Is anybody aware that the Scots are in a consultation period for their draft Independence Referendum bill? The one they were long promised by the SNP and which still hasn’t been delivered. Once again Scottish First Minister Salmond is prevaricating because he knows the Scots are far too canny to vote for separation from their auld enemy the English. The chilly winds of an economic downturn are a timely reminder that Scotland would struggle to stand on its own two feet. Last year their top financial brands (RBS, Bank of Scotland) took an almighty tumble, to be saved only by the deep pockets of the Great Britain’s borrowing ability. That Scotland milks the southern cash cow is no great surprise after all the reluctant Celts ratified the Act of Union in 1707 because there was no money in the coffers to pay their public servants. Lest we forget the hallowed words of Scotland’s finest wordsmith:
“we’re bought and sold for English gold -
such a parcel of rogues in a nation!”
But don’t be misled by Burn’s patriotism. He was right, a lot of money was involved but it didn’t just line the pockets of ‘a coward few.’ Scotland was bust, they urgently needed liquidity and access to England’s Empire and that’s exactly what they got. From the outset this was a relationship of convenience and long may it continue. Small countries have always been more vulnerable to the vagaries of economics, whether it’s Scotland at the beginning of the 1700s, or Iceland and Greek in the 21st century. It may be an uncomfortable truth for many north of the border but together England and Scotland have always been greater than the sum of their parts.

Tessa Dunlop

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