tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/act-of-union-10584/articlesAct of Union – The Conversation2017-09-08T11:14:28Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/836812017-09-08T11:14:28Z2017-09-08T11:14:28ZScottish devolution at 20: some hits, some misses and that eternal maybe …<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185148/original/file-20170907-9538-1t0ouib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Scottish parliament with Calton Hill in the background.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/brostad/5841297115/in/photolist-9Ubb8e-nJGsdK-7SoJRT-pApJ5e-TxvwiJ-6rKw8t-kky9Lx-6GQWR-2LgmSH-abcX9K-6rKvZx-74rSQ6-nGTrub-bkKxPM-5A5cFx-nqqKbB-UkEw42-Hh6YcA-tReQ3N-6vY6Xv-a8G1A9-dLZDQn-pFsbCe-6w3iys-9N3FgL-T8ciK8-cFV1fy-PvuC4-7haxbE-S16qEf-rbEUr-57G7VA-6vY742-iLJ6V6-6vY6XT-7bpyan-4pH12F-gFUsE1-83pMh2-63oks4-qBemvh-eeM3QK-PuTsY-S93UyB-a9Wi7j-gBZRqc-qRi6zJ-ah78um-c1YV3C-57Gjt3">Bernt Rostad</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is the anniversary time of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2013/sep/13/scotland-devolution-referendum-victory">Scottish referendum</a>, in which the electorate voted Yes in overwhelming numbers. I don’t mean the 2014 poll, of course, but its predecessor. It took place on September 11, 1997, a full 20 years ago, and was a vote in favour of a devolved parliament with tax-raising powers. </p>
<p>Within two years, a Scottish parliament was established at Holyrood following the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/46/contents">Scotland Act of 1998</a>. It was a pivotal moment in the history of Scotland and the United Kingdom. After nearly three centuries Scotland had begun to recover what had been lost in the <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/act-of-union-1707/">Union of 1707</a> with England. </p>
<p>It was the culmination of <a href="https://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/171/29750.html">more than a century</a> of campaigning. National self-confidence grew over that time, as did a belief in the ability – and right – of the Scottish nation to govern itself. Post-war central planning under Labour had gone too far. Scots became increasingly dissatisfied with English insensitivity to Scottish distinctiveness, and Westminster’s inability to respond to Scotland’s particular needs. </p>
<p>Holyrood is now firmly embedded. Further Scotland acts in <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/11/contents/enacted">2012</a> and <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/11/contents/enacted">2016</a> extended the parliament’s powers significantly beyond those originally envisaged. Members of the Scottish parliament (MSPs) are more accessible and less distant, physically and metaphorically, than Westminster MPs. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185147/original/file-20170907-9599-yqyjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185147/original/file-20170907-9599-yqyjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185147/original/file-20170907-9599-yqyjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185147/original/file-20170907-9599-yqyjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185147/original/file-20170907-9599-yqyjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=314&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185147/original/file-20170907-9599-yqyjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185147/original/file-20170907-9599-yqyjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185147/original/file-20170907-9599-yqyjnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Holyrood in session.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Scottish Government</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>The Scottish parliament has achieved much since its inception. Perhaps its greatest success has been the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-35901485">smoking ban</a> in 2006. In this regard Scotland can genuinely claim to have led the rest of the UK, which followed suit a year later. <a href="http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Health/Services/Alcohol/minimum-pricing">Minimum pricing of alcohol</a> is of the same order of importance, with Scotland again leading the way, but Holyrood cannot be held responsible for vested interests continuing <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-40718155">to delay</a> implementation.</p>
<p>Devolution has not solved all the nation’s ills, however. The <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/b81c3a14-179b-11e7-9c35-0dd2cb31823a">democratic deficit</a> has only partly been dealt with, as we saw with the recent <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/eu_referendum/results">Brexit vote</a> in which Scotland voted to stay in the EU but faces having to leave because it was outnumbered by England and Wales. </p>
<p>The Scottish parliament has also mostly failed to tackle seriously pressing social matters such as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jul/22/when-will-snp-tackle-scotlands-shaming-poverty">poverty</a>, <a href="http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/03/2213/0">inequality</a>, and lifestyle issues such as <a href="http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Health/TrendDiet">diet</a> and <a href="http://www.healthscotland.scot/health-topics/diet-and-obesity/obesity">obesity</a>. Education policy – regardless of party – has <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-nicola-sturgeon-put-her-biggest-hitter-in-charge-of-scottish-education-63965">been confused</a>, to the extent that the performance of Scottish schoolchildren is <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-38207729">falling relative</a> to other countries. </p>
<h2>The rise of the SNP</h2>
<p>Labour – the party that delivered devolution – dominated the Scottish parliament’s early years. But Iraq, dissatisfaction with <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-labour-20-years-on-assessing-the-legacy-of-the-tony-blair-years-76884">New Labour</a> and the party’s complacent, managerial approach at Holyrood left the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/may/04/scotland.devolution">door open to</a> an SNP that projected itself as a left-leaning, socially conscious counterweight to Westminster.</p>
<p>The first SNP government (2007-11) gave the appearance of being dynamic and effective. Competence mattered and the leadership team impressed – led by Alex Salmond as first minister, John Swinney as finance secretary and Nicola Sturgeon as deputy first minister/health secretary. The <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/election2011/overview/html/scotland.stm">SNP won</a> 69 of Holyrood’s 129 seats in 2011 -– an incredible feat given the voting system had been designed to prevent majority government. Independence was suddenly on the table.</p>
<p>In the days immediately prior to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/independence-referendum-one-year-on-nothing-is-settled-in-scotland-47712">Scottish independence referendum</a> in September 2014, it looked as if the Yes campaign might just win. And though a shattered Salmond ultimately had to admit defeat, the SNP had an <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/SNP/11570769/SNP-rise-in-three-charts.html">army of new members</a>. In the weeks and months after the 45%-55% defeat, the party’s long march towards the dream that would “never die” appeared to have hastened. </p>
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<p>When Scotland voted the opposite way to England and Wales in 2016’s EU referendum, it <a href="https://theconversation.com/scottish-independence-back-in-play-after-brexit-shock-with-a-note-of-caution-61457">initially looked</a> like it would be the trigger for a second independence referendum. The incremental slither to separation, forecast and feared by the opponents of any kind of devolution, seemed well under way.</p>
<p>But then came June 2017’s <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2017/results/england">UK election</a>, in which the irresistible rise of the SNP <a href="https://theconversation.com/nicola-sturgeon-is-overestimating-the-toxicity-of-tories-in-scotland-and-could-pay-for-it-77334">came to</a> a halt. More than one third of their MPs lost their seats. Not only did Labour win back some seats in Scotland, but against the odds, the Tories did even better. </p>
<p>Short-term factors were clearly at work, including much tactical voting. But looked at in historical context, it is perhaps not so surprising that support for independence may have peaked – for the present anyway. </p>
<h2>Opinion divided as ever</h2>
<p>There was no referendum in 1707. Had there been, Scotland would have resoundingly rejected the parliamentary incorporating union that ensued. </p>
