England tends to dominate British politics. Britain is a unitary state. All power flows outwards from Westminster. To an extent, London and England dominate the political scene. However, the UK is made up of four distinctive nations. There is a degree of national identity in each of these four nations. Westminster can, if it wishes, set up institutions to govern the peripheries more easily. Devolution came onto the political agenda in the late 1960s, and then re-emerged as an important issue in the 1980s. Now again, as we approach the millennium, devolution has become a contentious issue. I am going to explain why there are feelings of nationalism in Scotland and Wales, and also why devolution has been an important issue in British politics in certain periods during this century.

Scotland has a special position in the UK. Scottish entry to the UK was a result of negotiation in 1707. As a result, Scotland was able to retain many of its own institutions. Scotland has it own legal system, its own church, its own bank and its own education system. As a result, the Scots have a strong sense of national identity. Scots are also aware that they were once a separate nation. This signifies to them that they could become a separate nation again. When the Scotland became part of the UK, the separate identities of Scotland and England were retained. There has always been the potential that the union could split up.

During the 19th Century, Scotland benefited from being a member of the UK. The situation has changed in the 20th Century. The decline of Britain as a world power has made the union look less attractive. The discovery of North Sea Oil, and the advent of the EEC have given the Scottish new options. Scots are increasingly coming to think that they would be better off outside the UK.

The SNP was established in 1934. However, they made no significant breakthrough until the 1960s. The revival of Scottish nationalism started in the late 1960s with a series of by-election victories.

In 1967, the SNP polled well in Glasgow-Pollak. In November 1967, they won their first seat in Hamilton with 46% of the vote. Although they went on to lose this seat at the following general election, they replaced it with the seat of Western Isles. As well as winning their first general election seat, the SNPs membership also expanded dramatically. Grassroots membership had dwindled by the time of the 1974 general election but the SNP managed to win 11 seats.

Scottish nationalism came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s for a number of reasons. In the late 1960s, economic growth started to fall. Unemployment and inflation rose. People became disillusioned with the two main parties. Scotland was particularly badly affected by de-industrialisation. A lot of manufacturing was based in Scotland. The Scots began to look towards alternative parties. The SNP picked up the vote from disillusioned Conservative and Labour supporters rather than the Liberals.

In the late 1970s, tonnes of oil was discovered in the North Sea. This made some Scots question as to whether it was worthwhile to remain in the UK. They thought that money from North Sea Oil could improve the standard of living of the Scots, and that they could be financially independent. They thought that the English would waste revenue from North Sea Oil.

The Scottish thought that they would be better off as an independent nation, within the EEC. This would allow them to maintain access to English markets, but would be free from domination from England.

Furthermore, up until the late 1970s, the economic policies of the SNP were quite Conservative gaining them the name of the “Tartan Tories”. In the late 1970s, however, the SNP moved towards the left.

Welsh nationalism is not as strong as it is in Scotland. When Wales was occupied by the English, the English made a desperate attempt to wipe out the Welsh language and Culture. However, Welsh survived in the more remote areas of Northern Wales. In Scotland, Gaelic was wiped out. Gaelic tended to be spoken by the highlanders. The lowlanders were quite contemptuous of it, and were not bothered by its loss. In Wales however, the language is the main symbol of national identity. Wales does not have its own separate institutions. Linguistic differences are therefore important in Wales. There are about 500,000 Welsh speakers in Wales. This equates to about a fifth of the Welsh population. One per cent speak Welsh exclusively. Welsh speakers tend to be concentrated in the North. Welsh has become part of the National Curriculum in Wales, because of fears that the language would die out. There is also a dedicated Welsh TV channel called S4C.

The Welsh nationalist party, Plaid Cymru, was formed in 1925. In July 1966, there was a Plaid Cymru by-election victory in Camarthon. Although Plaid Cymru have tried to extend their support into South Wales where the population and industry is concentrated, their support comes mainly from the Welsh speaking North. Camarthon was lost in the 1970 general election. In 1974, Plaid Cymru won two seats. Whilst in Scotland the SNP picked up the disillusioned vote, in Wales Plaid Cymru have had to compete with the Liberals. The main policy that Plaid Cymru fight on is language. They want independence from the UK and preservation of the Welsh language. Nationalism, although it has not been as strong in Wales, peaked in 1974.

The Labour government was aware of the rise in nationalism in the late 1960s. The government set up a Royal Commission in 1969-73 to investigate whether changes should be made to the way in which Scotland and Wales were governed. The commission was headed by Lord Kilbrandon. Its conclusion formed the basis of Labour’s plans for a Scottish parliament in the late 1970s. The commission concluded that there should be devolution for Scotland and Wales, but not for England. The commission’s report was briefly debated in parliament in 1974, but it was too close to the following general election for it to be considered in any depth.

In their election manifestos of 1974, neither Labour or Conservative parties promised devolution. However, circumstances forced the Labour party to support devolution following the election. Labour was a minority government. They had to rely on the nationalist parties and upon the Liberals for support. Labour was forced to make concessions in return for their support. These concessions took the form of the 1976 Scotland and Wales Bill. This proposed an elected legislative assembly for Scotland and an elected executive assembly for Wales. The powers devolved to the Scottish assembly were to be those pertaining to existing Scottish legislation and Scottish Office functions, but not to include powers over industry, the economy, agriculture or energy policy. The Secretary of State for Scotland was to be given the power to veto over the Scottish Assembly, subject to parliamentary approval. Neither assembly was to possess independent revenue-raising powers but was to be financed mainly through a block grant allocated by parliament. Scotland and Wales were to retain their existing number of seats in the Westminster parliament. The Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales were also to retain their places in the Cabinet.

