ASSESSMENTS

Brexit's Potential to Fracture the U.K.

Apr 2, 2017 | 13:01 GMT

Scottish Independence Movement
The independence movement in Scotland stands to gain momentum from the Brexit.

(JEFF J. MITCHELL/Getty Images)

Its split from the European Union will put a strain on the United Kingdom's territorial integrity. People who are pushing for Scotland and Northern Ireland to secede from the United Kingdom are using Brexit to justify their agendas. In addition, Brexit will open a debate between the central government in London and the country's devolved governments about who will control the powers that will be repatriated from Brussels. With authority over policy areas such as agriculture, fisheries, industry and the environment returning to the United Kingdom after Brexit, the administrations of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will push London to transfer many of those attributions to them. The United Kingdom has a devolution system, according to which different policy powers from the United Kingdom's Parliament have been transferred to assemblies in Cardiff and Belfast, and to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. The system was created to acknowledge the United Kingdom's distinctive...

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