I cannot help but weigh in on the debate going on in the
United Kingdom following the impending referendum on whether Scotland should
become an independent nation which would of course put an end to the entity we
now know as the United Kingdom and change the political face of Britain and
Europe for years to come (assuming of course that the yes vote is passed),
however after taking a look at some of the issues put forward by these Scottish
nationalist, I’m convinced that the campaign is more of a scare tactic than
anything else filled mostly with Anti-English sentiment and does not represents
at all the facts. I’m by no means blaming the Scottish National Party (SNP) for
all the misconceptions out there but one thing is clear is that the Scots will
be by no means better off should the vote go in SNP’s favour.
Many Anglophobes not only in Scotland but all over the world will no
doubt be keen to support the ambitions of the SNP to be an independent country
for no other reason than the fact that they still view English control of
Scotland as a symbol of national subordination, but those who do take this view
do not truly understand the nature of the relationship between the two
Kingdoms, in truth England does not dominate Scotland any more than Scotland
rules England, the union between the two entities is not a forced one but one
of mutual corporation. Contrary to popular myths told to stir up anti-British
sentiments England has never annexed Scotland instead the union between them is
one that was approved by the parliaments of both countries to end hostilities and
make the Realm a much stronger union than they would have had they remained
separate. The 1707 act of union is every bit Scotland’s doing as it is
England’s, in fact Scotland was so keen
to have the union of the two Kingdoms just to ensure that the English Parliament didn't change the rules concerning the royal
line of succession which was in dispute of the time.
And
while on the topic of the monarchy, it is no secret that Anti-royalists would
love nothing better than to see the split-up of England and Scotland because
for them the monarchy is a key symbol of English control over Scottish life and
so it would be better for Scotland should it be gotten rid, even now in
Scotland, members of the SNP continue to debate on what role the Queen would
have in the new constitution, some members favour retaining the Queen and
installing a Sottish Governor-General to represent the Queen (similar to what
we have here in Jamaica), others however
speak openly about having a Scottish Republic as the Queen of England should
have no place in the Scotland they wish to build, this argument while it looks
appealing to those of a liberal mind-set is flawed to more reasons than one,
first of all There has not been a “Queen
of England” since 1707 the concept of both the English and Scottish monarchies
has been retired to the history books for over 300 years, Elizabeth II is Queen
of the United Kingdom and not Queen of England which she has been erroneously
styled over the years and secondly The current British royal family is every
bit as Scottish as a matter of fact some might say they’re even more Scottish
than English as the current line started when James VI of Scotland was crowned
King of England in 1603 after the House of Tudor died with Elizabeth I, any
notion that the union came about as a result of English royalty holding control of
Scotland is totally false in truth it is a Scottish royal family that reigns in
England and thus over the entire United Kingdom, a fact I’m sure many SNP supporters
would rather forget as it would not help their cause to break up the union.
Whether
the Scot nationalists will admit it or not, the union has served them as well
as it has served the English both in terms of security as well as financially, the British Isles
went through its greatest period of prosperity as a united entity not a divided
one, it’s quite hypocritical for them to go criticizing England for being a colonial
power when it was every bit as complicit in this old colonial policy, nobody has ever hard an English Empire before
but the British Empire was world famous during its heyday, for them to now disavow any ties
to make and make it look as though it’s all England’s fault is truly
disingenuous. Even now in this
post-colonial age, Scotland would still be far better off within the union than
outside it for this so for several reasons:
a.
Record low interest rates and the fastest growing economy in the G7 and the EU means the United Kingdom would have a stronger
economic power than either England or Scotland can ever hope to be on its own,
b. The UK has a stable currency in the pound and also a stable tax regulatory system,
c. They have access to larger job and product markets by remaining in the union,
d. Many public services in the UK are subsidised by the Westminster led government, to end the union would mean Sottish people would have to pay more to access the same services
e. Regardless of no longer being a world empire, the UK still has major influence on the world stage having a major voice in entities like the G8, G20, NATO and not to mention a permanent seat on the UN security council
f. Having a united Britain would mean that the capacity of the British Isles to defend themselves would much greater than it would be should the kingdoms decide to go their separate ways.
There is no way I could end this article without talking about the effect that the Scottish independence will have on the EU, The story told by the SNP is that Scotland will finally have its own independent voice in the European Union in truth Scotland will have no voice in the EU as several countries have already threatened to veto Scotland’s entry into the EU should it secede so as not to encourage secessionist movements in their own countries, what the SNP tries to portray as the ultimate goal of Scotland will turn out to be their worst nightmare instead as no entry to the EU will mean that Scots will not enjoy the privileges of EU citizenship such as market access and freedom of movement all of which are privileges they now enjoy as part of the UK, it’s little wonder that the business community in Scotland is pushing for a “no vote” as they have already seen the writing on the wall.
The Question that the SNP and their
collaborators must ask themselves, apart from bragging rights, what will be the
real benefit to the Scottish people? Are they really willing to risk all on the
altar of political expediency in a world which such an uncertain future?, is
not the UK a much stronger and more stable option for everyone not only in
Scotland, but also in England, Wales and Northern Ireland?. Independence as an
ideal sounds good on paper as it tells the story of struggle and freedom, the
story liberation from domination and the chance to decide one’s own destiny,
all good sounding ideals but anyone who’s been following the SNP campaign will
see that their dream is rather idealistic with little practical thought process
going involved as they have yet to come up any concrete benefit that this will
have on the Scottish people as opposed to remaining in the union. So on
September 18, 2014 the people of the Kingdom of Scotland have a decision to
make when a referendum is called, one can only hope that they judge carefully
and weigh the facts instead of being swayed by sentiment and by doing so will
end up making the right call.
