The future of the UK Union is of increasing salience for British policy-makers. Against the backdrop of the twin crises of Brexit and coronavirus, speculation about its break-up has become widespread. With support for Scottish independence … [Read more...] about Union at the Crossroads: Why the British state must overhaul its approach to devolution
Philip Rycroft is former Permanent Secretary (2017-2019) at DExEU. From June 2015 to March 2019 he was head of the UK Governance Group in the Cabinet Office, with responsibility for advising ministers on all aspects of the constitution and … [Read more...] about The Dunlop Review: implications for the Union?
England has one of the most centralised systems of government in the world. And yet, ever since 1997, every government has promised more devolution. This blog looks back at what has actually happened and summarises the present unsatisfactory state of … [Read more...] about English devolution (and the mystery of the disappearing speech)
The Union of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is increasingly unstable. The last several years of UK politics have seen growing support for Scottish independence and relations between the four governments of the UK are increasingly … [Read more...] about Starmer’s Labour and devolution: what have we learned so far?
The localised approach to the pandemic is over for the time being. But the tensions in English governance it brought to the fore remain unresolved. The recent stand-off over financial support raised the profile of particular city leaders and … [Read more...] about English local government and devolution: inconsistent and incomplete
The position of Northern Ireland has been a major point of contention ever since the 'leave' vote in the European referendum of 23 June 2016. Its future relationship both with the UK and with the Republic of Ireland was a source of controversy in … [Read more...] about Northern Ireland and the Brexit negotiations: in conversation with Katy Hayward
