Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in a reformed United Kingdom

Scozia, Galles e Irlanda del Nord in un Regno Unito riformato

Abstract

The essay analyses the section of the Report of the Commission on the UK’s future, A New Britain. Renewing our democracy and rebuilding our economy devoted to devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northen Ireland. It argues that the recommendations envisaged by the Labour Party in this field seem to push towards a sort of “federalization” of the devolution model in a double sense. First, in promoting solidarity among the several parts of the UK and calling for «stronger self-government and fuller shared government». Second, in endorsing constitutional entrenchment so that at least the pivotal safeguards favouring the devolved legislatures, such as the Sewel Convention, can be accorded the same kind of protection that constitutional codification gives states or provinces in federal countries.  

Keywords: Devolution; Federalism; Constitutional entrenchment; Sewel Convention; Sincere cooperation