7. The structure of the United Kingdom and devolution

Author(s):  
Neil Parpworth

This chapter discusses the structure and devolution of the UK. It first sketches the constitutional history of the UK, presenting a brief outline of events that led to the creation of the UK, i.e. the union of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The chapter then examines the issue of devolution, which has been particularly important to the people of Scotland and Wales. The key provisions of the devolution legislation enacted in 1998 and more recent legislative developments are reviewed. The chapter concludes by considering the ‘English Question’ and the agreements between the UK Government and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Author(s):  
Neil Parpworth

This chapter discusses the structure and devolution of the UK. It first sketches the constitutional history of the UK, presenting a brief outline of events that led to the creation of the UK, ie the union of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The chapter then examines the issue of devolution, which has been particularly important to the people of Scotland and Wales. The key provisions of the devolution legislation enacted in 1998 and more recent legislative developments are reviewed. The chapter concludes by considering the ‘English Question’, and the agreements between the UK Government and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and the devolution provisions in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-12
Author(s):  
Duncan Lawson

In terms of the history of mathematics higher education, mathematics and statistics support (MSS) is a very recent development, existing as a formal feature for less than 50 years.  However, in this short time, MSS has displayed its own characteristics.  A particularly notable feature of MSS in the United Kingdom (and in other countries) has been the way in which practitioners have collaborated with each other, almost from the outset.  This collaboration has led to the creation of a community (the sigma network) with a written constitution and formal membership.  This two-part article traces the history of the development of the MSS community in the UK from its earliest incarnations to the present day.  The first part of the article reviews the period from the early 1990s to 2005 during which time the key events were the rise and demise of the Mathematics Support Association and the creation of sigma, Centre of Excellence in University-wide Mathematics and Statistics Support. 


Author(s):  
Gary Craig

This chapter reviews developments leading to the enactment of the 2015 Modern Slavery Act in England and Wales and parallel legislation in Northern Ireland and Scotland. It analyses the response of the UK government to growing pressure for legislation, and the failings of the actual legislation put in place, including a comparison with some key elements in its Scottish and Northern Irish counterparts. Despite claims to be world-leading, the Modern Slavery Act has already been found to be deficient in many key areas such as continuing protection for victims and linking slavery and immigration legislation, and is considered to be in need of substantial reform.


Public Law ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 159-194
Author(s):  
Andrew Le Sueur ◽  
Maurice Sunkin ◽  
Jo Eric Khushal Murkens

This chapter examines multilevel governing within the UK. It is organized around three levels of governing: national, regional, and local. For most of the twentieth century, Great Britain (England, Wales, and Scotland) formed a centralized political unit, with policymaking and law-making being led by the UK government and the UK Parliament. There was devolved government in Northern Ireland from 1922, but this was brought to an end by the UK government in 1972 amid mounting civil unrest and paramilitary violence. At the local level, there are more than 400 local authorities throughout the United Kingdom. These vary considerably in size, both in terms of their territorial area that they cover and their populations.


Significance Johnson's cabinet overhaul is the largest in decades, replacing 17 cabinet ministers from the previous government mostly with individuals who support Johnson’s hard-line stance on Brexit. Impacts Brussels could offer London a ‘Northern Ireland only’ backstop, but this will be rejected by the UK government. The government will likely pass legislation to protect EU citizens’ rights in the United Kingdom if there is a no-deal Brexit. The EU will only grant another extension if a deal is almost agreed, or if there is a UK general election or second Brexit referendum.


Author(s):  
Ros Scott

This chapter explores the history of volunteers in the founding and development of United Kingdom (UK) hospice services. It considers the changing role and influences of volunteering on services at different stages of development. Evidence suggests that voluntary sector hospice and palliative care services are dependent on volunteers for the range and quality of services delivered. Within such services, volunteer trustees carry significant responsibility for the strategic direction of the organiszation. Others are engaged in diverse roles ranging from the direct support of patient and families to public education and fundraising. The scope of these different roles is explored before considering the range of management models and approaches to training. This chapter also considers the direct and indirect impact on volunteering of changing palliative care, societal, political, and legislative contexts. It concludes by exploring how and why the sector is changing in the UK and considering the growing autonomy of volunteers within the sector.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 97
Author(s):  
Georgina M. Robinson

