Constitutional change and territorial consent: The Miller Case and the Sewel Convention

The United Kingdom that voted in 1975 on whether to remain in what was then the European Economic Community was a unitary state with a single legislature and single source of sovereign authority. Direct rule had recently been restored in Northern Ireland, and its devolved Parliament abolished; 1 devolution to Scotland and Wal es was under discussion, but no firm proposals were yet being considered. The referendum vote was counted on a territorial basis, and there was concern about the political implications of a territorially - divided result, particularly in the context of rising Scottish nationalism. But it would have been difficult to argue that territorial difference — which in the event never materialised — was constitutionally relevant.