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It is always a hot topic, but England’s dominance can be noted in its absence. Wouldn’t it be fair to say that the UK is synonymous with England in this case?

It is always a hot topic, but England’s dominance can be noted in its absence. Wouldn’t it be fair to say that the UK is synonymous with England in this case? Exhibit A, that I have at hand. Rainfall gauges for only England using the UK domain: https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/rainfall-station/238605TP?v=map&lyr=mv,rf&ext=-6.180326,47.512308,3.355807,57.405559 https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/rainfall-station/2...

actionfromafar 4y ago
If you want to get really weird, look into City of London and some of the Channel Islands. UK very much retains living heritage of the medieval.
- jinder 4y ago
  I think the independent status of the City of London is grossly exaggerated and not really comparable with the Channel Islands.
  - pmyteh 4y ago
    It's not particularly independent, but it is the last of the unreformed medieval municipal corporations. In earlier times every borough/city corporation was chartered ad hoc and often had completely undemocratic rules for membership (e.g. selection by the outgoing members, maintaining a self-selected oligarchy, or election by an extremely restricted franchise). There was a process from the Municipal Corporations Act 1835[0] onwards where the old order was reformed into a more modern (more uniform and more democratic) county/district/borough/city councils system. We eventually ended up with the local authorities we have today. Except for the City of London. Here, a combination of the Victorian power of the Corporation, coupled with the tiny resident population of the City (and a consequent desire by central governments to leave elections in the effective hands of the companies who employ people in the City rather than those who live there) have left a body allowed to take its own direction. Along with the Council of the Isles of Scilly (weird because Scilly is far too small to justify its own principal authority, but too far from Cornwall to be conveniently governed by it) it is one of only two really sui generis principal local authorities in England. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_Corporations_Act_1835 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_Corporations_Act_183...
    - dane-pgp 4y ago
      That's a great explanation, but it's also worth adding that the City of London was the only city mentioned[0] in Magna Carta, which stated: "the City of London shall have all its ancient liberties by land as well as by water" These liberties being "ancient" even in 1215 AD means they date back to "time immemorial"[1] (that is, before 1189 AD) and thus their exact nature is not known. As such, replacing the legal basis for the City would likely have contravened or at least complicated the interpretation of that foundational document. [0] https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/history-and-heritage/magna-carta https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/history-and-her... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_immemorial#English_and_American_Common_Law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_immemorial#English_and_Am...
      - pmyteh 4y ago
        Yes - the traditional liberties of the City are long-standing and fought for. I'm not sure that being mentioned by name in Magna Carta was reason enough to leave it unreformed. The Cinque Ports have been reduced to essentially ceremonial status despite their mention (and the large majority of Magna Carta has simply been repealed over the years[0] - it's not a constitutional document in the sense that it's ever been entrenched). [0]: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/Edw1cc1929/25/9 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/Edw1cc1929/25/9
- dane-pgp 4y ago
  > UK very much retains living heritage of the medieval. To give an example, it was only in 2008 when the island of Sark abolished the feudal system (the last place in the western world to do so). https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/dec/10/channel-islands https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/dec/10/channel-islands
  - arethuza 4y ago
    Scotland only removed the last bits of feudalism in 2000 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2000/5/notes/division/1/2?view=plain https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2000/5/notes/division/1/2... "Vassals will become owners and superiors will disappear."
yuriko 4y ago
It used to be the case that there is only a single UK government. The local governments (Scotland, Wales, NI) are formed no more than ~20 years ago, and are in charge of local affairs such as healthcare and education. There is never an England local government, but effectively the UK government only have to deal with England with regards to local affairs. (A bit over simplified, of course)
- arethuza 4y ago
  The Scottish Parliament is sometimes described as having been re-established in '99 https://www.parliament.scot/about/history-of-the-scottish-parliament/the-scottish-parliament-reestablished https://www.parliament.scot/about/history-of-the-scottish-pa...
Milner08 4y ago
No, that's not true or fair. The gov.uk contains stuff for all countries not just England. Although it may contain stuff for England that does not have a place elsewhere. The fact England doesn't have a devolved government is insanity to me, but people were really pissed at Blair when it came time to vote on it... so here we are.

