Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament today is a regional body in the United Kingdom created by the Labour Party, with some degree of behind the scenes influence by the European Union, which wanted the United Kingdom broken up into devolved regions.[1]
All of the United Kingdom had been administered by the government based at Westminster Palace in London, to which Members of Parliament were elected from across the UK. There were minority groups, however, who wanted to transfer some of this governmental power to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Public votes for or against devolution were held in 1997 in Scotland and Wales; and on both sides of the Northern Ireland border (i.e: also in the Irish Republic) in 1998 as part of the notorious Good Friday Agreement brokered by the Labour Party under their Leader, Tony Blair. The votes would take the form of referenda and unlike previous votes on these issues were to be decided on a simple majority, even if, for instance, that was just one vote.
This led to the creation of three regionally elected institutions:
- the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh;
- the National Assembly for Wales (called the Senedd by nationalists) in Cardiff'
- the Northern Ireland Assembly in Belfast.
Certain administrative and legislative powers were devolved to these assemblies. The UK government in Westminster remains responsible for policies which affect just England, as well as overall legislative policy in a number of areas. These include defence and national security, foreign policy, immigration, citizenship, pensions and tax - although Scotland has its own limited powers to increase income tax.
The old Scottish Parliament, which had existed for hundreds of years, voted in 1707 to unite with the government of England and the Scottish body was abolished. This meant that the burghs and the feudal Barons no longer had the right to sit in Parliament. The hereditary created peerage continued to do so.[2][3]
Sources
- ↑ The Maastricht Treaty encouraged the creation of regional boundaries for selection of members for the Committee of the Regions of the European Union: Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland had each constituted a region, but England represented such a large proportion of the population of the United Kingdom that further division was thought necessary.
- ↑ Scott Paul H., The Union of Scotland and England, Chambers Ltd., Edinburgh, 1979, ISBN: 0-550-20265-X
- ↑ Wormald, Jennifer, Lords and Men in Scotland, John Donald Publishers, Edinburgh, 198, ISBN: 0-85976-127-4
- Sutherland, Keith, editor, The Rape of the Constitution?, Imprint Academic, Thorverton, Devon, England, 2000, ISBN: 0-907845-70-3
- Summary: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-54974078
