Unity of the United Kingdom as a post-Brexit challenge

Abstract

The article is devoted to the changes that take place in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland after it left the European Union, which finally took place on January 31, 2020. As it turned out, one of the side effects of Brexit was the violation of the unity of the British state – in this respect, its future, in the shape in which it currently operates, has become questionable. Maintaining this unity should be treated as one of the most important challenges facing the British political elites today.

The aim of the article is to analyze the current state of the unity of the British state – primarily in the context of separatist tendencies in Scotland and the potential reunification of Ireland, and also, to a lesser extent, in the context of the development of Welsh and English nationalism. The author tries to answer the question of how much Brexit can affect this unity in the long term and whether it can lead to the disintegration of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. To answer this research question, the author uses the historical method, the institutional and legal analysis method, as well as the content analysis method.

The conducted analysis leads the author to the conclusion that the United Kingdom will face a deepened devolution in the near future, and thus – evolution towards a classic federal state. This kind of constitutional reform seems today to be the price of maintaining the unity of this country.