<p>There was <a href="http://www.historytoday.com/shf-johnston/act-union-1707">strong support</a> in Scotland for a federal union, however. Despite longstanding rivalry and resentment of England, many Scottish parliamentarians recognised the potential benefits of a trade treaty with their larger, richer and more powerful neighbour. Out and out opponents of any kind of treaty with England were fewer in number.</p>
<p>In short, opinion about the most suitable relationship with England was divided. It has been the same ever since. Politicians who talk about the “Scottish people” or boldly declare that “the nation” has spoken, forget this or perhaps just ignore it. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185149/original/file-20170907-9576-1df936b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185149/original/file-20170907-9576-1df936b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/185149/original/file-20170907-9576-1df936b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185149/original/file-20170907-9576-1df936b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185149/original/file-20170907-9576-1df936b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185149/original/file-20170907-9576-1df936b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185149/original/file-20170907-9576-1df936b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/185149/original/file-20170907-9576-1df936b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=438&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Mebbes aye, mebbes naw.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thepatman/11252977563/in/photolist-i9osbx-i9o9Gg-i9ozqn-i9oeuc-i9opEm-i9o7B4-i9o5NK-i9ocNh-i9owov-i9oaQ8-i9obCR-i9oA9r-i9o5cp-i9oiXE-i9okiY-i9oBtF-i9omDw-i9ojq3-i9oyNa-i9ok7f-i9oe3G-i9obcE-i9oaVt-i9o6GZ-i9oap8-i9o2we-i9owrB-i9oe8m-i9o7tP-i9okmm-i9oohG-i9ohuE-i9oatX-i9oDwZ-i9oeCQ-i9oB7i-i9orFe-i9ogto-i9oEQv-i9orSg-i9ou5c-i9ogAs-i9ofir-i9ohKE-i9oo3d-i9omYm-i9oCzi-i9oghQ-i9oeh8-i9oD2v">Rob Eaglesfield</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>It’s obvious that commitment in Scotland to the union is much weaker now than in the 19th century. Yet Scottish national feeling was as intense then as that which fuelled independence movements elsewhere in Europe. Much of it in Scotland coalesced around celebrations to commemorate <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-nervy-elites-seized-robert-burns-before-radicals-got-there-71839">Robert Burns</a>. Yet few challenged the union. And despite its flaws, that remains an ingrained habit which large numbers of Scots have yet to break. </p>
<p>Many hoped devolution would kill nationalism stone dead, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-31129382">to paraphrase</a> George Robertson, Scottish secretary during the 1997 referendum. His Labour colleagues in particular failed to grasp Scots’ powerful sense of nationhood.</p>
<p>It was another Labour man, the late <a href="https://theconversation.com/tam-dalyell-never-held-office-but-he-was-margaret-thatchers-sternest-critic-72021">Tam Dalyell</a>, who argued that devolution could lead to independence. As you might expect, Salmond shares this view. He <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/general-election/alex-salmond-scots-will-vote-for-independence-within-4-years-1-4529994">recently asserted that</a> independence was “rendered inevitable when the Scottish parliament was established”. In his view, the Scots will vote for independence within four years. </p>
<p>Will they? Both sides may claim to know where Scotland is heading, but history tells us not to be so sure. When it comes to what relationship it wants with the rest of people in the British Isles, the reality is that Scotland has never quite made up its mind.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83681/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher A Whatley is affiliated with the Labour Party. </span></em></p>Scotland voted for its own parliament in September 1997, but has yet to make its mind up about the biggest issue of all.Christopher A Whatley, Professor of Scottish History, University of DundeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/701562016-12-08T13:49:27Z2016-12-08T13:49:27ZLabour has just blown a big chance to seize initiative on Scotland’s future<p>The Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-38223719">has made</a> what she hopes is a major speech to win back <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2016/scotland">lost voters</a> and make her party relevant in the constitutional debate that has followed the Brexit vote in the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/eu_referendum/results">EU referendum</a>. </p>
<p>In an address to the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank in London, she called for a federal UK founded on a “new Act of Union” that included repatriating to Scotland the EU’s powers in areas like fisheries, farming and employment rights. This would come on the back of a constitutional convention for the UK to determine what form a new settlement should take, modelled on the <a href="http://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/scot.1996.0017?journalCode=scot">deliberations in Scotland</a> that culminated in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOQE3xu0hFA">opening</a> of the Scottish parliament in 1999. </p>
<p>Dugdale’s proposal aims to save the union from what she sees as a UK Tory government and Scottish SNP government both intent on pulling it apart – albeit even some notable Labour figures such as former first minister <a href="http://www.thenational.scot/politics/14894334.Former_First_Minister_Henry_McLeish__I___m_ready_to_back_Scottish_independence_following_Brexit_vote/">Henry McLeish</a> have said they would back a Yes vote in a second Scottish independence referendum. Dugdale said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are now faced with a Tory government in Westminster which looks set to force hard Brexit on the whole of the UK. And an SNP government at Holyrood which wants to exploit the divisions to win independence.</p>
<p>This is the position that the majority of Scots – the moderate, pro-union Scots and also many former Yes voters – find themselves in.</p>
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<h2>Echoes and errors</h2>
<p>Dugdale’s speech does not break very new ground. It echoes <a href="http://gordonandsarahbrown.com/2016/11/gordon-brown-proposes-uk-peoples-constitutional-convention/">recent calls</a> by Gordon Brown, the former UK prime minister, for a federal UK devised through a constitutional convention with an elected senate and greater powers for Scotland. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the idea of a new Act of Union to replace the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/aosp/1707/7/contents">1707 original</a> has been floated in the past by Dennis Canavan, the then maverick Labour MP who later became chair of Yes Scotland for the 2014 independence referendum; and <a href="http://www.constitutionreformgroup.co.uk/only-a-new-act-of-union-can-save-the-uk-from-break-up/">more recently</a> by the likes of former Lib Dem leader Menzies Campbell and former Labour Welsh Secretary Peter Hain. </p>
<p>That aside, Dugdale has made the mistake of trying to deal with the UK constitution and Scotland’s future/Holyrood powers at the same time. That is not to say there is not an opportunity for Labour on the constitution. The SNP is currently the party of independence but by default also the party of Home Rule. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149270/original/image-20161208-31364-13q033o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149270/original/image-20161208-31364-13q033o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149270/original/image-20161208-31364-13q033o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=796&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149270/original/image-20161208-31364-13q033o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=796&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149270/original/image-20161208-31364-13q033o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=796&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149270/original/image-20161208-31364-13q033o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1000&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149270/original/image-20161208-31364-13q033o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1000&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149270/original/image-20161208-31364-13q033o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1000&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">‘That your best shot?’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.paimages.co.uk/search-results/fluid/?q=sturgeon&amber_border=1&category=A,S,E&fields_0=all&fields_1=all&green_border=1&imagesonly=1&orientation=both&red_border=1&words_0=all&words_1=all">Andew Milligan/PA</a></span>
