Scottish independence referendum: historical right or anachronism?

| 01-12-2009 | UK Politics | Written by Matthew Bennett

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The leader of the Scottish government has decided to try and hold a referendum on Scottish independence in November 2010 but he will probably not receive much political or public support.

As in Catalonia, the very idea of the word ‘nation‘ is being put to the test, as the referendum white paper points out:

At the moment, Scotland is a nation within a larger state, unable to speak for itself on all relevant matters.

The ‘National Conversation‘ – about, for and with the Scottish people about Scotland, of course, not a ‘National Conversation’ involving the rest of the UK – seems, as in Catalonia, to have been structured by and for the political and business elites and to have left out most normal Scottish people, as some informed commentators point out:

To answer this we need to understand who and what has gained from devolution so far? When compared with the pre-devolution expectations, there is a clear mismatch. The groups who have gained the most are the insiders – those who knew how to work access and networks pre-devolution and have adjusted to continuing to influence and shape decision-making post-devolution.

The SNP’s preferred outcome for the referendum is full independence at all levels.

But what should we do with the apparatus of state which has served us all so well for so long now? It all starts to fall down when we get to the level of the state, doesn’t it?

Does Alex Salmond really want the British monarch to become the Queen of Scotland? Would the Catalans have Juan Carlos I of the Kingdom of Spain & Catalonia? Do Salmond and Montilla want Scottish and Catalan regiments standing guard over Barcelona and Edinburgh?

What is a country? What is a region? What is a nation? What is a state?

Do today’s political independence movements in the UK and Spain represent historic claims to the sovereignty of oppressed peoples – à la William Wallace or Sant Jordi – or are they more about business and political elites trying to take advantage of ‘national’ identities which history has already proven anachronistic?