ABSTRACT
The Act of Union that brought about the united Parliament was, accompanied by considerable horse-trading, but for whatever reason its clauses guaranteed the perpetual existence of certain Scottish institutions as separate from their counterparts in England and Wales and as separately administered. From the independence of the universities and churches has grown an independent educational system in Scotland, where paradoxically the Scottish universities are very like their English counterparts, whereas the school system is quite separate. The move from a predominantly agricultural to a predominantly manufacturing economy that is labelled the Industrial Revolution took place at much the same time and at much the same pace in the lowland areas of Scotland as in the north of England and Midlands. The Scottish committee system gives Scottish MPs considerable opportunities to discuss Scottish legislation and affairs, but most of the work of the Scottish committees is uncontroversial and ultimately the committees cannot overturn the wishes of the government of the day.