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<p>The SNP has the problem that <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/scottish-independence-support-for-second-referendum-plummets-a7447196.html">support for independence</a> is strong enough to keep the party in office but too low to make it confident of securing its ultimate goal. This explains why the party has not taken a hard line against a settlement short of independence. Former first minister Alex Salmond <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13063679.Salmond__Scots_have_a_right_to_second_question_on_devo_max/">attempted</a> to get devo max on the 2014 ballot, for example, while his successor, Nicola Sturgeon, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/nov/27/nicola-sturgeon-smith-commission-fails-deliver-scotland-powerhouse-parliament">accepted</a> the Smith Commission devolution proposals while demanding more autonomy at the same time. </p>
<p>Some in Labour recognise that they cannot out-unionist the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party and need to carve out a role for themselves as a Home Rule party. Alex Rowley, Dugdale’s deputy, has sought to do this, arguing, <a href="http://www.scotsman.com/news/alex-rowley-labour-should-have-campaigned-for-home-rule-1-4123109">for example</a>, that Labour should have campaigned for Home Rule in the run-up to the Holyrood elections in May. </p>
<p>Dugdale is coming late to the party and calling for something that would not go as far as Home Rule, and still seems trapped in a Labour unionist mindset that sees Westminster as being the only possible driver of change. Calling for new powers is all very well, but her proposal is still subject to winning the backing of the UK Labour party and then waiting for a Labour government at Westminster that can implement it. </p>
<p>The rather obvious question for Labour is, why not seek these repatriated EU powers through gaining a mandate at Holyrood? Westminster <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/may/06/snp-election-victory-scottish-independence">recognised</a> the SNP 2011 victory as a mandate to negotiate an independence referendum. If Labour and any other parties won a Holyrood mandate for Home Rule, would that not mean that Westminster would have to negotiate a further extension of powers?</p>
<p>By focusing on federalism, on the other hand, Dugdale is calling for something that requires a UK-wide mandate and for which it has to be debatable whether support exists in England. There <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3984387.stm">has not</a> been enough support for English regional parliaments to get them off the ground in the past, for example. </p>
<p>At the same time, I question whether repatriating powers from the EU to Scotland would really require a UK-wide convention. In what sense does the UK’s relationship with its constituent parts need to be resolved before Scottish Labour could, for instance, argue for EU employment powers to be repatriated to Holyrood?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149268/original/image-20161208-31379-fxg40c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149268/original/image-20161208-31379-fxg40c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149268/original/image-20161208-31379-fxg40c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149268/original/image-20161208-31379-fxg40c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149268/original/image-20161208-31379-fxg40c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149268/original/image-20161208-31379-fxg40c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149268/original/image-20161208-31379-fxg40c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149268/original/image-20161208-31379-fxg40c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In with the bricks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/pic-439980358/stock-photo-great-britain-united-kingdom-flag-on-a-brick-wall-great-britain-united-kingdom-flag-great-britain-united-kingdom-flag-great-britain-united-kingdom-flag.html?src=va7EwoInFqWGwil3MxHPRg-1-10">Andril-spyk</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How to live dangerously</h2>
<p>Had Dugdale effectively started a campaign for a Scottish Home Rule mandate and repatriating EU powers to Scotland, she could have carved out a distinct position on the constitution while still supporting a final federal destination. It would at least have allowed Labour to appear relevant on the constitution in future Scottish elections. </p>
<p>If the SNP government is able to gain new powers from Brexit, it would mean Scottish Labour could more legitimately take some credit. On the other hand, if the Scottish government fails to achieve this or gain enough support for a second independence referendum, Labour could claim to have a credible alternative that voters can support in a Scottish election. </p>
<p>Instead, Dugdale has allowed the SNP to maintain its constitutional coalition of independence voters and those who want more powers but would settle for less. The former will undoubtedly stay with the SNP while the latter have not been offered an alternative. </p>
<p>When the former Labour first minister Donald Dewar signed up for a Scottish constitutional convention in 1989, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3727308.stm">he said</a> it had become necessary for Scots to live a little dangerously. Scottish Labour would do well to heed the advice of their most successful leader since the founding of Holyrood and take a similarly bold approach.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70156/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William McDougall is a member of the UCU. However, his academic work is totally independent from any outside organisation. </span></em></p>Why Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale’s federalist ploy is not the right way forward.William McDougall, Lecturer in Politics, Glasgow Caledonian UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/667212016-10-12T15:03:14Z2016-10-12T15:03:14ZThe story behind Scotland’s art is not being told – here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141438/original/image-20161012-13467-1btxwjn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Peter Graham: Wandering Shadows (1878). </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peter_Graham_-_Wandering_Shadows_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg">Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Catalans tell their story to the world at the <a href="http://elbornculturaimemoria.barcelona.cat/en/the-center/">El Born</a> Cultural and Memorial Centre in Barcelona. It tells of how the Bourbon Philip V defeated them in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/War-of-the-Spanish-Succession">Spanish War of Succession</a> in 1714. He then abolished Catalan constitutions, parliament and rights; suppressed their universities; and ended administrative use of the language. He demolished nearly a fifth of Barcelona – including the site of the centre. </p>
<p>This conscious destruction of identity has been bitterly resented by the people ever since. El Born condemns the past and celebrates modern Catalan culture as a continuity with the old times before the war. This imbues everything at El Born from the text on the entrance panel that says “nothing was ever the same” after the fall of Barcelona, to the restaurant menu that offers Philip V’s entrails. </p>
<p>Everyone in Catalonia buys into this narrative, regardless of their support for independence. The people know who they are, what they lost, what they want back. </p>
<p>In Edinburgh, meanwhile, the National Gallery of Scotland is <a href="http://www.parliament.scot/ResearchBriefingsAndFactsheets/S4/SB_15-62_National_Galleries_of_Scotland_Bill.pdf">gearing up</a> for a major expansion. It is rebuilding a “Scottish wing” and its collection of Scottish art is currently not on display. Will there be a similar approach to El Born? I very much doubt it. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141411/original/image-20161012-13464-7pbhb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141411/original/image-20161012-13464-7pbhb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141411/original/image-20161012-13464-7pbhb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141411/original/image-20161012-13464-7pbhb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141411/original/image-20161012-13464-7pbhb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141411/original/image-20161012-13464-7pbhb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141411/original/image-20161012-13464-7pbhb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141411/original/image-20161012-13464-7pbhb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Inside El Born: ruins of old Barcelona.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ckorange/15574971028/in/photolist-pJiNgf-gipmFY-eGanZX-g1Ndms-g1MK4b-g1MJxj-g1MmXr-g1NEBJ-fN3EHB-fNknwm-fNMsAo-fNkuPL-fN3Mep-fNPzF1-fNkfBw-fNx1ma-g1MDv4-jwodeV-jHLVUv-g1MG5q-X9A2r-55mKtj-BfTDqF-fNkfu5-fNkfco-fNPzhy-fNkmZs-fNkneq-fNuTye-fN3Dt2-fN3F2g-fNkmJQ-fNx19M-eczwTV-fNkuzS-fN3LGp-fNPzyE-fNkeWU-fNPz5J-fNkn7u-fNMsq1-6b6ku9-w35VUY-fNuSS6-fUb6Nc-Jd3bxb-pvxGwd-7jMSXn-g1MnEs-N9noA">Luca Cerabona</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Not coming soon</h2>
