Devolution to Scotland and Wales — is ‘Power Devolved, Power Retained’?

Abstract

I must begin by attempting to limit my field somewhat. There is a rich historical literature on the study of regional devolution in the (dis)United Kingdom and Ireland in the 19th century which explores such issues as the 50 years of the Irish Home Rule controversy from 1870 to 1920 when the issue was one of first-rate political and constitutional importance.¹ There is also an important literature on nationalism as a perennial problem within socialist theory and practice in the late 19th and early 20th century.² Both literatures provide an important historical backdrop to current political debate on devolution and nationalisms. Both literatures remain outside the scope of this chapter. This chapter mainly focuses on key moments and themes in post-war Labour Party history with regard to the devolution issue in Scotland and Wales. This is not because the pre-war experience lacks important lessons and understandings which could help us to make sense of recent developments under the Labour government, but because the postwar period provides a rich source for study in itself.

For forms of government let fools contest: What’er is best administered is best.

Alexander Pope, Essay on Man, Epistle 111, lines 303–4.

We said ‘trust the people’ and we did trust the people, and the people have had the courage and the confidence to trust themselves...The era of big, centralized government is over! I believe we have the chance to build a modern constitution for this country, for the United Kingdom, that will see us through into the next century, proud of our history, but determined to live in the future.

Tony Blair, 1997.