what extent can the UK be said to have a single national and political identity?

The UK exists as a single state. It has a central set of institutions – the UK Parliament, government.

The English language is spoken throughout the UK.

Significant proportions of people define themselves as ‘British’ throughout the UK. Even those who identify with an identity other than ‘British’ do not necessarily favour departure from the UK.

But there are powerful national identities, such as Welsh and Scottish concentrated in particular territories of the UK.

They are connected to diversity in areas such as language and party systems.

There are significant divisions in these parts of the UK, of varying degrees of intensity, about whether or not it is desirable to remain part of the UK at all. In Northern Ireland, the UK government has conceded the principle that – subject to a referendum – a part of the UK could leave. In Scotland, there has been so far one referendum on independence, and supporters of this cause do not regard the matter as settled.