<p>Were Scotland’s national gallery to follow that Catalan model, you might see a <a href="http://www.pictishstones.org.uk">Pictish standing stone</a> by the entrance next to Kate Whiteford’s <a href="https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/home/kate-whiteford-land-drawings-installations-excavations/1996069.article">drawings</a> of Calton Hill in Edinburgh. An opening panel might read:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Scotland was for centuries a small but successful independent European country. Like Holland it was a Calvinist trading nation. Its art too had Low Countries parallels. </p>
<p>But following disastrous overseas speculation, Scotland was refused financial support and some proposed political union with England. Many were opposed but the vote was corrupt. The nobles sold Scotland for English gold and nothing was ever the same again.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141413/original/image-20161012-13501-j4tytd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141413/original/image-20161012-13501-j4tytd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141413/original/image-20161012-13501-j4tytd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141413/original/image-20161012-13501-j4tytd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141413/original/image-20161012-13501-j4tytd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141413/original/image-20161012-13501-j4tytd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141413/original/image-20161012-13501-j4tytd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141413/original/image-20161012-13501-j4tytd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">William Aikman self portrait.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Aikman_(painter)#/media/File:William_Aikman.jpg">Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Visitors might walk through to paintings to illustrate <a href="https://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/j/artist/george-jamesone/object/george-jamesone-1589-1590-1644-portrait-painter-self-portrait-pg-2361">George Jamesone’s</a> primacy in the 16th/17th century, alongside his contemporary <a href="http://artuk.org/discover/artists/wright-john-michael-16171694">John Michael Wright</a>. A portrait comparison of <a href="https://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/m/artist/sir-john-baptiste-de-medina/object/sir-john-baptiste-de-medina-1659-1710-portrait-painter-self-portrait-pg-1555">John de Medina</a> and <a href="https://www.artuk.org/discover/artists/aikman-william-16821731">William Aikman</a> might explain that while Medina could not keep up with demand in culturally vibrant pre-<a href="http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/act-of-union-1707/">Union</a> Scotland, Aikman had to make his living in London a few years later because Scotland had been stripped of patronage. </p>
<p>The tale could continue with <a href="http://artuk.org/discover/artists/ramsay-allan-17131784">Allan Ramsay</a> the primary portrait painter of Europe in the 18th century, lured to the royal court in London despite an upbringing steeped in Scottish cultural identity; and <a href="https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/artists/sir-henry-raeburn">Henry Raeburn</a>, 18th/19th century chronicler of a Scottish egalitarianism that contrasts with class-ridden England. </p>
<p>There would be <a href="https://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/w/artist/sir-david-wilkie/object/sir-david-wilkie-1785-1841-artist-self-portrait-pg-573">David Wilkie</a>, the inventor of modern genre painting; <a href="http://www.scottish-places.info/people/famousfirst1716.html">GP Chalmers</a> and <a href="http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp07468/sir-george-reid">George Reid</a>, who brought modern continental art to Scotland at a time when nationalist England ignored it. Then <a href="https://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/g/artist/sir-james-guthrie">James Guthrie</a>, <a href="http://artuk.org/discover/artists/lavery-john-18561941">John Lavery</a> and the French influence. The <a href="http://www.scottishcolourists.co.uk/history-of-the-movement/">Colourists</a> and Modernism. Nothing in the gallery would ever mention England except to point out Scotland’s artistic independence and/or superiority. </p>
<h2>Wha’s like us?</h2>
<p>It is not the artists that will probably be missing from this display but the narrative. The gallery is unlikely to emphasise that the pre-Union paintings were created in an independent country; that the 18th century artists were increasingly seeking to fit British sensibilities; that the Highland romance in many later works came out of a colonised state desperately trying to find its own identity. And make no mistake: not acknowledging these things is no less political than the alternative.</p>
<p>The problem is that Scots do not have a single shared identity like the Catalans, viewing the past with the same emotion and seeing a continuity with the present. Scotland’s modern identity was not born in outside oppression but through a vote <a href="http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/The-Act-of-Union/">of sorts</a>. Post-Union Scotland was not immediately a victim of oppression, murder and discrimination so there was no shared “enemy”. </p>
<p>Scots often find it faintly awkward that their heroic achievements relate to constant war with England, either because they feel happily part of Britain or are repeatedly assured by Scottish nationalist politicians that independence is not anti-English. It is complex where Catalan nationalism can be anti-Spanish plain and simple. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141432/original/image-20161012-13501-1ltqfnx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141432/original/image-20161012-13501-1ltqfnx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141432/original/image-20161012-13501-1ltqfnx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141432/original/image-20161012-13501-1ltqfnx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141432/original/image-20161012-13501-1ltqfnx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1039&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141432/original/image-20161012-13501-1ltqfnx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1306&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141432/original/image-20161012-13501-1ltqfnx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1306&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141432/original/image-20161012-13501-1ltqfnx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1306&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Highland Landscape (1835).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Scotland’s nearest thing to a unifying identity is Highlandism: the romantic ideal of the noble clansman and his spectacular surroundings that was championed above all by <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/6ybQ7x2H4s0LF0ZlL8jKj0/walter-scott">Walter Scott</a> – the Horatio McCulloch landscape opposite is an example of the art that followed. </p>
<p>But to most people nowadays Highlandism is a manufactured monster of tartan gonks, Nessie, Harry Lauder and kitsch which is no less uncomfortable. Many Scots seem to prefer insisting they are a cool mid-atlantic internationalist people and nothing else. </p>
<p>My own view is that Scots should not throw away the past, no matter how embarrassing or awkward. Scotland invented Highlandism <a href="http://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/eclipse-of-scottish-culture/author/beveridge-and-turnbull/">because</a> its own culture had been ignored by London and <a href="http://www.historytoday.com/ian-bradley/britishness-scottish-invention">suppressed by</a> many leading Scots in the years after Union. </p>