In an age where concern for the environment is paramount, individuals are continuously looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint—does this now extend to in one’s own death? How can one reduce the environmental impact of their own death? This paper considers various methods of disposing the human body after death, with a particular focus on the environmental impact that the different disposal techniques have. The practices of ‘traditional’ burial, cremation, ‘natural’ burial, and ‘resomation’ will be discussed, with focus on the prospective introduction of the funerary innovation of the alkaline hydrolysis of human corpses, trademarked as ‘Resomation’, in the United Kingdom. The paper situates this process within the history of innovative corpse disposal in the UK in order to consider how this innovation may function within the UK funeral industry in the future, with reference made to possible religious perspectives on the process.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 946-995
Author(s):  
David Kneale

This article reappraises the experience of the civilian crews aboard Manx personnel vessels engaged in Operation Dynamo, and the contested aftermath. More than 20,000 troops were retrieved by nine ships of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, three of which were sunk in and off Dunkirk. There is more than enough material for a heroic narrative to emerge, yet a sense of scandal seems to cling to these particular civilian crews. Various political, social and cultural forces foster distinctly separate narratives between the United Kingdom and Isle of Man. However, empirical research in Manx and UK archives, including access to a hitherto closed file, reveals a different story: that the official Admiralty narrative of Operation Dynamo was intentionally weaponized against the Manx civilian crews for political reasons. This was achieved through the creation of reports that were false, misleading or unsupported by evidence, the provocation of the Isle of Man’s Lieutenant Governor into acts of reprisal, and through the work of an unseen editorial hand in Admiralty archives. The influence of this hostile narrative, which continues to be reinforced, has obscured the contributions of the true civilians of Dunkirk.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 472-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Murray

Health psychology formally came of age in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, but it was prefigured by much discussion about challenges to the dominance of biomedicine in healthcare and debates. This articles focuses on what could be termed the pre-history of health psychology in the UK. This was the period in the earlier 20th century when psychological approaches were dominated by psychoanalysis which was followed by behaviourism and then cognitivism. Review of this pre-history provides the backdrop for the rise of health psychology in the UK and also reveals the tensions between the different theoretical perspectives.


1960 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-328 ◽  

The Trusteeship Council held its tenth special session at UN Headquarters on December 4 and 16, 1959. Following the adoption of its agenda, the Council entered into consideration of the report of the UN Plebiscite Commissioner on the plebiscite in the northern part of the trust territory of the Cameroons under United Kingdom administration. In introducing the first part of the report, Mr. Abdoh, UN Plebiscite Commissioner, reviewed the history of his consultations with the United Kingdom government on arrangements for the organization of the plebiscite. He observed that, as a result of being administered for many years as an integral part of the northern region of Nigeria, the Northern Cameroons had previously had very little reality as a separate administrative entity; in fact, boundaries with the northern region of Nigeria had little significance, and tribal groups extended from that region into the trust territory and even beyond, to the Cameroons under French administration. Communications in the Northern Cameroons were poor, but, despite adverse conditions, the UN plebiscite staff had travelled extensively and had been able to meet both the people and their leaders. Mr. Abdoh added that he wished to stress the peaceful and orderly way in which polling had been conducted throughout the territory, and mentioned the results of the plebiscite, viz.: out of the 113,859 votes cast, 70,546 had been in favor of deciding the future of the Cameroons at a later date (alternative b), while 42,788 had indicated a preference for the Northern Cameroons' becoming a part of the northern region of Nigeria when Nigeria became independent (alternative a); 525 votes had been rejected. Approximately 80 percent of the estimated number of potential electors, and nearly 88 percent of the voters actually registered, had participated in the balloting; thus the greater part of the eligible population had taken part in the consultation, freely expressing their wishes in regard to the alternatives offered in the plebiscite. Mr. Abdoh had, however, felt it his duty to inform the Council of the view, which seemed to be prevalent among those who had voted for the second alternative, that the plebiscite had offered the people an opportunity of registering what was in effect a protest against the system of local adminstration, the introduction of reforms into which was apparently long overdue.


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