History of England
Following years of political and military agitation for 'Home Rule' for Ireland, the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921 established the Irish Free State (now the Republic of Ireland) as a separate nation, leaving Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom. The official name of the UK thus became "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".
Demands for constitutional change in Scotland resulted in a referendum being held in 1997 on the issue of re-establishing a Scottish Parliament, though within the United Kingdom. Following a huge 'Yes' vote, the Scotland Act 1998 was passed and the devolved parliament was elected and took powers in May, 1999. Following the Scottish elections in 2007, a minority SNP government took power, under the leadership of First Minister, Alex Salmond that is determined to move Scotland towards independence. The response of the main unionist parties has been to propose a constitutional commission to look at transferring more powers to the Scottish Parliament.[1]
Demands for constitutional change in Wales also led to a 1997 referendum on a proposed Assembly, though the result in this case was a very narrow 'Yes' vote. Despite this start, discussions are now taking place about adding to the powers of the Welsh Assembly.
With the Northern Ireland Assembly restored in 2007, England is now the only one of the four constituent countries of the UK that does not have its own devolved administration. This situation has given rise to a constitutional anomaly known as The West Lothian question, in that since laws for England are made by the entire UK parliament, and the government of England is the entire UK government, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs help make law that affect England alone, though English MPs have no similar power over legislation that affects Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. This has led to demands for an English Parliament, or even for the formal ending of the United Kingdom, with independence for the constituent countries of the UK.[citation needed]
[
References
[
See also
- Bretwalda
- List of British monarchs, British monarchs' family tree
- Politics of the United Kingdom
- Danelaw
- English people
- History of the British constitution
- History of British society
- Timeline of English history
- Population of England - historical estimates
- History of the Jews in England
- History of the British Isles
- History of the United Kingdom
- History of Scotland
- History of Ireland
- History of Wales
- History of Cornwall
- Commonwealth of Nations
- History by county or city
[
Further reading
- A History of Britain: At the Edge of the World, 3500 BC – 1603 AD by Simon Schama, BBC/Miramax, 2000 ISBN 0-7868-6675-6
- A History of Britain, Volume 2: The Wars of the British 1603–1776 by Simon Schama, BBC/Miramax, 2001 ISBN 0-7868-6675-6
- A History of Britain - The Complete Collection on DVD by Simon Schama, BBC 2002 ASIN B00006RCKI
- The Isles, A History by Norman Davies, Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-19-513442-7
- The History of England, From the First Invasion by the Romans to the Accession of William and Mary in 1688, 1819 by Father John Lingard (Roman Catholic perspective)
- Shortened History of England by G. M. Trevelyan Penguin Books ISBN 0-14-023323-7
- History of the English-Speaking Peoples by Sir Winston Churchill Cassell reference, ISBN 0-304-36389-8 — the writing of which helped bring Churchill to public attention in the 1930s, and which forms the basis of many later reference works
- Letters of the Kings of England, now first collected from the originals in royal archives, and from other authentic sources, private as well as public by J O Halliwell-Phillipps, London, H. Colburn, 1846. vol. 1 — Google Books
- Stephen and Matilda The Civil War of 1139-53 by Jim Bradbury, Alan Sutton Publishing, Ltd., 1996, ISBN 0-7509-0612-X
For more information review our copyright contact and privacy policy.