<p>Rejecting it is siding with Irvine Welsh’s Rent Boy in Trainspotting saying “it’s shite being Scottish”. Behind his nihilistic attack on Scotland as the “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-F5dmRV5Bc">Land of the Mountain and the Flood</a>” is really an impotent anger at having nothing to put in its place. Accept it and Scotland has no past of its own, only present. Yet Scotland’s identity is not nothing. It is Walter Scott, Jacobites, Presbyterians, Dalriada, Gaels, Samuel Smiles, Catholicism, Glencoe, internationalism, Clearances, Enlightenment, Doric and much more. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/29-LRuuqFT0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Some might argue your visual artistic culture doesn’t need to tell your national story. Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun, the writer and politician, famously <a href="http://www.bartleby.com/209/614.html">said</a> in 1703 that “if a man were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of a nation”. He appears to be suggesting culture can survive and define a people without statehood. </p>
<p>Madrid’s willingness to tolerate El Born’s violently anti-Spanish rhetoric certainly supports such a reading. “Sing all the ballads you like, display all the paintings you want”, Madrid is saying to the Catalans, “just don’t vote”. </p>
<p>Ultimately I reject Madrid’s implication that identity is powerless if expressed only through culture. I think what Fletcher is actually saying is that culture is in effect a resistance movement. It is not vulnerable to short term changes in law or lawmakers. It is who we were, who we are and what we will ultimately be. How we present our culture, how we construct our resistance, is very important indeed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66721/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Morrison does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Catalans have no trouble telling their story of oppression through culture. The Scots find it trickier.John Morrison, Head of School, Divinity, History and Philosophy, University of AberdeenLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/574412016-04-11T10:07:24Z2016-04-11T10:07:24ZScotland’s Darien disaster: the first great financial scandal in Panama<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118053/original/image-20160410-23668-1oe0gxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The failed Darien venture is regarded as one of the greatest catastrophes in Scottish history</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/scubabix/9340464338/in/photolist-feojCA-nHSU19-39xx1m-4vH1Az-okm5Fx-eUkCB8-5qB8K8-pBsn7g-4G2dwm-nXzX1r-7rCmB4-5Tvnbo-4KSJRe-eUx1bL-F8L9ms-Fy2KjW-fr9Bzf-nhZner-FCBjS6-nab8tD-FwXMJQ-bMJDKM-wFB5DW-art97a-fe97U6-feopDq-4L8X8M-FxwFbt-n6o2N1-feoey7-g5SU63-4KSJN6-eUx17A-9SnRso-4KSJM4-7d62pM-pw2HdM-5SgB1t-jsFHb-mY6MU-hthJR-d4WXH-4KWYem-xj62D8-7NFNJE-6xdeuN-ckGris-8EaNyg-eUx13S-4fFXu3">Rob Blxby/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The leak of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/panama-papers-remarkable-global-media-operation-holds-rich-and-powerful-to-account-57196">Panama Papers</a> has brought to light elite tax avoidance and evasion on an unprecedented scale and has had important <a href="https://theconversation.com/david-camerons-panama-nightmare-cuts-to-the-core-of-his-image-problem-as-eu-referendum-looms-57508">political ramifications</a>. But this is not the first time that Panama has been at the heart of financial shenanigans on a global scale.</p>
<p>At the end of the 17th century, Panama became the focal point of Scottish imperial ambitions in a venture often described as the <a href="http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/month/may2005.html">“Darien Scheme”</a>. The failure of Darien was so catastrophic that it remains one of the <a href="http://www.gla.ac.uk/services/library/collections/virtualdisplays/collectionhighlights/spencer/">greatest calamities in Scottish history</a>. Its consequences have long been debated by historians, although none can doubt that it cost Scotland dearly. Some even see it as a decisive factor in compelling the Scottish parliament, along with the scheme’s bankrupted investors, to enter into <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ianmcowie/100020733/scottish-independence-the-darien-disaster-and-financial-warnings-from-history/">union with England in 1707</a>. </p>
<h2>A 17th-century vision</h2>
<p>A cynical reading of this venture could certainly see this as the first great Panamanian scam. As Douglas Watt relates in his book <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Price-Scotland-Darien-Nations/dp/1906307091">The Price of Scotland</a>, <a href="http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/usbiography/p/williampaterson.html">William Paterson</a>, on whom the Darien vision depended, was the 17th-century equivalent to a modern-day investment banker and stockbroker. He convinced men and women from the Scottish elite and professional classes to invest £400,000 in a scheme that had no guarantee of success. While this may seem like a relatively meagre figure in today’s money, it was a remarkable achievement for a small nation, especially when compared with similar stock schemes of the period. The total raised equated to about [25% of Scottish national wealth](<a>http://scholar.harvard.edu/armitage/files/paterson.pdf</a>, and nearly <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scotlands-Empire-Origins-Global-Diaspora/dp/0718193199">two-and-a-half times</a> the estimated value of Scotland’s annual exports.</p>
<p>Paterson was well-qualified for encouraging people to part with their money. In the 1690s, he worked as a [director of the Bank of England](<a>http://scholar.harvard.edu/armitage/files/paterson.pdf</a> and had been responsible for selling shares to fund William III’s war effort on the continent. As an experienced trader in both Europe and the Americas, he had also tried for a number of years to sell his vision of “Darien” as a great opportunity for overseas investment. </p>
<p>His ideals for Darien were founded on mercantilist tenets. It was theorised that a kingdom, no matter how small, could build a successful global empire by taking key strategic territories to advance trade. The Isthmus of Panama became central to Paterson’s scheme. It had been controlled by the <a href="http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Spanish_Empire">Spanish Empire</a> from the 1510s, but it was now the weak link in what was a declining international superpower. He aimed to establish a permanent settlement in Panama that would link the trade of Europe and the Americas with the markets in China, India and Japan. He called it <a href="http://www.gutenberg-e.org/gdi01/gall04.html">“the door of the seas, and key of the universe”</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rjhIzemLdos?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">When Spain ruled the world.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It was certainly a convincing argument. But many had warned of settling in a territory at the heart of the Spanish Empire. It was also likely to antagonise England, which was fighting a war against the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIV_of_France">French King Louis XIV</a> in Europe – this depended on both Scottish taxes and a peaceful alliance with the Spanish. </p>
<p>But this was not enough to deter either the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/civil_war_revolution/scotland_darien_01.shtml">Company of Scotland</a>, who led the colonisation effort, nor its 1,500 investors drawn from across Scottish society. In contrast to the controversy of today, however, having a financial stake in a Panamanian scheme was not then cloaked in secrecy. The Scottish investors were proud to put their names to the scheme because they were convinced by Paterson’s rhetoric. </p>
<h2>A taxing issue</h2>
