Federalism in the United Kingdom

Federalism in the United Kingdom aims at constitutional reform to achieve a federal UK^[1] or a British federation,^[2] 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.^[3]

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy^[4] governed via parliamentary democracy. It is constitutionally organized as a unitary state with some elements of autonomy granted to subnational units.^[5] It comprises the countries of England, Scotland and Wales, as well as Northern Ireland.^[4][6] The UK also operates a system of devolution from a central UK parliament and prime minister as head of government, to the devolved legislatures of the Scottish Parliament, Senedd and Northern Ireland Assembly with first ministers. In England, only Greater London, combined authorities, and the counties of Cornwall and Yorkshire, currently have varying degrees of devolved powers, with proposals for an England-wide or regional devolution.^[7][8] While this system of devolved powers, with separate legislatures and different regulatory jurisdictions, resembles and often functions similarly to a federal state, it is not a true federation as all devolved powers ultimately derive from the authority of the central government. The central government can modify or revoke most devolved laws, regulations, and government bodies through an Act of Parliament passed by a simple majority in the House of Commons, of which over 80% of members are from a single country (England).

Compared to the current system of devolution, in a true federal system, autonomy as well as devolved powers would be considered constitutionally protected, requiring more than an Act of Parliament to modify or revoke powers. Autonomy could also potentially be applied uniformly across the entire United Kingdom, compared to the varying levels of devolution at present. The Scotland Act 2016 and the Wales Act 2017 made the Scottish Parliament and Senedd permanent parts of the British constitution, requiring a referendum in each respective country to remove the legislatures, although the UK parliament still retains the sovereign right to adjust devolved powers.^[9][10]

Federalism was first proposed in the late 19th century to address increasing calls for Irish Home Rule, the awarding of autonomy for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The proposals failed and the Irish Free State was formed instead. Since a system of devolution was implemented in the late 20th century, some have proposed that a transition be made towards a federation or confederation, as an effort by unionists to combat separatism.

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