Divorce fears cloud 300th anniversary of England-Scotland union

Cthippo · 15 Jan 2007

AFP said:

LONDON - Talk of divorce is clouding the anniversary this coming week of the union between England and Scotland.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, tipped to become the next British prime minister, warned Saturday against a "Balkanization of Britain" beset by separatist leanings within not only its national but also its new immigrant communities.

Such sentiments have long stirred in Scotland and Wales as well as in the complex sectarian case of Northern Ireland but they are now spreading to England, the union's political and economic anchor.

With soccer long a barometer of national sentiments, England team fans have in the last decade caught up with the Scots and Welsh by dropping the Union flag in favor of their own national banner at all international games.

And in the last few months, at least two opinion polls have shown majorities in both Scotland and England backing independence.

University of Hull politics lecturer Simon Lee said that he believes that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is nearing the Rubicon on the way to breakup, possibly within a decade.

"I think it's going to come a lot sooner than people imagine," Lee told AFP. However, he said it would resemble more the "velvet divorce" of Czechoslovakia, rather than a violent Balkan-style meltdown.

Most other analysts took the trends seriously but thought any split was a long way off, doubting whether people in Scotland, let alone England, were ready to vote in a referendum for independence.

Nonetheless, in what the analysts say is a reflection of the uncertain mood, the 300th anniversary on Tuesday is due to pass with little public fanfare.

It was on January 16, 1707 that the Act of Union passed, merging the English and Scottish parliaments and paving the way for the new country of Great Britain, which is celebrated on May 1.

Brown, a Scot, held up a unified Britain as a model for an interdependent world because it united various national, racial, ethnic and religious groups around the shared values of liberty, democracy and social responsibility.

The chancellor of the exchequer told Britons that they are "stronger together and weaker apart" as he called for preserving the union in The Daily Telegraph newspaper and at a conference later in London.

His plea for unity also included his governing Labour Party's reversal on multiculturalism, which it now fears has promoted separate identities within new immigrant communities, such as Muslims of south Asian origin.

The Daily Mail on Friday found that 48 percent of the English and 51 percent of the Scots want a split, with 39 percent disapproving in England and 36 percent in Scotland.

Twelve per cent in England and 14 percent in Scotland do not know.

The poll underscores a potential threat to both Brown's and his governing Labour Party's fortunes.

Many voters in England see Brown as too Scottish to take over from
Tony Blair, who has promised to step down as prime minister by September, after 10 years at the helm.

Brown's comments clearly also have in view May's elections to the devolved Scottish Parliament, which was re-established by his Labour Party in 1999.

Opinion polls suggest that the Scottish National Party, which campaigns for full Scottish independence, could surge embarrassingly ahead of Labour, currently in charge in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

Many English voters also resent Scots for getting the best of both worlds.

Brown and several other Scots serve in top-flight national politics in London and people back in Scotland receive a larger share of tax money for public services than those in England.

English voters are unhappy with an anomalous constitutional situation in which Scottish lawmakers can continue to vote on English issues at Westminster but their English colleagues have no say on policy north of the border.

The Scottish Parliament controls policy in Scotland over issues such as health and education, but lawmakers in London retain control over such things as defense, foreign affairs and major economic issues.

Brown accused the opposition Conservative party of "playing fast and loose" with the union with a proposal to remedy the anomaly by excluding Scottish lawmakers from voting on laws affecting only English voters.

George Foulkes, a Labour member of the unelected House of Lords in London, told AFP he is "genuinely concerned" about the rise of separatist sentiment as his party mounts a vigorous campaign for seats in the Scottish parliament.

He also admitted he could not be sure whether Labour's policy of devolution had actually sharpened rather than blunted the appetite for independence.

However, he said he believes that opinion polls reflected various political frustrations in both Scotland and England rather than a majority push for independence on both sides of the border.
Click to expand...

yodasarmpit · 15 Jan 2007

In all honesty I don't believe there is as great a demand for independence as the polls would suggest.
One of the main issues at the moment is that a large number of people have become disenchanted with the Labour party, and as many Scots would never vote Conservative, that leaves the SNP with a much larger slice of the vote than they would normally have.
This gives a false impression for the support for independence.

Personally I don't see a need to break up the Union, and as for how Scotland could fund independence now with ever decreasing Oil reserves I just don't know.

cpemma · 16 Jan 2007

Any straw poll will give a big win to Independence anywhere - if they hold one for an independent Yorkshire I'll sign on the line - but if people are given the personal taxation and benefits changes that would apply after independence they may decide the status quo is a lot cheaper to live under. Scotland's missed the boat - their oil wealth is fast running out and heavy industry can't compete with that in developing countries. Southern Ireland (Eire) is a success story, but most of their big-earning industry is high-tech and foreign owned; in the near future they may see big moves away to China and India.

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Divorce fears cloud 300th anniversary of England-Scotland union

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Divorce fears cloud 300th anniversary of England-Scotland union

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