<p>Just as today, tax was a motivating factor for those investing in Panama. The Scottish nation had been deeply affected by the high taxes raised by <a href="http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensoftheUnitedKingdom/TheStuarts/MaryIIWilliamIIIandTheActofSettlement/MaryIIWilliamIII.aspx">William</a> to pay for his wars on the continent, which most Scots opposed. They were also affected by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navigation_Acts">protectionist trade barriers</a> brought in across Europe and the North American colonies, which made it harder to vend Scottish goods abroad. Darien therefore became an opportunity for Scotland to assert its independence from England, to restore its national pride and to raise its prestige on the global stage. It had the potential to unite a politically and religiously divided kingdom around a single ambition. It would also give a famine-ridden, declining nation the opportunity to assert itself as a global trading power. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118052/original/image-20160410-23634-1bcurtu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118052/original/image-20160410-23634-1bcurtu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118052/original/image-20160410-23634-1bcurtu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118052/original/image-20160410-23634-1bcurtu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118052/original/image-20160410-23634-1bcurtu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118052/original/image-20160410-23634-1bcurtu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118052/original/image-20160410-23634-1bcurtu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Deatination glory? Darien in Panama.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/rietje/2367377150/in/photolist-4BcqKq-4AGGEK-4AGiCP-4AGMqs-4ALNd3-4ALKQd-ekgsGc-4AGPMk-8Qfv45-4Auzyj-4AGKRR-4B85H2-4AGXwi-4ALU4Y-4AGiik-e6UtxE-4Avj5Y-4Bcj35-4AqobZ-4AYNju-4B7T2c-4AGSBt-4AuG9G-4ALMuh-4AUzRX-4AM2A3-4B819P-4ACCmD-4AGz3K-4AUAhK-4B83CF-4B7UVx-4Bc9yh-4ASjwX-4B7Sh2-4AGhV8-4AGMTZ-4AGNuE-4AUzqn-4AGiTD-4ALA8A-4B8598-4AYQsb-4AuCqf-4B84kK-4BcnRw-4AH6j6-4AWK39-4AGy9M-4AuAh1">Rita Willaert/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And so, in July 1698, a fleet of merchant ships, transporting around 1,200 men, women and children sailed across the Atlantic to build a new life at Darien. But Paterson’s vision and the financial backing of a wide section of the Scottish nation was not enough to ensure success. </p>
<p>The venture was cut short after only seven months, when the second group of colonists arrived to find the grisly effects of a fever epidemic, food shortages and attacks by native peoples and foreign powers. <a href="http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/month/may2005.html">Hundreds of people</a> are believed to have died within the space of a year, among the casualties was Paterson’s wife and son. T.M Devine, in his book <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scotlands-Empire-Origins-Global-Diaspora/dp/0718193199">Scotland’s Empire</a>, states that only three of the 13 company ships that landed at Darien returned to Scotland.</p>
<p>The catastrophic failure of the scheme placed the Scottish economy in a precarious situation and bankrupted many of those who had so willingly placed their trust in Paterson’s vision. The Scottish seizure of Spanish territory at Darien also flouted international agreements and soured English attitudes toward Scotland, as it directly contravened English imperial ambitions in Europe. As Tony Claydon and A.M Claydon report in their book William III, the king declared shortly after hearing about the scheme that he had been <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Z1zJAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA177&lpg=PA177&dq=tony+claydon+william+III+I+have+been+ill-served+by+Scotland&source=bl&ots=xUCCDss8A-&sig=oMkd5ztN9QTmf60Ewe9d3bYXrjk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiK0fbKiobMAhXLBZoKHZONDzIQ6AEIJDAB#v=onepage&q=tony%20claydon%20william%20III%20I%20have%20been%20ill-served%20by%20Scotland&f=false">“ill-served” in Scotland</a>. </p>
<h2>The fallout</h2>
<p>Much like the Panama controversy brought about by the papers, the significance of Darien was not for the most part financial or economic, but rather political. Above all else, the scheme seriously affected Scottish national pride. For some Scottish MPs, its failure suggested that Scotland could not survive on its own and that the nation would be in a stronger economic and political position if they united with their English neighbour. </p>
<p>While the <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/act-of-union-1707/">1707 Act of Union</a> was by no means a <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scotlands-Empire-Origins-Global-Diaspora/dp/0718193199">foregone conclusion</a> after the collapse of Darien, the prospect of compensation under the terms of the union to cover the money lost at Darien must have been an appealing prospect. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118111/original/image-20160411-21956-rcquku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118111/original/image-20160411-21956-rcquku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118111/original/image-20160411-21956-rcquku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118111/original/image-20160411-21956-rcquku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118111/original/image-20160411-21956-rcquku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118111/original/image-20160411-21956-rcquku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118111/original/image-20160411-21956-rcquku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Partly thanks to Darien?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/dl2_lim.mhtml?src=u8dbtNdXSlV5aAIaj6-uTg-1-8&clicksrc=download_btn_inline&id=140922238&size=medium_jpg&submit_jpg=">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Traditionally, historians and commentators took their cues from William III when he described Paterson and his company as <a href="http://scottishreviewofbooks.org/index.php/back-issues/vol11/volume-eleven-issue-three/774-panama-hell-rosemary-goring">“raging madmen”</a>, deeming it a subject not worthy of serious historical attention. But the response to Darien on a national and international scale proves that it was taken very seriously at the time. As the revelations of the Panama controversy unfold and its political consequences remain to be determined, Darien may continue to prove a lesson from which we can all learn.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57441/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Naomi Pullin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Panama is no stranger to financial shenanigans … even in the 17th century.Naomi Pullin, Teaching Fellow in Early Modern British History, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/319232014-09-19T14:55:32Z2014-09-19T14:55:32ZFailure to figure out what the Union now represents will see another #indyref in Scotland<p>In the closing lines of my book, The Scots and the Union: Then and Now, I wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The union has been a fact of life for Scots for more than three centuries. Union is a habit, which, currently, large numbers of Scots might like to cut down on, but not give up altogether. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>I ended by saying that if this were to change, the electors would need to hear a convincing case for the advantages of leaving the Union behind.</p>
<p>That 55% of the Scottish electorate voted No to independence suggests that I was right – but that a full 45% of voters said Yes to independence demonstrates the depth of Scottish unhappiness with the Union and Westminster. It also reflects the sense many Scots have that they are a nation, but a stateless one. </p>
<p>What came over forcefully during the campaign was the strong belief that the people in Scotland can better govern themselves. The devolved Scottish parliament established in 1999 has gone some way to addressing this legitimate aspiration – but the process must go further. </p>
<h2>Hammering it out</h2>
<p>The No victory was delivered in spite of, rather than by, the pro-Union side’s markedly negative campaign. This was a sound, pragmatic strategy, exposing the many risks and uncertainties of the Yes camp’s hastily worked-out independence proposals. Yes Scotland’s rhetoric was compelling, but the substance was lacking.</p>
<p>That means we still have to figure out not just Scotland’s future in the Union, but also England’s place within the Union state (to say nothing of Wales and Northern Ireland’s). </p>
<p>Clearly – as was made obvious by the interventions of English MPs and the likes of <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scottish-independence/11108465/Nigel-Farage-England-ignored-in-Scottish-independence-debate.html">Nigel Farage</a> - giving further powers to Scotland will guarantee to new imbalances and political tensions elsewhere in the United Kingdom. These will demand resolution; federalism is surely now on the cards.</p>
<h2>Fundamental values</h2>
<p>All parts of the United Kingdom not only need constitutional change of the kind that has been mooted in recent months (and, under duress, in the last few days); they must also do some serious thinking about what the Union represents and what its purpose in the 21st century really is. </p>
<p>To his credit, though admittedly late in the day, Gordon Brown’s intervention took us some way in this direction. But what’s needed now is a set of commonly agreed principles that can galvanize and unite the peoples of Britain. </p>
