Scotland particularly in relation to taxation, were devolved to the Scottish Parliament after the referendum, following cross-party talks in the Smith Commission. The mainland of Scotland comprises the northern third of the land mass of the island of Great Britain, which lies off the north-west coast of Continental Europe. The total area is , comparable to the size of the Czech Republic. Scotland's only land border is with England, and runs for between the basin of the River Tweed on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. The Atlantic Ocean borders the west coast and the North Sea
Penrith and The Border (UK Parliament constituency) includes part of the English border with Scotland. The neighbouring constituency of Hexham (together with Berwick-upon-Tweed) also takes in the border area. The name stems from the fact that when the constituency was first created it consisted of the Penrith Rural and Urban Districts, the Border Rural District and also the Alston with Garrigill Rural District. A heavily undulating, mostly farmed terrain dotted by market towns and historic villages, with wooded mountainsides and heath-covered tops, the constituency is focused on the Eden Valley between the Pennines and the Lake District, with the vale of the River Irthing above Carlisle. In