Scottish Parliament
Politics B Assessment
The key developments which led to a Scottish Parliament and devolved powers can date back to over 300 years to 1707, where the Act Of Union was established, the Act Of Union is where Scotland and England unite to create the United Kingdom, although a major change and unity with England, Scotland still held on to things like religion and education, this was established within Scots Law, which was effectively devolved powers, but Scotland was still governed from London like all other parts of the UK. Another development which led to a Scottish parliament being established was the controversial 1979 referendum and also how the Conservative party treated the Scots throughout their time in office. The 1979 referendum was introduced by late Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan and did not pass without controversy, a year prior to the referendum an amendment was made by George Cunningham where 40% of the whole of Scotland’s total registered electorate had to say Yes in order for Scotland to be given devolved powers, an overall majority of 32.91% voted in favour but it fell short of the required 40%, this led to the resignation of Callaghan, he was replaced by Conservative Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher’s time in office, only incensed the Scots drive for a Parliament as she was seen as anti-Scottish and by introducing things like poll tax to Scotland first and the closing down of coal mines led to many thinking, why is a party that literally no-one voted for governing Scotland, this was known as the democratic deficit, the final development leading to a Scottish Parliament was the impact of Tony Blair’s naivety over a Scottish Parliament, according to (Bakan, 2002) “Blair played down devolution, comparing a Scottish parliament to an English Parish Council”, Blair has never been further from the truth as his so called election strategy backfired, he knew the working class votes were safe so he targeted Middle England and Scotland, and by promising a
The key developments which led to a Scottish Parliament and devolved powers can date back to over 300 years to 1707, where the Act Of Union was established, the Act Of Union is where Scotland and England unite to create the United Kingdom, although a major change and unity with England, Scotland still held on to things like religion and education, this was established within Scots Law, which was effectively devolved powers, but Scotland was still governed from London like all other parts of the UK. Another development which led to a Scottish parliament being established was the controversial 1979 referendum and also how the Conservative party treated the Scots throughout their time in office. The 1979 referendum was introduced by late Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan and did not pass without controversy, a year prior to the referendum an amendment was made by George Cunningham where 40% of the whole of Scotland’s total registered electorate had to say Yes in order for Scotland to be given devolved powers, an overall majority of 32.91% voted in favour but it fell short of the required 40%, this led to the resignation of Callaghan, he was replaced by Conservative Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher’s time in office, only incensed the Scots drive for a Parliament as she was seen as anti-Scottish and by introducing things like poll tax to Scotland first and the closing down of coal mines led to many thinking, why is a party that literally no-one voted for governing Scotland, this was known as the democratic deficit, the final development leading to a Scottish Parliament was the impact of Tony Blair’s naivety over a Scottish Parliament, according to (Bakan, 2002) “Blair played down devolution, comparing a Scottish parliament to an English Parish Council”, Blair has never been further from the truth as his so called election strategy backfired, he knew the working class votes were safe so he targeted Middle England and Scotland, and by promising a
Bibliography: Bakan, A. B. (2002). Critical Political Studies: Debates And Dialogues From The Left. Canada: True to Type. Barnett, H. (2002). Constitutional And Administrative Law. London: Cavendish Publishing Limited. Bradbury, J. (2008). Devolution, Regionalism and Regional Development: The UK Experience. Abingdon: Routledge. Deacon, R. (2007). Devolution In The United Kingdom. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd. Mooney, G. (2012). Social Justice And Social Policy In Scotland. Bristol: The Policy Press. Paterson, L. (2001). New Scotland, New Politics? Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd. Scottish National Party. (2010). Retrieved May 2012, from Vote SNP: manifesto.votesnp.com/making_scotland_better.