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Andrew Mycock: Beware of the future in a Disunited Kingdom
FOR most public, high-profile relationships, there is plenty of advice around when rumours of a rocky patch surface. So it is with that most celebrated political marriage: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Intense debate has raged about its imminent break-up or whether Britishness can be "re-forged". Those who suggest that the UK is in its death throes often draw attention to the decline of ascription to British identity and the institutions by which it is defined. They point to the concurrent growth in identification with the historical nations of the UK or other ethno-religious identities.
Musician Billy Bragg recently suggested that England needs to be "freed from this unhappy Union", thus appearing to agree with Scottish National Party leader, Alex Salmond, that Scottish and English independence is the only way to solve the inequalities of the current devolution settlement. Gordon Brown is seen by those who seek such a divorce as the "Bard" of a Britishness that is a politically-motivated act of "terminal Britishry".
Many of the criticisms raised concerning Labour's partial programme of constitutional reform are valid; it would appear that they had scant understanding of any intended outcomes other than to kill separatist nationalism in Scotland and Wales stone dead. Brown's Britishness is certainly flawed in its conflation of UK citizenship and a homogeneous British national identity. He has been rightly accused of drawing on a simplistic, uncritical Anglo-British historical narrative in defining a "golden thread" of British values, such as liberty and tolerance, which overlooks many negative aspects of the imperial past.
Such values remain abstract and ill-defined for most Britons, and are actually universal to most modern nation-states.
But separatist nationalists across the UK draw on many of the same themes and narratives as Brown, highlighting political institutions, values and culture, which inform a distinct civic Scottish, Irish, Welsh or English national identity.
For example, Salmond suggests Scottish nationalism is wholly civic, being inclusive, diverse and even exciting, noting that Scots Asians are more likely to describe themselves as Scottish than British.
Research data suggests, however, that some Scots display similar patterns of xenophobia and racism to their counterparts in England. If the Sassenachs are finally sent packing, there is the potential for far-right Scottish or Welsh ethnic nationalist parties like the BNP to gain popularity, as in small states lauded by Scots nationalists such as Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark.
Those seeking to promote independence display behaviour that typifies reductive nationalism, often insular and selfishly focused on this key aim without considering the impact that this might have for others across the UK. Winning "wars of independence" would appear more important than planning for the aftermath. However, post-British tensions across the UK would not easily be contained within revised borders. Sectarianism between Catholics and Protestants continues to sharply divide communities in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Furthermore, while we have seen a marked growth in ascription to English national identity in recent years, evidence suggests many minority groups in England identify themselves as primarily British. For these citizens, Englishness remains defined by an Anglo-Saxon dynamic, which means being British is a looser, more flexible identity that can mean anything or even nothing.
The push for independence at a time of such significant societal transition and community tensions in England could have significant implications, particularly for young Asians who may feel isolated and unsure.
Difficult constitutional questions also persist. What of the Monarch in the new post-Union Britain? The Queen remains Head of State of 15 other countries and retains sovereignty over 14 British Overseas Territories, highlighting that the imperial past invades the present, complicating issues of post-Union citizenship and identity. Many people outside the UK still identify as being British, passionately so in Gibraltar and the Falklands. Those seeking independence adopt a contradictory stance, tactically maintaining short-term support for the Monarchy while refuting post-Union responsibilities concerning the remnants of empire.
The conspicuous absence of policies on such issues would suggest that separatist nationalists assume that England would undertake all post-imperial responsibilities and their associated costs.
Those who seek a non-British future must provide answers to a number of complex questions if they are to validate their claims for independence which, in itself, is unlikely to prove a panacea for many social, economic and political divisions that have deeper roots.
Current Government approaches in reforming the UK state are piecemeal and often ill-defined, thus stimulating more uncertainty. But those who seek its hasty demise must provide a more coherent and comprehensive view of the post-Union settlement, or they might simply replicate or even intensify divisions within British society.
Dr Andrew Mycock is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Huddersfield. He is giving a lecture "In Defence of the Union" tonight at 5.45pm in the university's Harold Wilson Building.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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