Is Devolution what the UK needs post-Brexit?

UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 19 FEBRUARY 2020

What does devolution look like in the UK in a post-Brexit landscape? Now the UK has formally left the EU, can we expect more powers coming back to the UK, and if so, where do they go? Will they be based in London, or be spread across the regions, and countries, in the years to come?

The House of Lords could soon be leaving London and moving north, in a bid to burst the Westminster bubble and move political powers to regions where the Conservatives made gains in the 2019 General Election.

The support for another Scottish referendum is also increasing, with Pollster stating that the ‘yes’ vote for leaving the UK has gone up to 52% following the UK’s formal departure of the EU. Could Scotland leaving the UK have a knock on effect for Wales and Northern Ireland, and are we looking at the possibility of the UK breaking up in the future?

In this episode, we are joined by Professor John Clancy, Visiting Professor at the Centre for Brexit Studies and former leader of Birmingham City Council, and Dr Leslie Budd, Visiting Professor at the Centre for Brexit Studies and Reader in Social Enterprise at the Open University Business School.

The experts discuss the history of devolution, Boris Johnson’s plans to devolve more powers from central government to local government, the impact that metro mayors and combined authorities have had on regions across the UK, if devolution could bring the UK closer together, or further apart, and much more.


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