The Old United Kingdom Is Dead; It's Time We Faced Our Federal Future

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IS THIS the last British election? No, I'm not suggesting that blackshirts will soon march down Whitehall and snuff out the mother of parliaments. I mean: is this the last British election? The last one, that is, in which we can really speak of the politics of a single, sovereign United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Conservatives suggest that two forces are causing the slow death of Britain: integration into the European Union and devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Like two giant leeches, attached respectively to head and stomach, Europe and devolution are supposedly sucking the lifeblood from the proud heart of Britishness. That proud …