18d (edited) • History & Law
So when did the Union become illegitimate?
There are three defensible answers, depending on how strict you want to be.
Let’s have a look at all three, from hard legal to modern democratic.
1. It was born illegitimate
This is the uncomfortable one Westminster never wants examined.
Why?
Because in 1707:
- There was no popular consent
- No referendum
- No mandate
- Widespread public opposition in Scotland
- MPs were bribed, pressured, or financially dependent
- Protests were suppressed, not heeded
By any modern definition of legitimacy:
- The people were never asked
- The decision was elite-driven
- Consent was assumed, not given
So strictly speaking:
The Union did not become illegitimate.
It never was legitimate in the first place.
It was legal under elite-controlled law, but illegitimate by democratic standards.
2. It became illegitimate when democracy arrived
This is the argument even moderates can’t dodge.
Once democracy becomes the basis of authority, ongoing consent becomes mandatory.
Key shift:
- The UK evolves into a parliamentary democracy
- The moral basis of rule changes from “Crown + Parliament” to “people”
At that moment, something critical happens:
An agreement made without the people now requires their consent to continue.
But Scotland was never re-asked.
No ratification.
No renewal.
No mechanism to withdraw.
From that point onward, the Union survives not on consent — but on inertia.
That’s when legitimacy starts decaying.
3. It became illegitimate the moment Scotland voted to leave and was told “no”
This is the cleanest, most devastating argument.
You don’t even need history for this one.
In a modern democracy:
- If a people express a sustained, majority desire to leave
- And are blocked from doing so
- The governing structure loses legitimacy immediately
Why?
Because consent has been explicitly withdrawn.
At that point, the Union stops being a union and becomes:
- A constraint
- A containment
- A control structure
Legality may continue.
Authority does not.
This is the point where:
“voluntary union” becomes a contradiction in terms.
So which one is correct?
All three. But they do different jobs.
- Argument 1 exposes the myth of origin
- Argument 2 exposes the democratic failure
- Argument 3 exposes the present-day breach
Together, they form an airtight case:
The Union lacks historical consent, lacks democratic renewal, and now lacks present consent.
That’s not a political grievance.
That’s a full legitimacy collapse.
The most dangerous sentence Westminster cannot answer
Here it is. This is the core:
If a political union cannot be exited, it was never voluntary.
Everything else is noise.
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So when did the Union become illegitimate?
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