The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The UK includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and most of the smaller islands within the British Isles, making up a total area of 94,354 square miles (244,376 km2). Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea, and the Irish Sea. The United Kingdom had an estimated population of over 68.2 million people in 2023. The capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom is London, whose wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. The cities of Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast are the national capitals of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, respectively.
British Sign Language (BSL) is a sign language used in the United Kingdom and is the first or preferred language among the deaf community in the UK. While private correspondence from William Stokoe hinted at a formal name for the language in 1960, the first usage of the term "British Sign Language" in an academic publication was likely by Aaron Cicourel. Based on the percentage of people who reported 'using British Sign Language at home' on the 2011 Scottish Census, the British Deaf Association estimates there are 151,000 BSL users in the UK, of whom 87,000 are Deaf. By contrast, in the 2011 England and Wales Census 15,000 people living in England and Wales reported themselves using BSL as their main language. People who are not deaf may also use BSL, as hearing relatives of deaf people, sign language interpreters or as a result of other contact with the British Deaf community. The language makes use of space and involves movement of the hands, body, face and head.
A legislative consent motion is a motion passed by either the Scottish Parliament, Senedd, or Northern Ireland Assembly, in which it consents that the Parliament of the United Kingdom may pass legislation on a devolved issue over which the devolved government has regular legislative authority.
English is the most widely spoken and de facto official language of the United Kingdom. A number of regional and migrant languages are also spoken. Regional English variant languages are Scots and Ulster Scots; indigenous Celtic languages are Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh. There are many non-native languages spoken by immigrants, including Polish, Hindi, and Urdu. British Sign Language is sometimes used as well as liturgical and hobby languages such as Latin and a revived form of Cornish.
The Gender Recognition Act 2004 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allows adults in the United Kingdom who have gender dysphoria to change their legal gender. It came into effect on 4 April 2005.
The law officers are the senior legal advisors to His Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom and devolved governments of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. They are variously referred to as the Attorney General, Solicitor General, Lord Advocate, or Advocate General depending on seniority and geography – though other terms are also in use, such as the Counsel General for Wales. Law officers in these roles are distinguished by being political appointees, while also being bound by the duties of independence, justice and confidentiality among the other typical professional commitments of lawyers. These roles do not have any direct oversight of prosecutions nor do they directly lead or influence criminal investigations. This is a distinguishing factor between law officers and the state attorneys general of the United States or US Attorney General.
Civil partnership in the United Kingdom is a form of civil union between couples open to both same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples. It was introduced via the Civil Partnership Act 2004 by the Labour government. The Act initially permitted only same-sex couples to form civil partnerships, but the law was expanded to include opposite-sex couples in 2019.
Same-sex marriage is legal in all parts of the United Kingdom. As marriage is a devolved legislative matter, different parts of the United Kingdom legalised at different times; it has been recognised and performed in England and Wales since March 2014, in Scotland since December 2014, and in Northern Ireland since January 2020. Civil partnerships, which offer most, but not all, of the rights and benefits of marriage, have been recognised since 2005. The United Kingdom was the 27th country in the world and the sixteenth in Europe to allow same-sex couples to marry nationwide. Polling suggests that a majority of British people support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.
Rosemary Elizabeth Cooper is a British health official and former politician. Cooper was a Liberal and later Liberal Democrat member of the Liverpool City Council from 1973 until 1999, when she joined the Labour Party. After leaving the council the following year, she was the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for West Lancashire from 2005 until her resignation in 2022, when she was named chair of the Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust. In 2018, she was the victim of attempted murder by Jack Renshaw.
The legal recognition of signed languages differs widely. In some jurisdictions, a signed language is recognised as an official language; in others, it has a protected status in certain areas. Although a government may stipulate in its constitution that a "signed language" is recognised, it may fail to specify which signed language; several different signed languages may be commonly used.
Welsh law is an autonomous part of the English law system composed of legislation made by the Senedd. Wales is part of the legal jurisdiction of England and Wales, one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. However, due to devolution, the law in Wales is increasingly distinct from the law in England, since the Senedd, the devolved parliament of Wales, can legislate on non-reserved matters.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people in the Australian state of New South Wales have the same rights and responsibilities as heterosexual individuals and couples. LGBTQ rights in New South Wales enjoy bipartisan support.
In the United Kingdom, devolution is the Parliament of the United Kingdom's statutory granting of a greater level of self-government to the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the London Assembly and to their associated executive bodies: the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and in England, the Greater London Authority and combined authorities.
The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to repeal the European Communities Act 1972, and for parliamentary approval to be required for any withdrawal agreement negotiated between the Government of the United Kingdom and the European Union. Initially proposed as the Great Repeal Bill, its passage through both Houses of Parliament was completed on 20 June 2018 and it became law by Royal Assent on 26 June.
Federalism in the United Kingdom aims at constitutional reform to achieve a federal UK or a British federation, where there is a division of legislative powers between two or more levels of government, so that sovereignty is decentralised between a federal government and autonomous governments in a federal system.
The United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed in December 2020. Its purpose is to prevent internal trade barriers within the UK, and to restrict the legislative powers of the devolved administrations in economic policy. It is one of several pieces of legislation concerning trade that were passed following the European Union membership referendum, as after Brexit the UK is no longer directly subject to EU law.
Lilian Keddie Lawson, OBE, is a Scottish linguist and activist. She is Deaf and a British Sign Language user.
The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill is a bill passed by the Scottish Parliament. The bill seeks to amend the Gender Recognition Act 2004 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, making it simpler for people to change their legal gender. On 17 January 2023, the United Kingdom government used section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 to block the bill from receiving royal assent, the first time section 35 has been used.
Welsh devolution is the transfer of legislative powers for self-governance to Wales by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The current system of devolution began following the enactment of the Government of Wales Act 1998, with the responsibility of various devolved powers granted to the Welsh Government rather than being the responsibility of the Government of the United Kingdom.
The British Sign Language Act 2015 is an act of the Scottish Parliament, which legally recognises British Sign Language (BSL) as a language of Scotland. It also requires the Scottish ministers to develop a "National Plan", the first of which was published on 24 October 2017.
