9
ISSUES: Citizenship
Chapter 1: Citizenship in the UK
Citizenship in the UK – English, Irish,
Scottish or Welsh?
C
itizenship in the UK takes on a very different
dimension when you factor in the four countries
which make up the UK. Although technically,
citizens of the UK are known as British, depending on the
person whom you ask, you may get the answer of British,
English, Scottish, Irish or Welsh. And it entirely depends on
the individual as to which answer you will get.
For outsiders, this can seem a little complicated and it is not
hard to see why. People from other countries see us play
sport at the Olympics as a British team but then also see
teams in the football and rugby world cups under the titles
of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. London is
the capital of the country, but Cardiff, Belfast and Edinburgh
all assert their own rights to be called capitals as well. And if
it was not confusing enough –many people will be offended
if called British but they consider themselves Scottish or one
of the other nationalities. And the mistake of calling a Scot,
Welsh person or Irish person English is one which is even
harder to forgive.
Devolution
The issue of devolution is a thorny one and one which
complicates the idea of citizenship in the UK even further.
The basic idea of devolution was to give the people in
each country a say in how issues in that country were
run. The Scottish Parliament at the moment has the most
independence – which then leads to a notion called
the West Lothian question. The West Lothian question
basically addresses the situation which arises in the British
Government where MPs for constituencies in Scotland can
vote on issues affecting people in England – but people
and their MPs in England cannot affect what happens in
Scotland because their issues are dealt with by the Scottish
Parliament.
AUnited Kingdom?
Whether or not theUKwill ever be, or has ever been, truly united,
in the hearts andminds of the peoplewho live here is far beyond
the scope of this article. It is a fact that many people from
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are keen to re-assert their
independence from England and feel that England has ruled
their countries for too long. But of course, like in every aspect of
life, it would be unfair to generalise. Some people are keen to be
British and embrace everything that this means. The best tip for
outsiders is to always gauge what each individual feels before
calling themBritish, Irish, Scottish or Welsh.
It is not this article’s intention to enter into a full-scale debate of
what it means to be British and whether devolution is a good
thing or not. It is simply to inform the reader of the differences
within the UK which mean that being a citizen of the UK and
defining nationality in the UK is no cut and dried matter. This is
nomodernphenomenon. Aglance at any Shakespearehistorical
play will demonstrate that there has been friction between the
countries for a very long time. And Hadrian’s Wall is testament to
the fact that once the Scots in the north and Roman invaders in
England were so desperate to be kept separate that such a feat
was necessary.
Devolution looks set to continue, with greater powers being
granted to the Scottish Parliament andWelsh and Northern Irish
assemblies. Where this will leave England and the UK is unclear –
but it will be an interesting topic to observe in the future.
23 September 2014
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Grants and refusals of citizenship
Year
Total
decisions
Total grants On basis of
residence
On basis of
marriage
As children Other
grounds
Refusals
and
withdrawals
to March
2012
181,832
175,267
95,625
34,384
40,512
4,746
6,565
to March
2013
202,742
195,642
107,146
39,663
43,586
5,247
7,100
to March
2014
214,981
206,852
112,380
46,893
43,413
4,166
8,129
to March
2015
121,339
115,540
56,632,
23,533
31,066
4,309
5,799
to March
2016
148,497
134,659
68,415
28,323
32,508
5,413
13,838
Change:
latest year
27,158
19,119
11,783
4,790
1,442
1,104
8,039
Percentage
change
+22%
+17%
+21%
+20%
+26%
+26%
+139%
Source: National Statistics Citizenship, May 2016
