The Connection between Brexit and Attempts to Find an Answer to the West Lothian Question
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12797/Politeja.22.2025.97.05Słowa kluczowe:
devolution, England, United Kingdom, West Lothian Question, English Question, Brexit, nationalismAbstrakt
The article constitutes an attempt to deal with the paradox contained in the West Lothian Question (known also as the English Question) which remains one of the greatest anomalies of the British constitutional system. Since the 1970s (when this question was asked for the first time) there have been many legal and political disputes over that issue, and even the idea of ‘English votes for English laws’ (EVEL) was implemented by the British parliament.
The purpose of the article is to analyze and evaluate the potential impact of Brexit on that issue. By applying the historical method as well as the institutional and legal analysis method, the author verifies the hypothesis that Brexit will not be a breakthrough in finding an optimal solution to this legal and constitutional conundrum, even though in the post-Brexit reality this issue will keep returning, gaining a completely new meaning in the eyes of the British.
Pobrania
Bibliografia
Adler J., Constitutional and Administrative Law, Basingstoke–New York 2013.
View in Google Scholar
Birrell D., Carmichael P., Heenan D., Devolution in the UK: Politics, Power and Policies, London 2023.
View in Google Scholar
Black J., English Nationalism: A Short History, London 2018.
View in Google Scholar
Bogdanor V., Devolution in the United Kingdom, Oxford–New York 2001.
View in Google Scholar
Cabinet Office, English Votes for English Laws: An Explanatory Guide to Proposals, July 2015, at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a8169d8e5274a2e8ab53db4/English_votes_for_English_laws_explanatory_guide.pdf.
View in Google Scholar
Calhoun C., “Populism: Nationalism and Brexit,” in W. Outhwaite (ed.), Brexit: Sociological Responses, London–New York 2017, pp. 57-76.
View in Google Scholar
“Commons Scraps English Votes for English Laws,” BBC, 14 July 2021, at https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-57828406.
View in Google Scholar
Dalyell T., Devolution: The End of Britain?, London 1977.
View in Google Scholar
Danel Ł., “Brytyjskie dylematy konstytucyjne ‘pytania z West Lothian,’” Studia Polityczne, vol. 45, no. 4 (2017), pp. 109-127.
View in Google Scholar
Danel Ł., “Euroscepticism or Nationalism — Which Better Explains the Decision of the British to Leave the European Union?,” Studia nad Autorytaryzmem i Totalitaryzmem, vol. 43, no. 1 (2021), pp. 125-138, https://doi.org/10.19195/2300-7249.43.1.8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19195/2300-7249.43.1.8
View in Google Scholar
Danel Ł., Zrozumieć Brexit. Przyczyny wystąpienia Zjednoczonego Królestwa Wielkiej Brytanii i Irlandii Północnej z Unii Europejskiej, Warszawa 2022.
View in Google Scholar
Dunin-Wasowicz R., “Long Read: Is Brexit the English Reaction to Devolution?,” LSE, 10 October 2019, at https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2019/10/10/devolution-brexit-and-englishnationalism/.
View in Google Scholar
Gay O., The McKay Commission: Report of the Commission on the Consequences of Devolution for the House of Commons: Standard Note: SN/PC/06821, London 2014.
View in Google Scholar
Gay O., Holden H., Bowers P., The West Lothian Question: Standard Note: SN/PC/2586, London 2012.
View in Google Scholar
Gover D., Kenny M., “Answering the West Lothian Question? A Critical Assessment of ‘English Votes for English Laws’ in the UK Parliament,” Parliamentary Affairs, vol. 71, no. 4 (2018), pp. 760-782, https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsy003. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsy003
View in Google Scholar
Gover D., Kenny M., Finding the Good in EVEL: An Evaluation of ‘English Votes on English Laws’ in the House of Commons, Edinburgh 2016.
View in Google Scholar
Hazell R. (ed.), Constitutional Futures Revisited: Britain’s Constitution to 2020, Basingstoke–New York 2008, https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230595088. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230595088
View in Google Scholar
Hazell R., The English Question, London 2006. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/publius/pjj012
View in Google Scholar
Henderson A. et al., “How Brexit Was Made in England?,” British Journal of Politics and International Relations, vol. 19, no. 4 (2017), pp. 631-646, https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148117730542. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1369148117730542
View in Google Scholar
Kumar K., The Making of English National Identity, Cambridge 2003. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511550058
View in Google Scholar
Leyland P., The Constitution of the United Kingdom: A Contextual Analysis, Oxford–Portland 2012.
View in Google Scholar
Mitchell J., Devolution in the UK, Manchester–New York 2009, https://doi.org/10.7228/manchester/9780719053580.001.0001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7228/manchester/9780719053580.001.0001
View in Google Scholar
Russell M., Lodge G., Westminster and the English Question, London 2005.
View in Google Scholar
Taylor R.B., “The West Lothian Question, EVEL and the 2017 General Election,” UK Constitutional Law Association, 13 June 2017, at https://ukconstitutionallaw.org/2017/06/13/robert-brett-taylor-the-west-lothian-question-evel-and-the-2017-general-election/.
View in Google Scholar
Pobrania
Opublikowane
Numer
Dział
Licencja

Utwór dostępny jest na licencji Creative Commons Uznanie autorstwa – Użycie niekomercyjne – Bez utworów zależnych 4.0 Międzynarodowe.
