The Guardian view on English sentiment as Scotland decides
|
Version 0 of 1. England has woken up late, to the extent it has woken up at all, to what is happening in Scotland. True, there are some English efforts to plead against Scottish separation. The Let’s Stay Together letter organised by the historian Tom Holland and the broadcaster Dan Snow has rapidly gathered more than 100,000 signatures. These same organisers called a rally in London’s Trafalgar Square on Monday to celebrate Britain’s unity and to urge Scots to vote no. Such campaigners speak for the majority in England and Wales, insofar as the majority think about Scotland at all. Public opinion south of the border is overwhelmingly opposed to a yes vote, by a factor of just over four to one according to one recent poll – and the opposition is strongest in London and the south of England, the parts of the country most execrated in Scottish critiques. Most English-based newspapers have argued for a no vote too, including Tory-supporting papers. This all reflects a strong sense of connection, as does our own poll in which a clear majority say they would be sad for Scotland to separate. Meanwhile at Crathie Kirk on Sunday, the Queen herself seemed to hint that she wants things to remain as they are. But, as our poll also underlines, the English as a whole are still not as worried about the consequences of separation as the Scots themselves, or indeed the Welsh. English complacency still hasn’t been entirely shaken off. David Cameron’s final visit to Scotland before the referendum on Monday aired some necessary urgency. In Aberdeen, he said that Scots who had assumed the no campaign would win needed to get out and vote. The prime minister’s anxiety and seriousness were palpable in those words. Everyone can see how close-run this contest has now become. Strenuous parallel efforts by Labour and the Liberal Democrats to rally the no vote across Scotland over recent days are further evidence of that. These efforts, however, have come very late in the day. It is less than two weeks since the main UK parties collectively grasped that they needed to raise their game if the yes campaign was to be thwarted. This decision resulted in Gordon Brown’s return to the field, a big constitutional pledge on UK-wide devolution and a step change in the pro-union campaign. That seems to have stemmed the tide of opinion towards yes for the moment. But they should not have been necessary in a healthier union that was already more responsive to its own problems, and some of the pro-union campaigning has a feel of desperation to it. A tin ear too, sometimes; David Beckham is undoubtedly a glamorous late recruit to the Let’s Stay Together push, but whether a former England football captain is the clincher for many Scots is doubtful in the extreme. Even if the no campaign wins this week, its supporters south of the border need to be self-critical and humble. In large ways and small – everything from waging an unpopular war to introducing a London-centric weather map, the union has not worked as it should. A strong political union will only prosper if it provides for all and is more conscious of all. In post-industrial Britain some of those tolerances have been stretched to the limit. If Scotland votes yes on Thursday, those tolerances will have snapped. If Scotland votes no, they will have to be renewed and revived. An important part of the answer, as we argued on Saturday, is urgent constitutional reform that protects the nations, regions and other minorities from majoritarianism. Another, equally important, part is to put social solidarity back at the heart of a people’s union. A third part, without which the other two will not function properly, is to learn from the best aspects – the public reasoning part rather than the intimidatory part – of what has been happening in civic Scotland for the past few weeks. The one thing that cannot happen, if there is a no vote, is for England to assume that the anxiety is over. If the UK survives on Thursday, new powers for Scotland will be necessary but not sufficient. England itself must change too. And so must the way we all do politics. Back under the duvet is not an option. |