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Europe's Central Governments Struggle With Restive Regions

Jamie Dettmer

   British Prime Minister Boris Johnson won last December's general
   election partly on the back of promises to unite post-Brexit Britain
   and to level the country up by reviving parts neglected by previous
   governments.'¯

   Partly as a result of his pledge, the Conservative party captured seats
   in the de-industrialized north of England, breaching a so-called red
   wall of constituencies that for decades had reflexively voted for
   Labor, the country's main, center-left opposition party. Johnson took
   aim, too, at the Scottish nationalists, vowing to block a second
   Scottish independence referendum.'¯

   But thanks to the havoc wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, Britain's
   persistent north-south divide has widened -- and support for Scottish
   independence has never been stronger. Welsh nationalism has been
   stirred by the pandemic into "greater wakefulness," according to Polly
   Mackenzie of Britain's cross-party think tank Demos, with nearly half
   of all under-25s in Wales now saying they want secession.

   Northern regional leaders have wrangled with London, complaining it is
   not doing enough to help them weather lockdowns or to cope with the
   grievous economic fallout of the coronavirus. Some have opposed a new
   three-tiered system of restrictions and lambasted Johnson's handling of
   the crisis, accusing the government of playing politics with the
   pandemic.

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