It's Scotland's own business, or is it?
How I See It with Denzil McDaniel • Published 19 Jan 2012 09:30
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"It must be terrible being English. Naebody likes ya."
A Scottish man said this to me many years ago. I was on a campsite in France, he was in a nearby mobile home and we'd sit and chat over a glass of wine most evenings.
He was a friendly, gregarious guy. Until, occassionally somebody English would walk past.
That was a long time ago, but I doubt very much if he has changed his view. And as regards antipathy towards the English, he's not the only Scot to feel that way. It's in their blood.
From Robert the Bruce's victory at Bannockburn in 1314 to the Tartan Army ripping down the goalposts at Wembley in the 1970s, Scots love to thump the English.
Don't we all, you might add!
Visit Windsor Park for a Northern Ireland match, and if the half-time scores announced over the PA reveal England are behind, it's the biggest cheer of the night.
No doubt that England's history is littered with many fine and noble achievements, and there are many fabulous people, so let's not generalise.
OK, let's.
Is there not something in the little Englander's inherent superior arrogance that irks people.
So, imagine if you lived across the Border.
Take this example from an English newspaper columnist just this week, discussing the forthcoming referendum for Scotland to go independent.
"The Scots know they stand to lose big time if they divorce themselves from Westminster.
"For its part, however, England is fed up to the back teeth with the Scots pocketing a whacking subsidy from Westminster while constantly - and offensively - whingeing about England."
Aye right!
It does make you wonder how Scotland and England have co-existed for hundreds of years.
England, of course, is Tory heartland. But as Alex Salmond put it last week, Scotland has more pandas than Tory MPs.
The question of Scottish independence has come firmly into focus, and the fact that the planned referendum in 2014 may or may not vote in favour manifests an incredibly moving world within the UK.
There are many serious issues to be addressed, and not just the mutual suspicion the two peoples have of each other.
I don't think it's good enough to simply say "we're stronger together than divided." There are many examples in recent European history where smaller countries have re-established their identities and thrived.
Despite all the bluster by David Cameron (who took time out from trying to raise £60million for a new Royal yacht - we're all in this recession together, eh) this vote is very much Scotland's business.
It does, though, have implications for us in Northern Ireland.
We do, of course, have much in common with Scotland, especially us Planters.
The Scots have their sectarian problems and social issues just like us, but I was thinking more of the common bond of the industrious and friendly people that inhabit both Scotland and here.
There is a deeply political common issue as well.
If Scotland does vote for and get independence, that signals at least the beginning of the break up of the United Kingdom.
Unionists are fearful of this; any weakening of the Union worries them. But, of course, once the British Government went down the route of devolution for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, this was an inevitable consequence.
One interesting aspect I noticed was that a poll in Scotland showed that only 21 per cent of people wanted the status quo.
Effectively, that means that almost 80 per cent of people want control over their own destiny, from full independence to an increase in devolution.
One wonders what the people here think about that issue. Unionists, Nationalists and Republicans are now feeling part of the new Northern Ireland. It is still far from perfect.
But if Westminster tried to take away the powers devolved to local politicians here, you know there would be resistance.
Not of the Ulster resistance or similar variety.
We're moving forward on the basis of a shared future, and uncertainty over what the future holds for a united or dis-united Kingdom should only reinforce that view and not unsettle it.
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