Go on, convince me: The United Kingdom is over

If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.
John Stuart Mill

In this strand of mini lectures, we have asked one speaker to convince YOU the audience of an unpopular opinion.

The guest lecturer will have 12-15 minutes to make their case before the session chair and audience members are invited to push back, scrutinise, pull apart their arguments – or explain why they agree with them. The aim is for these quick-fire exchanges to allow attendees – and indeed the speaker – to robustly defend positions, develop critiques beyond caricature and ad hominem attacks, and steel-man their own arguments. This should allow us to dig deeper into contested issues beyond today’s soundbite-and-meme culture. And perhaps – just perhaps – some in the room might be convinced to change their minds.

The Union is dead. Brexit broke it, politically and literally. It’s called the Irish Sea Border and the English don’t care. Polls show they are emotionally detached from Northern Ireland and checked out a long time ago. Meanwhile pro-independence parties have topped the polls and govern in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Despite the SNP’s poor record in government, a clear majority of MSPs want an independence referendum. Andy Burnham’s refusal to grant one leaves the UK looking like a union of coercion rather than consent.

Northern Ireland now elects more pro-Irish Unity than pro-Union MPs to Westminster. Earlier this year, The European Movement Ireland EU Poll 2026 asked: ‘If a referendum were held tomorrow on a United Ireland in the EU, how would you vote?’ In Northern Ireland, 63 per cent said ‘yes’ to Irish Unity and 29 per cent said ‘no’. On those figures, the United Kingdom is not hanging by a thread: it’s over.