<p>The Union of 1707 was from its inception underpinned by important ideals – including constitutional monarchy - that drew at least some of the politicians of the two countries together. Without forward thinking about Scotland’s place within the British state, what the Union represents, and what belonging to the United Kingdom offers in real terms for all its constituent parts, there is every chance that there will be yet another referendum in Scotland – but next time with a different outcome.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31923/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher A Whatley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the closing lines of my book, The Scots and the Union: Then and Now, I wrote: The union has been a fact of life for Scots for more than three centuries. Union is a habit, which, currently, large numbers…Christopher A Whatley, Professor of Scottish History, University of DundeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/277802014-06-09T17:52:38Z2014-06-09T17:52:38ZA no vote may see Scots tied to a less patient England<p>It may only be Scotland that is heading to the polls on September 18, but it is not the only interested party in the results of the independence referendum. England would obviously play a dominant role in any independence negotiations. </p>
<p>And should Scotland choose to remain in the union, the role of English politicians and English public opinion should not be underestimated in the complex bargaining processes that may emerge regarding devo-max or even the establishment of a constitutional convention. What England thinks of the union and of the potential loss of Scotland will matter a great deal.</p>
<p>According to the latest findings from the <a href="http://www.natcen.ac.uk/media/338789/bsa-england-reacts.pdf">British Social Attitudes survey</a>, Scotland’s southern neighbours are increasingly keen for it to remain in the union. It finds that English support for Scottish independence declined from 26% to 21% between 2011 and 2013 and that the percentage of English voters who want Holyrood abolished has fallen from 23% in 2012 to 18% last year. It finds little demand either for English independence (16%) or for some form of English devolution (combined support for an English Parliament or regional assemblies stands at 34%).</p>
<h2>Another narrative</h2>
<p>The findings on what southerners think about Scottish independence are somewhat at odds with another common narrative of recent years. It says that the English have been indifferent to the prospect of Scotland leaving the union. Journalists and commentators on either side of the political spectrum <a href="http://eprints.ulster.ac.uk/22038/">have commented</a> on a “blissful indifference” or a collective shrug of shoulders in England towards the outcome of the referendum. </p>
<p>It is worth noting that a <a href="http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/blog/archives/3570">YouGov poll in 2011</a> ironically found strongest support for Scottish independence not in Scotland but in England and Wales. Similarly a <a href="http://news.sky.com/story/1201211/scottish-independence-46-percent-dont-mind">YouGov poll conducted for Sky News</a> in January 2014 found that 46% of voters in England and Wales “wouldn’t mind” if they woke up on September 19 to discover that Scotland had left the union, with only 34% saying they would be dismayed. </p>
<p>Colin Kidd, one of the most eminent historians on the Anglo-Scottish union, <a href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n08/colin-kidd/brown-v-salmond">has suggested</a> that Scottish unionism has been exposed to a battle on two fronts: first, against the forces of Scottish nationalism and second, against “the polite, blinkered non-recognition by the English that Britain is a multinational United Kingdom”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50582/original/p7nnhmtb-1402328765.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50582/original/p7nnhmtb-1402328765.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50582/original/p7nnhmtb-1402328765.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50582/original/p7nnhmtb-1402328765.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50582/original/p7nnhmtb-1402328765.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50582/original/p7nnhmtb-1402328765.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=666&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50582/original/p7nnhmtb-1402328765.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=666&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50582/original/p7nnhmtb-1402328765.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=666&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Daniel Defoe: Oi Scotland, does thee want some?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This goes to the very heart of the union between England and Scotland. It was Daniel Defoe who <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7cbI17tKIPwC&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=a+firmer+Union+of+Policy+with+Less+Union+of+Affection+has+hardly+been+known+in+the+world&source=bl&ots=44JBjtnuXT&sig=gwY9hQMFZUEeqMEcbOPQ2zDSYi8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ksWVU6CLMoqrOY7OgPgN&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=a%20firmer%20Union%20of%20Policy%20with%20Less%20Union%20of%20Affection%20has%20hardly%20been%20known%20in%20the%20world&f=false">famously noted</a> that, “a firmer union of policy with less union of affection has hardly been known in the world”.</p>
<h2>The reluctant unionists</h2>
<p>The English from the outset were reluctant unionists who had <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/acts_of_union_01.shtml">rejected Scottish overtures</a> for union in 1689, among other occasions. When they did relent in the years running up to 1707, a look at the proceedings of parliament from that time highlight that union was just one of a series of control mechanisms against the Scots considered by the English to ensure security and stability in their realm. </p>
<p>Union was based on a belief that it represented the continuation of, rather than a break with, the long development of English history. Not only does this arguably explain the ease with which Englishness was subsumed into Britishness, but this idea of English predominance within the union helps us to understand more recent political developments.</p>
<p>For example if Germany is portrayed as the “chequebook of Europe”, England is often depicted as the chequebook of the union. Newspapers like the Daily Mail <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1362286/Free-prescriptions-Scotland-mind-austerity-rest-us.html">regularly views</a> English taxpayers as funding a “freebie culture” elsewhere in the union while not being able to enjoy perks such as free prescriptions and free university education themselves. </p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.natcen.ac.uk/media/338789/bsa-england-reacts.pdf">Professor John Curtice notes</a> at the beginning of the latest survey, “We might wonder whether the residents of England have had enough of what they might regard as Scotland’s apparently endless demands for more, despite the fact that it enjoys a substantial measure of devolution when England has none and enjoys considerably higher levels of public spending per head.”</p>
<h2>The Scottish Raj and other backlashes</h2>
<p>In this context, the findings in the BSA report are rather startling. Historically, English public opinion has tended to respond in a rather negative, albeit not transformative, way to periods when the union is no longer seen as functioning effectively for England. </p>
<p>We can look back at the <a href="follonblogs.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/scottish-independence-is-restoration_20.html">Lords debate on Scottish secession in 1713</a>; to the xenophobic reaction to the accession of Lord Bute to the Premiership in 1762 (the first Scot to be first lord of the treasury post-union); or to claims of a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/mar/18/uk.scotland">“Scottish Raj”</a> under Gordon Brown’s premiership. Or we could look at public attitude surveys such as <a href="http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/index.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter">the 2011 census</a>, which found that 67.1% of respondents across England and Wales identified themselves as English (either alone as part of a dual identity), with 57.7% seeing themselves as purely English. </p>
<p>This chimes with <a href="http://www.ippr.org/assets/media/images/media/files/publication/2014/01/democracy-in-Britain_preview-Trench_Jan2013_11772.pdf">research undertaken</a> by Cardiff and Edinburgh universities and the <a href="http://www.ippr.org/assets/media/images/media/files/publication/2014/01/democracy-in-Britain_preview-Trench_Jan2013_11772.pdf">Institute for Public Policy Research</a> that suggests that the English have become increasingly assertive about their identities since devolution.</p>
