![]() ![]() Their Bill would have placed in law the principle that each part of the UK. In 2018, the Constitution Reform Group, a cross-party association of parliamentarians, introduced into the House of Lords an Act of Union Bill intended to give effect to the principle that "each of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a unit that both can and should determine its own affairs to the extent that it considers it should". It is agreed that nothing in this report prevents Scotland becoming an independent country in the future should the people of Scotland so choose. Nevertheless, under its heads of agreement, the Commission concluded. The Smith Commission took place in the context both of all participants accepting the outcome of the independence referendum, and of three of the five parties represented having campaigned for Scotland to stay part of the United Kingdom. Following the independence referendum in 2014, the Smith Commission brought together the political parties represented in the Scottish Parliament to agree proposals for further devolution. Įven those that support Scotland's continuing place in the Union recognise Scotland's right to choose. The United Kingdom recognises, as a matter of both international and domestic law, the right of the people of Northern Ireland in certain circumstances to hold a referendum on Irish reunification and the UK is legally obliged-again under international and domestic law-to implement unification if that is the will of the people of Northern Ireland. It is compatible with being a Union state for constituent parts of that state to have a recognised right to become independent, in line with the wishes of the people. It is a multi-national country whose constituent parts enjoy different constitutional settlements and rights. This is because the United Kingdom is not a unitary nation-state it is a Union state. Scotland's continuing participation in the Union is based on the ongoing agreement and consent of the people that live in Scotland. ![]() The Claim of Right has since been recognised and endorsed by both the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament. The sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine the form of Government best suited to their needs. The Claim of Right for Scotland, signed in 1989 by a range of leading figures and organisations from across political and civic life in Scotland, begins by acknowledging. It has long been accepted by successive UK Governments, and by the wider political community, that the people of Scotland have the right to determine Scotland's continued place in the UK. This understanding of the constitutional position of the people of Scotland within the United Kingdom is not seriously disputed. Power lies with the Scottish people and we believe it is for the Scottish people to decide how we are governed. It is also about shared values and aspirations, and follows from the idea of the people of Scotland as a distinct political community, with a right to choose their own future.īefore the independence referendum, the leaders of the parties in Scotland campaigning against independence made a joint statement supporting Scotland's right to choose. Scottish nationhood is more than just a matter of history or a set of national institutions, however. Annex A contains a brief summary of the constitutional history of the nation of Scotland. The nationhood of Scotland and the multi-national character of the United Kingdom have been widely recognised, including by the UK Government, by parties across the political spectrum and by civic society in Scotland. Following the integration of the Parliament of England and Wales and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707, Scotland remained a nation within the new Union state. ![]() Scotland is one of Europe's oldest nations.
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