Separatism in the United Kingdom may refer to the secession of any of the countries of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales) from the union. Less significant movements for separatism within England also exist.
On the political level, some English nationalists have advocated self-government for England. This could take the form either of a devolved English Parliament within the United Kingdom or the re-establishment of an independent sovereign state of England outside the UK.
The English Democrats are an English nationalist political party that call for the creation of a devolved English Parliament within a federal UK.
Scottish independence is supported most prominently by the Scottish National Party, but other parties also support independence. Other pro-independence parties which have held representation in the Scottish Parliament include the Scottish Green Party, [1] the Scottish Socialist Party and Solidarity. At the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, 69 of the 129 seats available were won by pro-independence parties (63 SNP and 6 Greens). The independence movement consists of many factions with varying political views. The SNP wants Scotland to keep the monarchy (see personal union) and become an independent Commonwealth realm, similar to Canada or Australia. Others—such as the SSP and Solidarity—want Scotland to become an independent republic. The SSP has led republican protests and authored the Declaration of Calton Hill, calling for an independent republic. [2]
Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom but has a substantial nationalist population who would prefer to be part of a united Ireland. In Northern Ireland, the term "nationalist" is used to refer to those who seek Irish reunion by constitutional means. A more militant strand of nationalism, traditionally associated with the Sinn Féin party, is generally described as "republican" and was regarded as somewhat distinct, although the modern-day party declares itself to be a constitutional party committed to exclusively peaceful and democratic means. [3] The counterpart of nationalism is Unionism, which seeks to maintain the union with the United Kingdom, again by constitutional means. The more militant strand of Unionism is called Loyalism.
Northern Ireland, like Scotland, voted to Remain in the EU Referendum. A factor in this vote was the fear of a disruptive hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as fears that such a border might lead to the collapse of the Good Friday Agreement (Belfast Agreement). Unionist (and particularly Loyalist) discontent with the Northern Ireland Protocol (a protocol to the Brexit withdrawal agreement) and the consequent Irish Sea border it has entailed, has also threatened the stability of the Agreement.
Welsh independence (Welsh: Annibyniaeth i Gymru) is a political ideal advocated by some political parties, advocacy groups, and people in Wales that would see Wales secede from the United Kingdom and become an independent sovereign state. This ideology is promoted mainly by the Welsh nationalist party, Plaid Cymru, and the non-party YesCymru campaign.
The Celtic League and Celtic Congress have a Cornish branch and recognise Cornwall as a Celtic Nation alongside the Isle of Man, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany. The league is a political pressure group that campaigns for independence and Celtic cooperation. [4] Mebyon Kernow is a regional party in Cornwall that promotes Cornish nationalism. [5]
Independence has been supported by groups such as Ulster Third Way and some factions of the Ulster Defence Association. However, it is a fringe view in Northern Ireland. It is neither supported by any of the political parties represented in the Northern Ireland Assembly nor by the government of the United Kingdom or the government of the Republic of Ireland.
London independence, sometimes shortened to Londependence, [6] refers to a belief favouring full-fledged independence for London as a city-state, separate from the United Kingdom.
Northern Independence refers to a belief favouring independence for the North of England. The North-South divide is of significant political and cultural importance in England. [7] [8]
In July 2023, Orkney Council announced they were to look in alternative constitutional arrangements including changing its status within the UK or leaving the UK to become associated with Norway. [9] [10]
A movement called Wir Shetland was launched in October 2015 [11] to secede from the rest of Scotland in favour of becoming either a Crown Dependency or a British Overseas Territory, as a means of achieving greater autonomy for the Shetland Isles. [12]
In September 2020 the Shetland Islands Council voted in favour of exploring options for "financial and political self-determination", stating that the islands' reliance on Scotland was "seriously threatening the prosperity, and even basic sustainability, of Shetland as a community." [13]
Yorkshire, Mercia (the Midlands), Wessex (southernmost England) and Northumbria (centred on North East England) are other areas considered in media as potential areas for separation prior to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. [14]
The Cornish Nationalist Party is a political party, founded by Dr James Whetter, who campaigned for independence for Cornwall.
Mebyon Kernow – The Party for Cornwall is a Cornish nationalist, centre-left political party in Cornwall, in southwestern Britain. It currently has five elected councillors on Cornwall Council, and several town and parish councillors across Cornwall.
Scottish independence is the idea of Scotland regaining its independence and once again becoming a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom. The term Scottish independence refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about.
