What sort of country would England be without Scotland and Northern Ireland be? That is perhaps the biggest question of them all and one worth asking before indifference south of the border becomes the handmaiden to nationalist seduction to its north.

The arrangements for the countries of the UK are likely to continue to develop through piecemeal change. This change process is more difficult as a result of the 2016 referendum on the EU. This presents an ongoing threat to the survival of the UK as a unitary state.