Almost
20 years ago, Britain looked on in amazement as it seemed that Canada was about
to come apart. Just two weeks before the Quebec referendum, the “no” opinion
poll lead had collapsed from 20 points to just 4 points and momentum lay with
the mainly French-speaking separatists. Canada’s prime minister, Jean Chrétien,
who had kept a low profile given his unpopularity with the Québécois, decided
he had no choice but to intervene.
The
overdue panic saved the country – just. The “yes” vote was 49.4 per cent.
Now,
it is Britain’s turn to be two weeks from a referendum and Canada’s turn to be
aghast. Earlier this week, I met Stephen Harper, its current prime minister,
who seemed unable to believe that things had come this far. Canada’s struggle
involved a French-speaking province with a different religion and history from
the rest of the country. But where is Britain’s cultural chasm? “Canada is a
country of many, many cultures,” Harper told me, but “the idea of separating
English people from Scottish people in Canada is almost inconceivable.”
From
abroad, the idea of Scots being so separate from the English as to necessitate
the partition of the country must seem absurd. We have the same culture, the
same two main languages (English and Polish) and the same world view. If
anything, England should have the bigger gripe. A century ago, The Spectator
was bemoaning the influence of Scots in London (a problem that persists) but
this underscored an important point. The British state is not something
foreign, but something Scotland helps to mould. Our country, its achievements
and the world wars won together ought to have left something indivisible.
