The decade after their establishment in 1998-99 was kind to the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The budgets doled out from London fattened, and the local politicians won easy approval. The coalition government's spending cuts have provoked squeals of Celtic protest; they may also affect the outcomes of the elections to the three devolved assemblies that are due next May, and bolster the pressure for changes to the devolution settlements.
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