Scottish devolution.

The first 200 words of this essay...

After the Union Treaty between the Kingdoms of Scotland and England in 1707, the Scottish Parliament was dissolved and power was sent down to Westminster. For the following 300 years, Scotland was ruled by a southern power-base, perceived by many to be biased to southern needs and wishes. Since the signing of the treaty, many different groups have pushed for some sort of home rule for Scotland, if not complete independence. The core argument was that Scottish governance should not be dependent on political control created by a House of Commons majority in which Scotland - with a relatively small presence at Westminster - inevitably played only a minor role. That argument grew in strength during the years of the Conservative rule, from 1979 to 1997. During this period Scotland elected few Tory MPs and so it was claimed that a party that it did not elect governed the country. And as a result Scotland was often on the receiving end of policies, such as the Poll Tax, which it palpably rejected. The need for legislation tailored to Scottish needs, and for Scottish ministers and their policies to be held to account by Scotland's elected representatives became hard to accommodate