News and opinion
Long Read: Community, church and culture in boundary-making: the legacies of partition in the two parts of Ireland.
In a talk prepared for the BBC at Queen’s University Belfast, Jennifer Todd reflects on the legacies of partition one hundred years on.
The constitutional prospects of the sixth Senedd
The sixth devolved election in Wales is novel in a variety of ways. It is the first Welsh election in which 16-17-year-olds will participate, yet one taking place amid a global pandemic and ongoing public health measures.
Party Manifesto Support for a Scottish Council on Global Affairs
Professor Juliet Kaarbo, Professor Peter Jackson and Professor Phillips O’Brien discuss the potential of a Scottish Council on Global Affairs:- what it is, what it would do and the level of cross-party support for the initiative.
Breaking the Mould? Small parties in the 2021 Scottish parliament elections
Alistair Clark explores the relevance of small parties in the upcoming election, arguing that while small parties tend to have fluctuating fortunes, they have become a permanent presence in Scottish politics. For more on small parties, see Alistair's contribution to our recent ebook.
The UNCRC and European Charter of Local Self-Government Bill References: Once (and twice) more unto the breach?
Dr Chris McCorkindale explores the political, legal and constitutional factors behind the UK Government's decision to refer two Acts of the Scottish Parliament to the Supreme Court.
Scottish independence: Lessons from the Brexit process?
Benjamin Martill writes: Scottish independence is back on the agenda, largely thanks to Brexit, which has provided the ‘material change in circumstances’ necessary for a further challenge to the status quo.
Designing and funding the devolved nations’ policy responses to COVID-19
Luck, huge sums of money and ad-hoc bypassing of the normal rules mean the devolved governments’ funding arrangements have largely coped with COVID – but problems are brewing find IFS, Strathclyde and Stirling researchers
A first glimpse of post-Brexit politics? England’s May 2021 elections
Jack Sheldon looks ahead to the mayoral and local elections in England which will be held on 6th May. He suggests that they could provide a first glimpse of the shape England’s post-Brexit politics might take, but that the election which seems likely have the most lasting impact on the course of English politics (and that of the wider UK) will be that in Scotland.
Union at the crossroads: can the British state handle the challenges of devolution?
The looming sense of crisis over the Union of the United Kingdom seems to thicken with each passing week. As we head towards the May elections, polls indicate that there will be a nationalist majority in the Scottish parliament, giving renewed vigour to the demand for a second independence referendum.
