History Memes

The UK’s constitutional settlement is a pile of ad hoc arrangements, and thus somewhat of a mess. No pair of constituent nations are in the union on equal terms, in the way that, say, US states or German Länder are.

Wales has historically been regarded as a funny part of England, sort of like Cornwall, whose locals get angry if you don’t pretend that they’re a real pseudo-country without actual sovereignty like Scotland and can put up a fight so you humour them. “England and Wales” is constitutionally one entity with one set of laws and until recently ruled directly from Westminster (there’s now a regional parliament in Wales named the Senedd, though only a few regional matters are devolved to it). Now Wales is nominally regarded as one of the constituent nations of the UK, even if the settlement still often treats it as an appendage of England.

Interestingly enough, Cornwall is now increasingly asserting its nationhood, and you read about people who consider themselves Cornish rather than English, as opposed to Cornishness implying Englishness the way that, say, being from Yorkshire does. The revival of the Cornish language undoubtedly helps.