The International Celtic Congress is a cultural organisation that seeks to promote the Celtic languages of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man. The International Celtic Congress is a non-political charitable organisation and its stated object is to "... perpetuate the culture, ideals, and languages of the Celtic peoples, and to maintain an intellectual contact and close cooperation between the respective Celtic communities."
The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places particular emphasis on promoting the Celtic languages of those nations. It also advocates further self-governance in the Celtic nations and ultimately for each nation to be an independent state in its own right. The Celtic League is an accredited NGO with roster consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (EcoSoc).
Unionism in Scotland is a political movement which favours the continuation of the political union between Scotland and the other countries of the United Kingdom, and hence is opposed to Scottish independence. Scotland is one of four countries of the United Kingdom which has its own devolved government and Scottish Parliament, as well as representation in the UK Parliament. There are many strands of political Unionism in Scotland, some of which have ties to Unionism and Loyalism in Northern Ireland. The two main political parties in the UK — the Conservatives and Labour — both support Scotland remaining part of the UK.
The constitutional status of Cornwall has been a matter of debate and dispute. Cornwall is an administrative county of England.
English independence is a political stance advocating secession of England from the United Kingdom. Support for secession of England has been influenced by the increasing devolution of political powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, where independence from the United Kingdom is a prominent subject of political debate.
Dick Cole is a Cornish politician, currently serving as an elected member of Cornwall Council and the leader of the Cornish devolutionist political party, Mebyon Kernow, a role he has held since 1997. He is currently one of the longest serving political leaders in Britain. Dick Cole was first elected MK leader in 1997. He lives in Fraddon, a village in Mid-Cornwall.
A Cornish Assembly is a proposed devolved law-making assembly for Cornwall along the lines of the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd and the Northern Ireland Assembly in the United Kingdom.
Cornwall is administered as a county of South West England whose politics are influenced by a number of issues that make it distinct from the general political scene in the wider United Kingdom, and the political trends of neighbouring counties. Its position on the geographical periphery of the island of Great Britain is also a factor.
The Royal Commission on the Constitution, also referred to as the Kilbrandon Commission or Kilbrandon Report, was a long-running royal commission set up by Harold Wilson's Labour government to examine the structures of the constitution of the United Kingdom and the British Islands and the government of its constituent countries, and to consider whether any changes should be made to those structures. It was started under Lord Crowther on 15 April 1969, Lord Kilbrandon took over in 1972, and it finally reported on 31 October 1973.
James C. A. Whetter was a Cornish historian and politician, noted as a Cornish nationalist and editor of The Cornish Banner. He contested elections for two Cornish independence parties. A prolific writer, Dr James Whetter was the editor of Mebyon Kernow's monthly magazine Cornish Nation in the early 1970s before later becoming active in the Cornish Nationalist Party. While active in Mebyon Kernow he authored A Celtic Tomorrow - Essays in Cornish Nationalism and The Celtic Background of Kernow, the latter intended to assist schoolchildren in a better understanding of Cornish Celtic history and culture.
Cornish nationalism is a cultural, political and social movement that seeks the recognition of Cornwall – the south-westernmost part of the island of Great Britain – as a nation distinct from England. It is usually based on three general arguments:
Devonwall was a political concept introduced in the United Kingdom in the 1970s by the Conservative government. It was an attempt to link Cornwall and Devon together in an economic, political and statistical sense to form a South West region. This involved combining and centralising some local government functions and services such as the police, ambulance, fire services and media output such as local TV and newspapers.
In the United Kingdom, unionism is a political stance favouring the continued unity of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as one sovereign state, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Those who support the union are referred to as Unionists. Though not all unionists are nationalists, UK or British unionism is associated with British nationalism, which asserts that the British are a nation and promotes the cultural unity of the Britons, which may include people of English, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, Cornish, Jersey, Manx and Guernsey descent.
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 island groups of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles are all currently regions of Scotland. Their constitutional status has periodically been discussed, for example during the Scottish independence referendum campaign. Currently, they are council areas with the same constitutional status as the other 29 local government areas. The three island councils are the only local authorities among the 32 in the country where independent councillors form a majority.
London independence, sometimes shortened to Londependence and Londexit, refers to a belief favouring full-fledged independence for London as a city-state separate from the United Kingdom. The idea received particular attention after the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, in which the country at large voted to leave the European Union, but 60% of Londoners voted to remain, though the concept of an independent London had been discussed sporadically for some years before.
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.