Chapter One The Path of Modern Scottish Nationalist Movement
1.1 Call for Scottish ‘Home Rule’
From the mid-19th century, there was a growing feeling that there shouldbe devolution of control over Scottish affairs, but support for restoration of fullindependence was limited. The "home rule" movement for a Scottish Assembly wasfirst taken up in 1853 by the National Association for the Vindication of ScottishRights. A key element in this movement was the comparison with Ireland, which, itwas noted, received more support from the British Government than Scotland. In1885, the Post of Secretary for Scotland and the Scottish Office were re-established topromote Scotland's interests and express its concerns to the British Parliament.Scotland had its own identity, recognised by the state, but firmly part of the UnitedKingdom.By the time a Scottish Home Rule bill was first presented to parliament in 1913,its progress was interrupted by World War I and subsequently became overshadowedby the Easter Rising and Irish War of Independence. In 1921, the Scots NationalLeague formed as a body, primarily based in London, seeking Scottish independence. The League established The Scots Independent newspaper in 1926 and in 1928 ithelped the Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association to form the NationalParty of Scotland (NPS), the aim of which was a separate Scottish state. One of theNational Party of Scotland's founders was Hugh MacDiarmid, a poet who had begunpromoting a Scottish literature and who argued that only a cultural revival couldcreate conditions for the establishment of Scotland as a political entity. The NPScooperated with the Scottish Party, and these merged in 1934 to form the ScottishNational Party (SNP). MacDiarmid and his friends may have brought about there-birth of Scottish nationalism as an idea but for another generation it was not apolitical force.
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1.2 Post-World War II and the Rise of the Modern SNP
The concept of full independence, or the less controversial home rule, did notre-enter the political mainstream until 1960, after the famous Wind of Change speechby UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. ( Myers, Frank, 2000:555–75) This speechmarked the start of a rapid pace of decolonisation in Africa and the end of the BritishEmpire. The UK had already suffered the international humiliation of the 1956 SuezCrisis, which showed that it was no longer the superpower it had been before World War II. For many in Scotland, this symbolised the end of popular imperialism and theImperial unity that had united the then-prominent Scottish Unionist Party. TheUnionist Party subsequently began a steady decline in support.The SNP was brought to national prominence in 1967, when Winnie Ewing wona by-election in Hamilton. Britain's mainstream political parties discovered a newinterest in the idea of devolving powers to Scotland. In the 1970s, the Labourgovernment prepared to give voters in Scotland a referendum on devolution. When itwas held in 1979, a narrow majority of those voting supported change. But becausethe legislation had required that at least 40% of the entire electorate turn out to voteYes, the referendum failed at that time. Within months, Margaret Thatcher was inpower at Westminster. Devolving power to Scotland was not on her agenda.
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Chapter Two Political Economy of Union
2.1 Significance of Economics in Independence Debate
National independence is traditionally an institutional matter, usually driven bylofty calls for legitimacy, recognition, democracy and freedom from the shackles ofautocratic oppression. However, in Scotland’s case, it is particularly modern andpragmatic as the argument of independence is largely focused on economy so far.On a visit to Scotland in February 2012 David Cameron made a token referenceto 300 years of partnership, but defended the Union largely on the grounds that itprovides value for money. 'Today, Scotland has a currency which takes into accountthe needs of [the] Scottish economy as well as the rest of the UK when setting interestrates', he said. 'And it can borrow at rates that are among the lowest in Europe.'(Stanley, 2012:53) The nationalists, instead of making chest-thumping speech ofBrave Heart or Jacobites Rising, are just as businesslike and prosaic in their campaignfor independence. At the Hugo Young Lecture in January 2012 SNP leader AlexSalmond said that he would make the case for independence 'as the means by whichthe Scottish economy can grow more strongly and sustainably; by which Scotland cantake its rightful place as a responsible member of the world community'.
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2.2 Economics and Nationalism in Early Years
‘During the nineteenth century, economic arguments seemed strongly to favourunion as the heavy industries of the Scottish lowlands thrived in imperial markets. Itsindustrial bourgeoisie was firmly wedded to the Empire and Union, source of itsprosperity. The working class occasionally showed nationalist inclinations, but thelabour movement was equally unwilling to risk its welfare and was stronglycommitted to free trade.’(Keating, 2011:6) At that time, big was beautiful as theBritish empire offered big domestic market and vast foreign markets through imperialconquest, and access to raw materials—all advantageous conditions for free trade.Scotland fitted into the imperial economy as an important industrial centre, enjoyingthe benefits afforded by the Union with England.The home rule movement flourished around the First World War, before beingkilled off by the subsequent slump and convinced the Labour movement that safetylay in the UK connection. ‘Scotland's heavy industries were hit hard by theDepression and, unlike in the south and midlands of England, there was no generalrecovery in the 1930s. Business looked to government in London for help throughtariff protection and subsidies and merged their businesses into UK-wideconglomerates and cartels. Labour ended its flirtation with nationalism and alsoturned to the centre for help’. (Keating, 2011:6)
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Chapter Three European Integration.......22
3.1 Impact of European Integration to Member States .......22
3.2 A Tortuous Relationship between Scotland....23
3.3 Attitudes to EU in Scotland.......26
3.4 Summary .......28
Chapter Four Party and Politics ......29
4.1 Transformed Scottish Politics .......29
4.2 Difference in Leadership and Campaign.......29
4.3 Emergence of Scottish Nationalism, Labour’s Inability...30
4.4 Summary .......34
Chapter Five Shifting Identities and Declining Britishness ....35
5.1 Alleged Decline of Britishness......35
.2 The Data....36
5.3 Summary .......44
Chapter Five Shifting Identities and Declining Britishness
5.1 Alleged Decline of Britishness
Political commentators and academics have for some years been predicting ‘thebreakup of Britain’. There is a wealth of books and articles, discussions andprogrammes that claim that despite the durability or otherwise of the British state,Britishness is in decline, and increasingly problematic. There are many competingexplanations for this: devolution across the UK, especially in Scotland;multiculturalism; European Union in its different manifestations; and long-termpolitical and cultural factors having to do with the decline of the empire and the lossof global power (Bechhofer & McCRONE, 2007:251-60). This alleged decline ofBritishness is assumed to be resulting from one or both of two processes: the Englishare becoming more ‘English’ at the expense of being British; and the Scots areperceiving themselves as increasingly Scottish, disengaging from the British identityfurther as a result.
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Conclusion
The Union was a uniquely British form of territorial accommodation. It was lessthan a unitary state but more than a mere marriage of convenience. It can beunderstood only in relation to a distinctive British mode of governing reliant on elitemanagement and tacit understandings. This mode of governing has, if not entirelyended, been changed beyond recognition with the internal and external restructuringof the state. There have been successive phases of Union, from the reluctantacceptance of the early years, through the triumphalism of the nineteenth century, tothe managed dependency of the twentieth. In the meantime, it is clear that calls formore ‘home rule’ in Scotland are gradually gaining prominence in the past threecenturies, albeit undergoing wax and wane in different periods. The growing Scottishnationalism is the result of a number of issues working together and some of the mostsignificant factors have been identified in this paper.
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