ANY written UK constitution would have to spell out the route for a constituent nation to leave the Union, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been told.
Pro-independence parties in Scotland and Wales spoke out after the new Labour leader suggested that there was an increased need for the UK to have a “written constitution” following plans for extended devolution in England.
As it stands, the UK’s constitution – the set of rules and standards outlining how the country is governed – is uncodified, existing across a series of sources including statute law, common law, and unwritten conventions.
On Friday, Burnham suggested that the case for the constitution to be written into a single overarching document – as is the case in countries such as Spain and the US – was growing stronger.
“There is a case for a new clear set of principles about how this country should be run,” he said.
Political expert Dr Kirsty Hughes asked: "Would Burnham's written constitution spell out what a voluntary union means? He seems to think it's about devolution."
The Prime Minister previously called for a written constitution in his 2024 book Head North: A Rallying Cry for a More Equal Britain, which he co-authored with Liverpool City Region metro mayor Steve Rotheram.
SNP MSP Karen Adam said that Burnham is “right that the UK's constitutional arrangements are no longer fit for purpose – but any serious discussion about a written constitution cannot dodge the fundamental question at the heart of the Union”.
“If the UK is to have a written constitution, it would have to spell out clearly how any of its constituent nations could choose to leave – a Union that depends on denying that choice is a Union in name only,” Adam said.
However, she added: “The SNP's priority is in securing the written constitution of an independent Scotland – one that puts democracy the sovereignty of the people at its heart – rather than yet another attempt to patch up the fundamentally broken Westminster system.”
Scottish Greens co-leader Gillian Mackay also said at a written UK constitution would have to address the question of how to leave the Union.
She said: “Perhaps in his written constitution Burnham can finally answer the biggest constitutional question facing devolved nations. How exactly does a nation democratically leave this so-called ‘voluntary union’?
“If his constitution can't get the basics right then it won't be worth the paper it's written on.
“I hope that finally Unionist politicians will be able to give a straight answer, and allow Scotland the right to choose its own future.”
A spokesperson for Plaid Cymru, the Welsh pro-independence party which now leads the government in Cardiff, told The National: "The way the UK is currently structured and governed is unsustainable.
“Plaid Cymru has consistently said that change is both necessary and likely, and that any responsible government must prepare for it. It's therefore welcome to see the Prime Minister recognise the need for change.
"However, in devising a codified model of devolution that works for Wales and other nations and regions across these isles, there must be meaningful and constructive engagement with devolved governments which respects the democratic mandate given by the people they represent.
"Decisions on Wales's political and constitutional future belong to the people of Wales, and this must be a foundational principle to any future codified constitution."
In the UK, the Good Friday Agreement lays out how majority votes from both the people of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland could lead to a united Ireland. It states that a referendum on unity cannot be held “earlier than seven years after the holding of a previous poll”.
It also lays out a trigger for a vote, saying that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland can call a referendum “if at any time it appears likely to him that a majority of those voting would express a wish that Northern Ireland should cease to be part of the United Kingdom and form part of a united Ireland”.
Spain’s constitution states that it is “based on the indissoluble unity of the Spanish Nation”, and that political decisions “of special importance may be submitted to all citizens in a consultative referendum”.
This has been interpreted as meaning that a referendum on a part of Spain becoming independent, for example Catalonia, would have to poll everybody across all of Spain.
In 2017, Spain’s constitutional court ruled that a Catalan bid to unilaterally hold a referendum on independence was illegal as it breached the country’s constitution.
