Saving the Union? Whitehall and the Scottish independence referendum

Ten years ago the Scottish independence referendum posed an unprecedented and potentially existential challenge to the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom.

In this talk, Philip Rycroft, Former Permanent Secretary at the Department for Exiting the European Union, will give an insider's perspective on how Whitehall responded and will examine what that response reveals about the structures, competence and expectations of the British state.

The UK emerged from the referendum intact, but have the lessons of that turbulent campaign been absorbed into the British body politic?

Philip Rycroft will be joined in conversation by journalist, Peter Geoghagen.

This is a hybrid event

All guests attending in person are invited to stay for a drinks reception following the event.

All guests attending online will receive the MS Teams joining link at least 24-hours in advance.

About our speakers:
Philip Rycroft was a civil servant for 30 years. He worked in the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) between March 2017 - March 2019, including as Permanent Secretary from October 2017. He was responsible for leading the department’s work to prepare the Government for Brexit. Before this, he was head of the UK Governance Group in the Cabinet Office from June 2015 – March 2019, with responsibility for advising ministers on constitutional issues and devolution. From May 2012 - May 2015, he was the Director General in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg.

Throughout his career, Philip has worked in a variety of other roles, including in the civil service in Scotland and London, in the European Commission, and in the private sector. He is now a non-executive director, academic, consultant, and a Distinguished Honorary Researcher at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy and POLIS, University of Cambridge.

Peter Geoghagen, Irish writer, broadcaster and journalist based in the UK, writes the 'Democracy for Sale' newsletter on Substack and his journalism has appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian, the London Review of Books and many other publications. He was formerly editor-in-chief at the award-winning website openDemocracy. Peter's books include 'The People's Referendum: Why Scotland Will Never Be the Same Again' and the Sunday Times best-selling Democracy for Sale: Dark Money and Dirty Politics, published in August 2020 by Head of Zeus.

Host or Publisher Bennett Institute for Public Policy