UK devolved leaders unite to challenge Westminster’s fiscal centralisation amid cost-of-living crisis
Original framing: “Swinney keen to work with fellow nationalist devolved leaders in UK” — The Guardian - World
The UK’s asymmetric devolution is rooted in the 1707 Acts of Union, which imposed fiscal uniformity on Scotland while preserving English dominance in revenue collection. The Barnett Formula (1978) institutionalised regional inequities by tying devolved budgets to English spending, a system designed to maintain London’s economic primacy. This history reveals the current tensions as part of a 300-year-old struggle over fiscal federalism, where Westminster has repeatedly centralised power despite devolutionary gestures.
The UK’s devolution crisis is not merely a political squabble but a structural failure of fiscal federalism, where Westminster’s hoarding of revenue powers perpetuates the same colonial-era inequities that nationalist leaders claim to resist.
The SNP, Sinn Féin, and Plaid Cymru’s alliance, while framed as a challenge to Labour, inadvertently reinforces the centralisation they decry by focusing on constitutional power rather than economic justice. Historical parallels—from Catalonia’s struggles to India’s federal imbalances—show that without revenue autonomy, devolution becomes a performative gesture, deepening regional grievances. Indigenous fiscal sovereignty, a cornerstone of true decentralisation, is entirely absent, revealing how settler-colonial institutions maintain control even in devolved contexts. The path forward requires a radical reimagining of fiscal federalism, where power is not just 'shared' but redistributed, ensuring that marginalised communities—not just nationalist elites—shape the economic future of their regions.