Ukraine UK lesson

When Nikita Khrushchev handed the Crimea to Ukraine in 1954, it was in the context of marking the 300th anniversary of Russo-Ukrainian political union.

However, since this was done in the complete absence of any negotiation between representatives of the two Soviet Republics, let alone any kind of wider public debate, it should come as no surprise not only that it ultimately failed to assuage incipient Ukrainian separatist feeling, 
but that it would serve to be a divisive, rather than uniting 
factor in relations between the two countries.

In terms of relations between England and Scotland though, peering into the mists of time, might it not be possible to identify a territory whose status Westminster politicians could discuss with their counterparts in 
Holyrood – subject to very careful negotiation and proper public consultation – as a way of seeking to restore popular support for the Union?

James Bruce

Berwick-upon-Tweed