Book Reviews
The Brexit Sovereignty Problem
Sionadh Douglas-Scott’s monograph depicts Brexit as the latest example of union and disunion in the United Kingdom’s constitutional (un)settlement. The predicative claim running throughout these chapters is that the “imposition of resolute and unlimited parliament sovereignty” has presaged disunion. The book is informative on the United Kingdom’s constitutional history, and admirable in its efforts to place Brexit within its wider historical context. The conclusion’s appeal for a new path in determining the autonomy of the United Kingdom’s devolved regions is powerful. However, the thrust of the main argument risks being diluted by the repetition arising from the author’s structural choices. If the argument against parliamentary sovereignty had been foregrounded as the lens through which the case studies of disunion were analysed then this could have provided a sharp focus for Douglas-Scott’s critique of UK constitutional orthodoxy.
17.04.2024
