Brexit and the Future of the United Kingdom

DCU Brexit Institute - Working Paper N.2 - 2019

17 Pages Posted: 15 Apr 2019 Last revised: 23 Mar 2020

See all articles by Sionaidh Douglas-Scott

Sionaidh Douglas-Scott

University of Oxford - Faculty of Law; Queen Mary University of London

Date Written: March 19, 2019

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of Brexit on the UK’s constitutional settlement, most particularly within the field of devolution. The focus of this paper is on devolution, because I argue that the voices of the three devolved nations have been too much ignored in Brexit manoeuvres, especially given that Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU Referendum. As Fintan O’Toole writes: ‘Brexit is an essentially English phenomenon’. This paper questions whether, in leaving one union (the EU), Britain may in fact destroy its own union (the UK). Do we have the constitutional materials to safeguard against this? This prompts the question: ‘Can the 19th century constitutional theory of the sovereign and unitary State be applied to the world of the 21st century?

Keywords: Brexit, Constitutional Settlement, Devolution, United Kingdom

Suggested Citation

Douglas-Scott, Sionaidh, Brexit and the Future of the United Kingdom (March 19, 2019). DCU Brexit Institute - Working Paper N.2 - 2019, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3355782 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3355782

Sionaidh Douglas-Scott (Contact Author)

University of Oxford - Faculty of Law ( email )

St Cross Building
St Cross Road
Oxford, OX1 3UL
United Kingdom

Queen Mary University of London ( email )

School of Economics and Finance
Mile End Road
London, E1 4NS
United Kingdom

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