<p>According to this research, while an Anglo-British identity exists, the “Anglo” component is predominant. While it finds limited appetite for regionalism or an English parliament, it also finds that support for the status quo has fallen to barely a fifth of English voters. It seems the English electorate want to regain control of the Westminster parliament, with 79% supporting English votes for English laws.</p>
<p>England may not want devolution or regional assemblies, but it seems it may want something more fundamental: a restoration of their conception of union, one that serves the English national interest. Three hundred years on from Defoe’s musings, it still seems the United Kingdom is a union where policy outweighs affection.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27780/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adam Evans does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It may only be Scotland that is heading to the polls on September 18, but it is not the only interested party in the results of the independence referendum. England would obviously play a dominant role…Adam Evans, PhD Student, Political Science, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/270462014-05-22T05:21:33Z2014-05-22T05:21:33ZScotland Decides ’14: what’s God got to do with it?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/49172/original/yxvhn4v6-1400691297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How would God vote?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://scottishchristian.com/christians-cannot-vote-for-scottish-independence-in-good-conscience/">tymesynk</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Scotland’s spiritual leaders have been making their presence felt in the independence debate lately. The Church of Scotland <a href="http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/scotland/reconciliation-service-follows-poll-1.363235">is to hold</a> a reconciliation service the Sunday after a vote to help bring the country back together. </p>
<p>Earlier this week its General Assembly <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-27470336">housed an independence debate</a> between shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander and leading theologian Doug Gay. Not to be outdone, the Free Church <a href="http://scottishchristian.com/christians-cannot-vote-for-scottish-independence-in-good-conscience/">has also been</a> getting in on the act. We asked our panel what religion could bring to the debate. </p>
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<p><strong>Lesley Riddoch, PhD student at Strathclyde University, broadcaster and journalist</strong></p>
<p>The Church of Scotland did a <a href="http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/news_and_events/news/archive/2013/church_to_run_independence_debates_across_scotland">pretty extensive exercise</a> around the country with their congregations a few months ago, holding discussions about the referendum. I would give them a big up for that because very few organisations have taken it upon themselves to have such a widespread and grassroots discussion. </p>
<p>I don’t mind that they haven’t taken a position on the referendum. It means they are in a better position to be honest brokers after it. It’s such a close race that you’ll inevitably offend people if you do. </p>
<p>Coming from Northern Ireland, I see this question of a presbyterian Scottish psyche in a different light to many people. Nothing in Scotland could be as underpinned by religious difference. I have never really thought that Scotland was as religious as many people seem to think. </p>
<p>We are what we are. We are reserved to some degree. We are fairly tediously law-abiding people who have a great faith in fairness working things out in the end. It’s why people waited for land reform that never came. The Scottish people are both patient and continually disappointed. </p>
<p>I don’t mind the projection of a rather dour, restrained image – it’s partly true. But I take exception to the flip side. There’s a Jekyll and Hyde idea that has been around for a very long time. On the one hand you get the sophisticated, civilised Adam Smith or Sir Walter Scott types, while on the other there’s the wild-eyed hairy Highlanders who can’t control themselves. </p>
<p>This is my problem with the church’s discussion of reconciliation four months before the vote. It plays to this idea of a darker side to the Scots – if you scratch us, the calm veneer will drop and everything will fall out – unless a man of the cloth is there to pick up the pieces. That image has been exaggerated and fabricated by all sorts of forces, many of them from outside our borders. </p>
<p>Reconciliation as a concept makes me think of Northern Ireland or Soweto. Surely we can all agree that nothing in the independence debate is that fatally fractious. The only thing that is polarised is the question in the referendum, and even that had three until quite recently. </p>
<p>I’d prefer the church talked about facilitation. If we could use that word, I do think it has a role to play in keeping the ball rolling after the vote. Unbelievable amounts of energy have been released by the referendum – don’t we want to encourage them to do more? </p>
<p><strong>Chris Whatley, Professor of Scottish History, University of Dundee</strong></p>
<p>The keystone in the union arch at the very outset was the Protestant succession. In 1706 Queen Anne and her ministers wanted the Scots to agree to the Protestant succession that had been agreed in Westminster in 1701. The union was forged at the time of the so-called Counter-Reformation of the Catholic church, aided and abetted by Louis XIV of France, which had led to a paranoia of a Catholic resurgence in Protestant Britain. </p>
<p>In spite of this, the Church of Scotland was initially nervous about going into the union because it feared being dominated by the Church of England. For this reason, the agreement comprised two acts, one of which was for securing the Church of Scotland within the union. </p>
<p>There were always Scots on the extreme edges of presbyterianism who saw the union as sinful because the Church of England was Anglican, which included bishops and all the other vestiges of Catholicism. But mainstream presbyterians accepted the union and saw it as being about securing Protestantism until up until about the 1950s. </p>
<p>At that point, you start to see the demise of Christianity in terms of church membership. With that decline, the value of the union in securing people’s religious beliefs became less important. This is one of the reasons the union is now much more vulnerable than at any time since 1740. </p>
<p>For centuries there has been a sense of Scottish distinctiveness and identity. Much of it was concealed during the high watermark of unionism in the 19th century and the first part of the 20th century. But the tide of unionism has ebbed and we are now left with the rocks of Scottish national feeling. </p>
<p>It’s interesting that the Church of Scotland is not taking a position on independence. Fifty years ago they would probably have been strongly supporting the union, but I sense there is now a variety of views within the church. Instead their big concern is what happens after the vote, which I share. This vote mustn’t lead to ugly divisions within Scottish society. The church is rightly calling for calm and reason and forgiveness and healing. </p>
<p>As for the Scottish national character, presbyterian caution certainly led to the two acts of union. We also know that many Scots prayed to God for guidance about whether the union would be a good thing. Saying that, there were others who were cautiously opposed to the union, such as the Jacobites, who were mainly Episcopalian, so you can’t pin it to presbyterianism. </p>
<p>Wherever it comes from, my sense is that there’s a strong element of caution, of canniness, in the Scottish character, which you are seeing in the present debate. My reading is that there’s still a sizeable proportion of the population, the don’t knows, who remain to be convinced about independence. They are the archetypally cautious Scots looking for more security with currency, VAT, pensions, business and so on. </p>
<p>In 1707, the financial terms of the union were settled before the vote in the Scottish parliament. Now we are in a situation where we have the option of independence but we don’t have the detail. That’s why the canny Scots are saying they want greater certainty about the future. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27046/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Scotland’s spiritual leaders have been making their presence felt in the independence debate lately. The Church of Scotland is to hold a reconciliation service the Sunday after a vote to help bring the…Christopher A Whatley, Professor of Scottish History, University of DundeeLesley Riddoch, PhD Student, University of Strathclyde Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.