As a Scot living abroad, I’m watching anxiously as my home country readies for a vote on independence. My status as a foreign correspondent in India disqualifies me from voting, yet the outcome will directly affect my citizenship, my passport and my rights abroad.
In 1997, it was a different feeling. Scotland voted overwhelmingly for devolution, creating its own Parliament. It retained political and monetary union with the rest of the UK, but had more autonomy over local issues, like education and tax. I was one of those who enthusiastically voted ‘Yes’.
Devolution was a great celebration, a recognition of Scotland’s unique sense of nationhood after years of its population feeling neglected by a Parliament sitting in London. Between 1979 and 1997, a majority of Scottish voters opted for the Labour party, yet were ruled by a Tory government.
The strong national disconnect with Westminster overshadowed my childhood. Margaret Thatcher was a hate-figure, particularly when she used Scotland as a testing ground for the poll tax. Nuclear submarines stationed near Glasgow made Scotland a Cold War target, fuelling resentment. In school we were taught about English brutality towards our forefathers during the 13th and 14th centuries. When Mel Gibson’s Braveheart, on Scottish hero William Wallace, released, I remember the audience cheering.
But I believe Scotland’s alienation was adequately resolved by devolution. There are few convincing reasons to take it as far as total independence, beyond an emotional nationalism that creates an unstable platform on which to build a political project. Scotland is not an oppressed nation. Aside from the Thatcher years, our politicians have often thrived in Westminster. We do not have a raw deal financially. The Barnett formula, which calculates the allocation of public spending, works in Scotland’s favour. Scots receive £1,200 more public spending per head. Unlike the rest of UK, we offer free higher education to students.
Nationalists claim an independent Scotland will be richer due to oil revenues from the North Sea. But the reality is far from clear. Experts also warn that oil is getting harder and more expensive to recover.
A cloud hangs over the Scottish pound after Westminster warned there would be no currency union with the rest of the UK. Tricky international relationships would have to be renegotiated, including Scotland’s membership of the European Union, which is by no means guaranteed.
On a personal level, British families will be divided. My brother is Scottish, married to an Englishwoman. Their first child was born in Northern Ireland and their second in England. What would independence do to their family identity? A strong sense of Scottish patriotism does not have to be defined by independence. I describe myself first as Scottish, then as British, but I value those identities equally. That union works both on a personal and a national level. If something isn’t broken then why try to fix it?
Nicola Smith is the Sunday Times South Asia correspondent based in Delhi; E-mail your columnist: nicola.smith AT sunday-times.co.uk
