I don't thnk that devolution has in any sense of the word reversed the union of the parliaments (may have diluted it a little though). Scots MPs still sit in Westminster and some policy is still decided at Westminster.
I agree that this is a little ambiguously worded, but I see what the author is trying to get at. It is a question of nuance: maybe something like 'a beginning of the disentanglement of the merged parliaments' would more accurately fit the bill.
sjc
I don't think there was anything 'so-called' about the Highland Clearances. There is a considerable amount of highly convincing primary evidence which indicates that a) they happened b) were extremely brutal and c) affected a considerable number of folk.
sjc
Let's see what the old Merriam Webster has to say:
so-called adj 1. Commonly named : popularly termed 2. falsely or improperly so named.
Given the remainder of the paragraph on the Clearances, I think it's clear which meaning of the term is being used. -- PaulDrye
Yes, there is an ambiguity here; certainly when someone says 'so-called' to me, though, I tend to think immediately in terms of definition 2, as I guess, would most people... sjc
I think a little background would be nice:
see
[scottweb/clearances]