Devolution in the United Kingdom

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Devolution in (almost all of) the UK - Rated
For anyone interested in the issues of Home Rule, devolution and federalism in the UK, historically and contemporarily, this book is thorough and detailed, examining the internal party battles and the political battles fought at the ballot box. The sections on Irish Home Rule are also particularly illuminating, since many of the same arguments were repeated in the 1970s and prior to the 1997 referenda.

However, I do feel that, in omitting Cornwall from the chapter describing the "making of the UK", the author neglects a significant part of Anglo-Celtic political history. We should bear in mind that the Cornish or "West Welsh" resisted the Anglo-Saxon invasion until around A.D.930 before their border with Wessex was finally fixed at the Tamar. Thereafter, Cornwall periodically rebelled against London and continued to enjoy considerable political autonomy (including the right of the Stannary Parliament to veto Westminster legislation). Furthermore, given the absence of any Act of Union, Cornwall's de jure status as a part of England is hotly contested by some constitutional experts. And even today, Cornwall is again proclaiming its 'otherness' as a self-defining historic, cultural and geographical region (or even nation), who refuses to be submerged into a South-West agglomeration.

Despite this oversight, Devolution in the United Kingdom is an truly excellent book. I only hope subsequent editions will contain a Cornish chapter which might shed light on this unresolved constitutional question.