This House of Lords Library Briefing was prepared in advance of the debate on 17 January 2019 in the House of Lords on the motion moved by Lord Lisvane (Crossbench) on the “possible effects of Brexit
on the stability of the union between the parts of the United Kingdom".
This briefing provides background information on the union, before briefly examining issues that have arisen in debates on unionism since the 2016 EU referendum. It then provides an overview of recent proposals to stabilise the union, including a private member’s bill introduced by Lord Lisvane in October 2018 that is currently awaiting second reading.
The briefing concludes with a selection of recommended further reading on the complex and multi-faceted issue of the future of the union in the context of the UK’s forthcoming withdrawal from the EU.