actionfromafar 4y ago

If you want to get really weird, look into City of London and some of the Channel Islands. UK very much retains living heritage of the medieval.

jinder 4y ago
I think the independent status of the City of London is grossly exaggerated and not really comparable with the Channel Islands.
- pmyteh 4y ago
  It's not particularly independent, but it is the last of the unreformed medieval municipal corporations. In earlier times every borough/city corporation was chartered ad hoc and often had completely undemocratic rules for membership (e.g. selection by the outgoing members, maintaining a self-selected oligarchy, or election by an extremely restricted franchise). There was a process from the Municipal Corporations Act 1835[0] onwards where the old order was reformed into a more modern (more uniform and more democratic) county/district/borough/city councils system. We eventually ended up with the local authorities we have today. Except for the City of London. Here, a combination of the Victorian power of the Corporation, coupled with the tiny resident population of the City (and a consequent desire by central governments to leave elections in the effective hands of the companies who employ people in the City rather than those who live there) have left a body allowed to take its own direction. Along with the Council of the Isles of Scilly (weird because Scilly is far too small to justify its own principal authority, but too far from Cornwall to be conveniently governed by it) it is one of only two really sui generis principal local authorities in England. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_Corporations_Act_1835 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Municipal_Corporations_Act_183...
  - dane-pgp 4y ago
    That's a great explanation, but it's also worth adding that the City of London was the only city mentioned[0] in Magna Carta, which stated: "the City of London shall have all its ancient liberties by land as well as by water" These liberties being "ancient" even in 1215 AD means they date back to "time immemorial"[1] (that is, before 1189 AD) and thus their exact nature is not known. As such, replacing the legal basis for the City would likely have contravened or at least complicated the interpretation of that foundational document. [0] https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/history-and-heritage/magna-carta https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/history-and-her... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_immemorial#English_and_American_Common_Law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_immemorial#English_and_Am...
    - pmyteh 4y ago
      Yes - the traditional liberties of the City are long-standing and fought for. I'm not sure that being mentioned by name in Magna Carta was reason enough to leave it unreformed. The Cinque Ports have been reduced to essentially ceremonial status despite their mention (and the large majority of Magna Carta has simply been repealed over the years[0] - it's not a constitutional document in the sense that it's ever been entrenched). [0]: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/Edw1cc1929/25/9 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aep/Edw1cc1929/25/9
dane-pgp 4y ago
> UK very much retains living heritage of the medieval. To give an example, it was only in 2008 when the island of Sark abolished the feudal system (the last place in the western world to do so). https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/dec/10/channel-islands https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/dec/10/channel-islands
- arethuza 4y ago
  Scotland only removed the last bits of feudalism in 2000 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2000/5/notes/division/1/2?view=plain https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2000/5/notes/division/1/2... "Vassals will become owners and superiors will disappear."

yuriko 4y ago

It used to be the case that there is only a single UK government. The local governments (Scotland, Wales, NI) are formed no more than ~20 years ago, and are in charge of local affairs such as healthcare and education. There is never an England local government, but effectively the UK government only have to deal with England with regards to local affairs. (A bit over simplified, of course)

arethuza 4y ago
The Scottish Parliament is sometimes described as having been re-established in '99 https://www.parliament.scot/about/history-of-the-scottish-parliament/the-scottish-parliament-reestablished https://www.parliament.scot/about/history-of-the-scottish-pa...

Milner08 4y ago

No, that's not true or fair. The gov.uk contains stuff for all countries not just England. Although it may contain stuff for England that does not have a place elsewhere. The fact England doesn't have a devolved government is insanity to me, but people were really pissed at Blair when it came time to vote on it... so here we are.