Politics happens not only between Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom, but across them as well. There is a British-Irish and an Irish-British politics, along with growing relationships between state and political actors in Scotland, Wales and parts of England with their counterparts in Ireland North and South. Such relations are built into the three-stranded … [Read more...] about Political change across Britain and Ireland (2)
Wales
Options and challenges for Wales’s constitutional future
The Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales reported in January 2024. The Commission had both independent experts and party political nominees on it, produced a unanimous report, and found that the three main constitutional options they focused on - enhanced devolution, a federal UK and an independent Wales - were all viable (each with their own strengths … [Read more...] about Options and challenges for Wales’s constitutional future
UK-wide constitutional reform is an unavoidable must
The four constituent nations of the United Kingdom (UK) exist within a unitary state which is not underpinned by the transparent checks and balances of a formal written constitution. Many are appalled when they realise that the UK’s uncodified constitutional practices can seemingly vary on a fancy, depending on where a clause sits in a Bill and is debated, and whether … [Read more...] about UK-wide constitutional reform is an unavoidable must
Four Welsh women poets
Then I’ll do the lights, fill the lamp with oil,Get coal from the shed, water from the well;Pluck and draw pigeon, with crop of green foilThis your good supper from the lime-tree fell.Lynette RobertsPoetry has played an important role in the history of Wales. From the medieval courts, to the ongoing National Eisteddfod (the largest music and poetry festival in … [Read more...] about Four Welsh women poets
Labour’s new narrative on Europe
With this crisis exploding at Westminster, the Labour Party has a crucial responsibility and a golden opportunity to make all the difference to what happens next.Whether or not the next phase is to involve a General Election or the Peoples' Vote, which many are now proposing, it is urgent for the Labour leadership to set out a much fuller, more convincing narrative as to … [Read more...] about Labour’s new narrative on Europe