England-Scotland relations: a reply

In his article “A Cut Above”, Jonathan Absolon argues that both politically and economically, the English have more reason to want independence from Scotland rather than the other way round. He argues that in the face of continuing anti-Englishness north of the border, there remains polite ambivalence towards the Scots on behalf of the English.

I suppose I’d better set out my own stall; I am Northern Irish, but with strong family connections to Scotland, and personal connections to England from my time at Warwick and beyond.

Whilst Mr Absolon highlights many reasons that the Scots should be thankful for the Union, he fails to understand why anti-English sentiment remains high in Scotland. The problem is one of perception; whilst Mr Absolon sees the English as benefiting the Scots economically and cheering for them when they achieve, many Scots perceive the English attitude towards Scotland as being arrogant and belittling.

It all depends on which side of the border you stand on. When the national news is dominated by NHS reforms taking place in England, many Scots see this as arrogant Anglo-centrism which bears no relevance to their lives. When England does well at football, the barrage of coverage and support for the English team is exciting and justified for the English, whereas Scots are simply constantly reminded that their own national team haven’t made it and that they won’t be sharing in this national joy.

It is natural for a smaller group of people to feel antagonistic towards a larger group that seems to dominate the relations. When you constantly have to compete with a country that has many times the population of your own nation and therefore, more often than not, outdoes your own achievements, some people are likely to be resentful, and they are likely to become more nationalistic.

Furthermore, it is not necessarily true that England always politely clap Scotland’s achievements. When was the last time Scotland did well enough in a sporting competition that England would stand up and take notice? The most recent successful Scottish athletes, such as Chris Hoy and Andy Murray, have been competing for Britain when they’ve triumphed.

For some Scots, the experience they take from journeys across the border serve to embed their prejudices. Scots can sometimes take back the memory of having their accent laughed at or mimicked. Coming from outside of England, you tend to know a lot about the country from what you see in the UK media. When this knowledge is not reciprocated for your country, it can deal a blow to national pride, especially where identity is as important as in Scotland.

The point I am trying to make is not that England bring the anti-Englishness on themselves, but that despite Anglo-Scottish relations looking very beneficial for the Scots from an English point of view, the perspective on the Union is very different in the everyday life of someone north of the border.

This problem of perspective is furthered when devolution means that Scottish and English people lead increasingly separate lives. They are governed by different institutions in most areas. Some devolutionary policies exacerbate the problem; free tuition fees for Scottish students means that young Scots are less likely to make English friends and have an English experience at an English university. If young people are mixing less, then of course the sense of companionship and joint nationalism is going to suffer.

I am not for a second advocating getting rid of devolution; that can never happen and nor should it. I would like to see an end to some devolutionary policies, such as Scotland’s tuition fee policy, that seriously damages the integration of people across the UK (although somehow, I doubt this is something the SNP are much concerned about).

We are to expect a referendum on Scottish independence in the next five years. Whilst the choice is likely to be given to Scotland alone, opinion south of the border will undoubtedly have an effect on Scottish opinion. Looking solely from one perspective can give a very biased and unflattering account of the Union. Personal relations, discussion and integration are what will help challenge these nationalistic perspectives and see the Union from a different perspective, a British perspective which looks at what we have in common.