The Scots Back Off
EUROPE, 29 Sep 2014
Vithal Rajan – TRANSCEND Media Service
The Scottish Nationalist Party forced through a referendum on September 18, to ask the Scots if they would vote for independence from the United Kingdom, and dissolve the 307-year-old Union. A ‘No’ verdict was delivered by a simple majority of less than 5 lakh votes, or by 55% of the heavy 85% turn-out voting against. David Cameron, the British Prime Minster, who had said earlier his heart would break if the United Kingdom were dissolved, said in a relieved speech that the nationalist aspiration was dismissed at least for a generation. He added hastily that powers over taxation, welfare and local affairs would be devolved to the lower Scottish parliament as soon as possible, and similar devolution would take place in Wales and Northern Ireland. Alex Salmond, the First Minister of Scotland [as the leader of the Scottish parliament is termed] has resigned saying defiantly that the dream for independence ‘would never die.’
A sigh of relief has gone up from several European governments, which have been facing demands for independence from unhappy regions. The European Union saw the referendum as a threat to itself, for success would definitely have been followed by similar separatist demands from all over the continent. The Basques of Spain have waged armed struggle for decades, and the Catalans of the Barcelona region have also demanded separation. The Lega Nord of Italy would like to carve out the richer part of northern Italy from the poorer south. The Dutch speakers of Belgium have never got along with the Walloons. The grave ongoing crisis in eastern Ukraine, setting Europe and Russia at loggerheads, could be replicated elsewhere. Even further off, the ‘no’ verdict set at rest English fears in Canada that the referendum could reignite Quebec separatism, to say nothing of Tamil eelam aspirations in Sri Lanka.
The search for Scottish independence has very old roots. They are a different people from the English, with Celtic ethnicity, and once speaking Gaelic in the remote mountainous regions to the north. Even during the days of the Roman Empire, two-thousand years ago, they remained a fiercely independent people, and the Emperor Hadrian built his famous wall to demarcate their lands. Later when marauding English tribes overran Britain, they still could not take Scotland. English kings who came to power in the Middle Ages fought fierce battles with their northern neighbours. Edward I, ‘the Bane of the Scots’ said famously on his deathbed that they should carry his bones to battle the Scots. Mel Gibson’s fictionalised epic Braveheart recently popularised this period. The two crowns were merged when Elizabeth I died issueless and James VI of Scotland was crowned as James I of England.
Scottish resistance was finally broken in the cruel battle of Culloden of 1746 when the Duke of Cumberland, the son of King George II, crushed the Scots, and permitted his troops to commit unspeakable atrocities against the defenceless civilian population. The clans of the highlands were dispersed, and even a famous hero like Rob Roy was forbidden to use his clan name of Macgregor. Even to this day, many of the Scots have not forgotten what happened long ago, and will not permit ‘the Campbells’ to come into their homes, remembering the role they played in that infamous battle.
The English rulers having conquered and ‘pacified’ the Scots, along with the Irish and the Welsh, recruited them for their armies to conquer other nations. Millions emigrated to settle colonies. Over five million people of Scottish origin live in Canada today, and that country owes a great deal to their pioneering efforts. Many rose to be great men, like lords Dalhousie and Munro, and others became rich capitalists like Andrew Carnegie, the steel-magnate of the USA. But many among the English continued to treat the poorer Scots with contempt over the years, the most famous being Dr. Sam Johnson, who insulted them often, once stating in his famous dictionary that ‘oats was eaten by horses in England and by men in Scotland.’
Such slights were not forgotten by these proud people and pressures continued to build up for greater autonomy, especially after the end of the British Empire. Finally in 1998 the British Parliament established the lower Scottish parliament in Holyrood – similar to Indian state-level legislatures – with limited powers. The Scottish Nationalist Party began its drive for independence, despite dire warnings that it would turn Scotland into a failed state. The people around Alex Salmond the nationalist saw no reason why Scotland should not be as successful as – for example – Austria, especially since she had North Sea oil. Scotland has an excellent history of producing professionals and experts, and was better positioned – say – than the UAE to survive a post-oil crunch. However, a skilful propaganda campaign carried out by British parties seems to have undermined their confidence, and the voters weighted towards the elderly chose the status quo rather than an untried future.
The 800-year old struggle waged by the Irish first broke the hold of the English over their near neighbours. The Indian freedom movement that followed ended the British Empire. If the Scots had not backed off this week, they might have finally helped the English to break away from memories of their imperial past and start living in the present as Europeans. Unfortunately, journalist-historians like Niall Ferguson, who romanticize the empire, have kept the English psychologically locked into a dysfunctional past, losing them a key role in the shaping of new Europe, and making them nothing but a subservient de facto colony of the USA.
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Vithal Rajan, Ph.D.[L.S.E.], worked as a mediator for the church in Belfast; as faculty at The School of Peace Studies, University of Bradford, and as Executive Director, the Right Livelihood Award Foundation. He has founded several Indian NGOs, is an Officer of the Order of Canada, and a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 29 Sep 2014.
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