Quote Originally Posted by Montmorency View Post
Is it valid to make a persistent distinction for this phrasing between the individual legal components of the Union and their substantive territorial scope?

For example, is Cornwall "within" the Union?
Cornwall has been part of England before there was even an England. The last time it had a semi-separate identity was when England was still proto-England. By the time of Alfred, it had already been folded into the English realm. The last time Cornwall had a recognisably separate scope was when the Saxons were still the Saxons, and the Britons were still the Britons, holed up in Dumnonia and the lands of the Cymru. If you want to talk about Cornwall having a legal status inside the Union, you might as well talk about the legal status of the Saxon Coasts as well, as that's the last time they were separate.