Cross-party group proposes reform to stop impending break-up of UK over Brexit

The group says the Westminster parliament should become voluntary for the UK's consituent countries

Big Ben is bathed in afternoon sunshine at Parliament on October 22, 2010 in London (Peter Macdiarmid / Staff)

The governments of the United Kingdom’s constituent countries should be fully devolved and the UK reconstituted as a voluntary union more akin to the EU, a group of constitutional experts are to argue.

The Constitution Reform Group, an all-party project that seeks to reform the UK, will this week set out plans for each country to become fully sovereign and take charge of its own affairs, the Guardian newspaper reports.

They argue that the likely impending break-up of the UK in response to the EU referendum vote requires a radical solution.

“The time for radical change has come. This country needs a new act of union,” Lord Salisbury, the former Tory cabinet minister who chairs the group, told the newspaper.

Other members of the Constitution Reform Group’s steering committee include former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell, former Labour MP and House of Commons leader Peter Hain, and Labour MP Gisela Stuart.

Under the plans, the Westminster Parliament would be reduced to 146 MPs and the countries of the union could choose to delegate it powers where they believed pooled sovereignty was in their collective best interests.

The proposal would see the current system of devolution turned on its head, with the presumption of authority resting at the devolved level rather than in Westminster.

The Liberal Democrats have long supported the creation of a federal United Kingdom.

Leader Tim Farron told the Independent that the proposals could help prevent the break-up of the United Kingdom but that the details would be important.

“We welcome any proposals on keeping the union intact and of wider constitutional changes that empower and support proper devolution,” he said.

“We need to see the detail but this is a welcome step in the debate.”

The plan comes amid a surge of support for Scottish independence as the EU referendum result threatens to take Scotland out of the European bloc against its wishes.

In Northern Ireland, too, the fragile peace process is under threat thanks to the referendum result, which is set to put the foundations out from underneath the Good Friday agreement