Why Should I Be So Sad on my Anniversary?

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 11:28:44 +0000

Take down the Union Jack, it clashes with the sunset
And put it in the attic with the emperor's old clothes
When did it fall apart? Sometime in the 80s
When the Great and the Good gave way to the greedy and the mean

Britain isn't cool you know, its really not that great
It's not a proper country, it doesn't even have a patron saint
It's just an economic union that's passed its sell-by date

300 years ago today, the bells of the High Kirk in Edinburgh tolled out the hymn tune Why Should I Be So Sad on my Wedding Day? while the populace rioted in several Scottish cities.

The EBBC's response to this was fairly typical: On BBC Breakfast this morning, they invited Z-list celeb Aggie from How Clean is your House?, who's been out of Scotland so long she referred to the Scots as they, and some Scots-born architect who declared a loathing for all things Scottish to debate whether Scotland should stay in the Union. They also commissioned a survey so biased in methodology that it showed a drop of a third in previously surveyed support for Independence. Balanced Reporting: BBC style.

The West Lothian Question

Pausing only momentarily to note the 290 years when English MPs in the 'United Kingdom' parliament could foist anything they liked apon Scotland through sheer force of numbers, the only danger that the WLQ brings is to ultra-unionists who are worried about the symbolism. Does it practically matter? Probably not. But let's not wear the blinkers that say that the only alternative is a return to full Unionism — that's politically untenable. Anyone positing the WLQ in post-devolutionary times is arguing for something bounded on the one hand by a Federal Kingdom and the other by Scottish Independence, whether they're aware of it or not.

An English Parliament?

Let's make the point of principle first: if the English want a Parliament, it's a decision for the English Body Politic (ie all those who live and vote there) to make, and to decide which powers it will inherit from Westminster. Just as it is for the Scottish Body Politic to decide our constitutional relationship with the overall UK. If they want it, good luck to 'em.

And what of the federal option?

We're partially in this mess because the 'Union' was a de facto takeover. The official theory was that the Scots and English parliaments both adjourned, and their representatives joined a United Kingdom one. But of course, the English parliament remained, and absorbed the Scots MPs in such small numbers that English interests remained dominant. A more equitable settlement would validate all the Brownite rhetoric of I represent a constituency in the United Kingdom parliament; it doesn't matter where it is. And a fully federal state, where limited powers are equally reserved to the Federal Senate from all constituent nations would entirely remove the WLQ.

(Here's a side-thought - wouldn't this body be a logical end-game for the House of Lords debate?)

The powers I would reserve would be a far-narrower set than at present, and I suspect that English political opinion would come to the same conclusion. They wouldn't include the Home Office and Lord Chancellor's Office, for a start; we have our own judicial tradition, thanks. And the skill shortages in Scotland that might be filled by immigration are quite distinct to those of England (particularly those of London, which drive current policy). I'd also devolve DWP, as again, Scottish political sensibilities have a different aspect on much of Disability and Benefits policy.

Although Independence (whatever that means for any nation-state in our globalised world) is my preferred option, I could live with that.

The Barnett Formula and Subsidy Junkies

The echo-chamber of unionist and reactionary English bloggery would have you believe that without English money, Scotland would be in penury. It's easy to believe... if you only go for the advertised per capita spend without further analysis. To understand whether the conclusion is true, you also need consider the following:

Scotland's needs are greater than England's: Wealth creation/poverty reduction in the UK is biased towards England. Set policies that reduce the gap and we'll happily do without the extra cash. To be fair to the Welsh brethren, they do far worse relative to needs — there's probably a case for a needs-based assessment all round.
The Government Spending in question is identifiable expenditure: As HM Treasury admits when pressed, what's included in this is an entirely arbitrary classification. One could equally point towards the massive central government infrastructure in the South East of England that is an enormous subsidy to that region, yet strangely not counted when working these things out. It makes the bleating of the Evening Standard about 'subsidy junkies' particularly odious. The appropriate quote here is:
If the government spends money in the regions of the UK it is called subsidy. But if it pours it down the gullet of the cities and counties in south-east England it is called essential support of the infrastructure.
Political Editor John Forsyth in the Scotsman
It only counts spending: Scotland also has a significantly higher financial per capita contribution to UK taxation revenues. Scotland is in fact a net contributer to the UK economy.

Nationalism is Not A Right Wing Creed

I hear this myth all the time, whether overtly, or implied through barbs of Anti-English Whining when applied to any nationalistic argument. It's not even close to being true — the perpetrators of this myth have clearly not noticed that the SNP is some way to the left of the Labour Party on most issues, showing that Nationalism is ideologically neutral — it can be a Progressive philosophy as much as a Reactionary one. I can think that my country's great, want to better the people who live there, love its (current, ever-changing) culture, while at the same time, be perfectly happy to welcome people to it and celebrate the variation this brings.

But because of this left/right agnosticism, there are fellow-travellers towards Nationhood who dirty the word with their thuggery. Narrow-minded, thoroughly dogmatic, unable to accept difference from self-defined 'norms'; you'll find Fascists in all human societies, political parties not least. It's up to us to fight them wherever we find them.

So where does this leave us, 300 years on? Does the UK continue to make sense? The strongest pro-union arguments I've heard over the last 20 years have all been based on tradition and past glories: The Union has served Scotland well or The Union (particularly the Army) was the best means by which ambitious men could achieve anything.

What it is left with is an economic union that was put together on one party's terms, quite unlike the EU where each member state negotiates its entry. An arranged marriage, with a hefty ~~bribe~~ dowry paid to MPs who had lost out at Darien. Yes, we've had our good times. But we're fed up of being in your shadow, kept subservient incapable of making our own decisions beyond spending the housekeeping.

Which Bride would enter into such a marriage these days? And which Wife of such a marriage would not weep on her anniversary?

Scotland's Top Hypocrite Strikes Again

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 16:28:39 +0000

Thanks to an extended flight delay this morning, I was able to listen to the excellent Radio 4 documentary on the Skye Bridge Tolls, abolished a year ago (how did I miss it?)

However, the coverage was spoiled by the outright and blatant revisionism of Brian Wilson, who claimed to have been always for the tolls. Would this be the same Brian Wilson who campaigned against them (as did the local Labour Party candidate, one Donald Munro) in advance of the 97 election, and was heard in January 98 uttering this statement:

as rapid progress as is possible must be made to reducing and removing tolls.

And who would seem to have been even more strongly against them two years earlier, if Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish (then a Tory minister) is to be believed.

But then, this is nothing new to Labour's ur-partisan attack dog (making John Reid look like a cutesy puppy by comparison), who the morning after the devolution vote was on television putting the boot into the cross party consensus to start Labour's Holyrood election campaign on the very shows designed to allow the non-Tory parties a moment of Isn't it good when we work together for the common good.

No Smoking in Scotland from 2006

Wed, 10 Nov 2004 16:26:20 +0000

At last, we're following Ireland in banning smoking in all public places by Spring 2006. It'll be enforced with £2.5k fines on employers, and threat of removal of license from licensed premises, while persistent offenders will be fined up to £1k. Nice to see (a) The Scot Exec doing something good (b) Gaining all-party support.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3999975.stm

RAGES

Thu, 06 Nov 2003 13:26:08 +0000

Rail Action Group East of Scotland - formed to improve rail transport between Edinburgh and Dunbar plus other East Lothian rail issues.

http://www.kylemore.btinternet.co.uk/rages.htm

easyweb.co.uk - Scotland