Some of the religious dimensions of the current UK constitutional arrangements and the opportunities that are afforded by the debate over Scottish independence for moves towards a secular state and a secular monarchy are investigated in an article in the current issue of the Political Quarterly by Norman Bonney.

It is argued that If the proponents of Scottish independence follow the expressed preference of the Scottish Parliament to eliminate the religious discrimination against Roman Catholics and other faiths in the line of succession to the throne – an opportunity afforded by the need to renegotiate the Acts of Union of 1707 in the event of a ‘yes’ vote for independence – this could result in a secular constitution for an independent Scotland and a need to rethink the monarch’s religious role as Head of the Church of England in a rump UK.

Tuvalu and You: The Monarch, the United Kingdom and the Realms -NORMAN BONNEY and  BOB MORRIS

‘Scottish Independence, State Religion and the Monarchy’, Political Quarterly, 83, 2, 2012, 360 -367.