The United Kingdom ranks
as one of the most successful marriages in history. England, Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland have survived ancient hatreds, tribal rivalry and war. Each
nation has been enriched by a journey of enlightenment, empire, shared energy
and enterprise.
In eight
days’ time, this splendid mess of a union, to quote Simon Schama, the British
historian, risks being separated into its national parts. Scotland will vote in
a referendum to decide whether to stay in the UK or sunder bonds stretching
back to 1707. Opinion polls suggest the result is too close to call, a prospect
which has alarmed financial markets, wrongfooted allies and sent a complacent
coalition government scrambling to find a last-minute sweetener to
win over the Scots.
Empires and
nation states are not immune to break-up, but there is little precedent for a
hitherto stable modern democracy splitting apart in peacetime, in the middle of
an economic recovery. This is not the time for recrimination. For the moment,
it is enough for this newspaper to declare that the path of separation is a fool’s
errand, one fraught with danger and uncertainty.
Scotland is
a proud and vibrant nation. Scots have contributed disproportionately to the
union. They have played a leading role in arts, commerce, literature, the
military, politics and sport. But a vote in favour of secession would be an
irreversible act with profound consequences, not merely for 5m Scots but also
for the other 58m citizens of England, Wales and Northern Ireland (including
750,000 Scots living and working outside Scotland who under the terms of the
referendum have no say on the future of their country).
The act of
separation would diminish the UK in every international body, notably the EU.
It would raise complex – and still unanswered – questions about the common
defence of the British Isles, the future of the currency and
political arrangements for the rest of the UK. Above all, a Yes vote would
ignore the lessons of the 20th century, a chapter in European history indelibly
scarred by narrow nationalism.
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