Britain Rebooted: Scotland in a Federal Union

By David Torrance

Great Britain, (abbreviation: UK) England, Wales and Scotland considered as a unit. The name is also often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom. reboot, ri-bu:t , verb to restart or revive… give fresh impetus to… federal, fed ar-al, adj. having or relating to a system of government in which several states form a unity but remain independent in internal affairs. Would federalism work in the UK? Wouldn't England dominate a British federation? How would powers be distributed between federal and home Nation level? What about the House of Lords? In the run up to the historic referendum on Scottish independence there has been a plethora of tracts, articles and books arguing for and against, but there remains a gap in the literature: the case for Scotland becoming part of a 'rebooted' federal Union. It is an old, usually Liberal, dream, but one still worth fighting for. It is often assumed that federalism is somehow 'alien' to the Scottish and British constitutional tradition but in this short book journalist David Torrance argues that not only has the UK already become a quasi-federal state but that formal federation is the best way of squaring the competing demands of Nationalists and Unionists. He also uses Scotland's place within a federal UK to examine other potential reforms with a view to tackling ever-increasing inequality across the British Isles and create a more equal, successful and constitutionally coherent country.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Luath Press
• Release date: May 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781910324042

David Torrance

David Torrance is a constitutional specialist at the House of Commons Library and a widely published historian of Scottish and UK politics. He has written biographies of SNP politicians Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon, as well as the authorized biography of David Steel.