This Bill disappointed the Scottish nationalists. Some of the most important functions were not to be devolved. The Secretary of State could also veto any legislation which the Scottish Parliament passed. Plaid Cymru were even more disappointed with the Bill. The proposed assembly for Wales had even less power. Furthermore, the proposal also annoyed some English people. They did not see why the regions of England should not have devolved assemblies.

Labour experienced problems in getting the Scotland and Wales Bill through parliament. After November 1976, Labour was a minority government. There were also a number of Labour MPs who were determined opponents of the Bill. The Bill managed to get through the second reading because some Conservatives supported it. At the committee stage, the Conservative rebels were whipped back to the party line and opposed the Bill. Labour needed to get its own rebels back, and was forced to give concessions in order to do this. The concession that was offered to the rebels was a referendum. This was not enough, and in February 1977, after a defeat, the Bill was abandoned. The Labour party was still determined to get the Bill through parliament. It reintroduced the Bill in 1978. Labour had to grant more concessions this time. George Cunningham proposed an amendment that 40% of the electorate in Scotland would have to support a devolved parliament in order for it to take place.

The referenda over devolution were held on the 1st of March 1979. Although a small majority of the votes cast in Scotland were in favour of devolution, there were not enough to meet the Cunningham agreement. Even so, the SNP were persistent. They were furious that power was not going to be devolved. They were so irate that they withdrew their support from the Labour government. In the end, the issue was partly responsible for the collapse of the Labour government. Margaret Thatcher tabled a vote of no confidence. The result was 311 AYES and 310 NOS. All 11 SNP MPs voted with the Conservatives and brought down the Labour government.

The Conservatives won the 1979 general election, and ruled the country for the following 18 years. The Scots did not take to Thatcherism. The Conservative party became perceived as an English party rather than a British party. John Major did not appeal to the Scots either. The perception of the Conservatives as an English party was reinforced by various policy decisions which seemed to take no account of Scottish views. The Poll Tax was introduced in Scotland in 1989, a year earlier than in England and Wales. The Scots were furious. They thought that the Conservatives were using Scotland as a testing ground for their new tax. The Poll Tax led to the revival of the SNP. The SNP put itself at the forefront against the Poll Tax. Thatcher had not been popular in Scotland even before the introduction of the poll tax. The SNP used the slogan “Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay.” A million Scots refused to pay their poll tax. The SNP gained a lot of support.

Furthermore, in the 1980s, the Scottish Conservatives had very few MPs who could appeal to the working class voters. The Scottish middle classes also started to vote increasingly for the SNP and the Liberals. The Conservative lost most of their key supporters.

Although the Scots rejected the Conservatives, they maintained their support in England, especially in the Midlands and the South East. In 1987, Labour won 50 seats in Scotland with 70% of the vote. Because the Conservatives still had a majority in Westminster these fifty MPs were dubbed “the feeble fifty.” They were effectively totally powerless. The Scottish became dissatisfied with this ‘government from afar’ and increasingly looked towards devolution and in more extreme cases towards full independence for Scotland.

The Welsh also became disillusioned with ‘government from afar.’ They increasingly came to dislike the system of government. Despite this, Plaid Cymru were unable to increase their support enough to win any more than four seats.

Labour’s gut reaction was opposition to devolution. In Scotland, however, the union was becoming increasingly unpopular. Labour became worried that if they maintained their support for continuation of the union that they would lose support in Scotland to the SNP. Furthermore, the Conservative party seemed unassailable in Westminster. Labour began to think that devolution would disperse power and make the country more democratic. In the late 1980s Labour set up a “constitutional convention”. All groups in Scotland interested in constitutional reform came together. The SNP were present at the start of the convention, but as soon as they realised that independence for Scotland was not being considered they left. By the end of the 1980s, Labour had become pro-devolution. By the time of the 1992 general election, Labour were committed to a Scottish parliament and a Welsh assembly.

Labour’s proposals came under attack from two main sources. The SNP said that a devolved Parliament was not enough. They wanted full independence for Scotland. They were also worried that a devolved Parliament would allay desires for independence. Moreover, the Conservatives were critical of Labour’s proposals. Ian Lang, the Scottish Secretary of State, said that devolution would lead to a breaking up of the union.

In 1997, Labour won the general election. For the first time in 18 years, Scotland and Wales had voted for the winning party. Labour could put its devolutionary policies into action. The Scottish and the Welsh voted in favour of a devolved parliament for Scotland with tax varying powers, and an assembly for Wales in the devolution referenda of September 1997. These institutions will now be established to in order to govern the periphery more effectively. We have yet to see though whether devolution will extinguish nationalism in Scotland and Wales. Plaid Cymru still want an independent Wales, although nationalist support in Wales is still very low. Alex Salmond, the leader of the SNP, wants independence for Scotland by 2007. This will be 200 years following Scotland’s absorption into the UK.