United Kingdom Confederation
A United Kingdom Confederation refers to the concept of proposed constitutional reform, that the countries of the United Kingdom; England, Scotland, Wales, as well as Northern Ireland as separate sovereign groups or states pool certain key resources within a confederal system. Concept. The concept of a confederal UK may include the following: It has also been suggested that the House of Lords should be replaced with a senate elected by the assemblies/pariaments of constituent countries. Confederal UK proposals. By academics. Gerald Holtham, Hodge Professor of Regional Economy at Cardiff Metropolitan University, also outlined his support for  a confederal UK in an article for the think tank Compass. Prof Jim Gallagher, of the Institute of Legal and Constitutional Research at the University of St Andrews, has produced a paper discussing his support for a confederate UK. Gallagher was the UK government's most senior adviser on devolution and constitutional matters. He worked on the number 10 policy unit under Gordon Brown. In 2019, Noel Biggar, Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology, University of Oxford, suggested it was time to form a British Isles confederation, also replacing the House of Lords with a senate elected by the  assemblies/parliaments of constituent countries. A League-Union of the Isles. In March 2022, Glyndwr Jones of the Institute of Welsh affairs produced a document "A League-Union of the Isles" discussing constitutional options for the UK with a preface by former first minister of Wales Carwyn Jones. The author presents multiple potential constitutional options for the UK/UK nations including: devolution, federalism, confederalism, confederal-federalism, sovereignty within the EU and independence. The author settles on confederal-federalism, a union of sovereign nations that stands between federalism and a confederation, with an agreed confederal treaty between national parliaments, which jointly  form a "Council of the Isles". The proposed union would include the following: By politicians. In a House of Lords Constitution Committee, "Inquiry into the Future Governance of the UK", Dr Paul Anderson suggests that further research is merited for a federal or confederal UK. He notes that this may, "contrary to the current dominant opinion among pro-Union political elites, create an even looser union". He also suggests that the SNP's campaign for independence prior to the 2014 independence referendum included "hallmarks" of a confederal UK. Northern Ireland. Professor Brendan O'Leary of the London School of Economics has  noted that an element of a confederacy already exists between the UK nation of Northern Ireland and the independent state of Ireland. Following the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, the north–south ministerial council (of the island of Ireland) was established which is responsible for 12 policy areas.