The breaking of the Union

The Daily Mail reports today that the Union is on very shaky ground indeed. Its latest ICM poll reports that a Majority of Scots are in favour of independence, and that local elections in May may allow that desire to become reality.If May’s local election results in an SNP victory then Alex Salmond becomes First Minister, and those of us who think of themselves as British and want to remain that way are stuffed.

The poll suggests that a Majority of Scots, 51%, want independence, and more worryingly, 49% of English people polled do too. On any other subject regarding the UK you’d be happy to note such a consensus of opinion, it’s a shame it has to be about this.

Of course for many people in the home nations this supra-nationalism of being British has become less and less meaningful to them. Great nation binding events are few and far between (like a good world war), the army and other pan national institutions are scorned, and perhaps most invidious of all, every year our schools churn out more and more politically correct drones whose only knowledge of this country’s great history (If we believe the reports) is that we once traded slaves and that on occasion we invent something useful, like the Spinning Jenny or the locomotive. At least that’s what my history classes consisted of back in the late 90’s, which is probably why I dropped it for media studies, though I’m not certain about that, it may have been laziness or Becky from my form group’s breasts. Either way it’s shameful that a country with as great a history as Britain should not be proud of its past and its achievements, and this lack of shared history is a problem.

This is a nation that invented and exported parliamentary democracy, defeated the evils of Napoleonic France, Nazi Germany, and the Communists’ evil empire. We spilt the atom, discovered penicillin, created the first proper police service, invented the computer, built the first underground tube system, created the largest empire the world has ever seen, and then gave it back in a pretty good state and in a pretty benevolent manner, unlike nearly every other imperial nation (see history of the DRC for example in comparison to India), started the industrial revolution, invented the Internet and many other great things besides.

My point is that we have accomplished so much together, and that Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland as well as England have equal claim to this great history. A broken union with an independent Scotland is a complete and utter anachronism, and would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious. In a globalised world we need to stick together. Now you could argue that being in Europe means that we are technically still together, however I believe that the European Union will prove to be a transient entity. It’s probably at it’s zenith now, and will soon start that long slow inexorable decline as is natural for such a bloated, inert, and undemocratic entity.

However unlike other political unions that have come and gone, the Union has endured for 300 years, and to throw it off now for such spurious reasons is idiotic. I mean, does your average Scottish person know why they would want out, beyond latent nationalism, some vague recollections of being hard done by with the poll tax and north sea oil?It seems that without much externally to look at, like say for example a Nazified Europe, we’ve started looking inwards. What are the smoke and mirrors of international terrorism in comparison to the huge threats of the past when it comes of bringing the home nations together? If you think that’s guff then have a read up on Ireland in 1916. One of the spurs of the uprising was the thought that a shared world war would likely increase Unionist sentiment in Ireland, bringing them and the UK even closer together. The Union between the UK and Ireland didn’t work, however Scotland and the rest of the UK’s shared experience over the world wars strengthened the Union. However as was inevitable that collective memory is dying out, and with nothing to replace it came the rise of separatism.

One of the greatest ironies in all this is that a unionist party, New Labour, were the instigators of it all. It was their idiotic devolution settlement that set the ball rolling. Devolution could have been achieved without an expensive new parliament, the original MP’s could have simply sat in the old Parliament building in Edinburgh for a couple of days a week discussing Scottish affairs. This would have been both elegant and economic, and would not have created the stunted institution we have now, whose only purpose is to grab more and more power in order to increase its legitimacy and thus take more money. Lets face it, as settlements go it could hardly be less popular than the current bureaucratic nightmare, and of course the creation of a whole new Parliament and all that goes with it puts the question out there, if we have all the Parliamentary gubbins, why not the power that goes with it?

So there we go, a fantastically successful mutually beneficial union will be torn asunder for nothing. I’m looking at the SNP website as I write this and I see little to persuade me otherwise, it all seems to be vague promises of things being “better” and the fact that small countries are mega and cool (well they would say that wouldn’t they). The website mentions Finland, I suppose as an example of a small country doing OK. They don’t mention any other small countries that are not doing so well, like say Georgia or Sierra Leone.

They incredibly talk about being held back by the centralist UK, and then fail to mention the centralising tendencies of the EU they espouse to join as an independent member! They say they’ll be able to create the Scotland they want, by which I suppose they mean being able to make Scotland into a socialist utopia, and we need only look at such modern socialist success stories as eastern Europe or France for an example of how well that works.

In a stroke of genius they also highlight how Montenegro gained its independence from Serbia in only 40 days. I mean for heavens sake, this Scottish victim complex is incredible. They compare themselves now to Montenegro! How the people of Scotland have allowed these idiots with their neurotic sense of perceived injustice to gain the upper hand is incredible. Far from being a victim Scotland has done incredibly well in the UK, it has tons of parliamentary representation and if the past 10 years aren’t Scottish politics at work then I’m a monkey’s uncle. Most of the cabinet big boys are Scottish, as are the present (born in Edinburgh) and future prime ministers. They also get a large slice of the pie when the money is doled out, the money that went to England from North Sea oil was pumped right back up thanks to the Barnett formula, so really lets face it, the scots have nothing to complain about on that front either.

Politically ending the Union is a simple matter, get a majority and then boom pass the legislation. However to secede from the Union would be hideously expensive economically. Everything from the flags, to the names on maps, to stamps, to defence, to our agreements abroad etc. etc. would all have to be changed or re-negotiated. The SNP also say that independence would give them greater clout on the world stage. However, it’s likely that we would lose out as our seat on the UN security council would go too. Far from increasing their influence, it would lessen it.

In conclusion, perhaps the most galling thing in all this, as someone who is completely British, having as I do a Scottish mother and an English father. Is that my country will be lost to history and I have no idea what to do about it. I fear protesting will just advertise the issue, unless it’s one of those big protests like the anti war or pro hunting ones. The thing is, Blair has done such damage to the Union both North and South of the border, that it may be past the point of saving. I hope that the rise of the SNP is simply an anti-Blair protest, perhaps if he went now things would be different. I’d like to think so, however I can’t be sure, about that, and worst of all, Blair cares more about clinging on to power than he does about the Union. I mean is it that he thinks his staying wouldn’t have an effect, or that he just doesn’t care? We are Unfortunately unlikely to find out.

p.s. Perhaps another reason for voting no is that if I have to put up with seeing more of that bigoted idiot Mel Gibson and his hideous gurning face I’ll go nuts, and while we’re on the subject, any movement that needs an Australian American (as opposed to Scottish) person representing it is not to be taken seriously at all (the man on screen isn’t William Wallace, it’s a fiction based on Wallace). lets hope the Scots regain their sense of perspective and tell those SNP fools where to go. I want my country!