Civic Nationalism? Aye, Right.

     My skepticism of the above concept is based on nationalism – so often – being grounded in opposition to what nationalists see as an unwelcome, unwanted, and alien force, whether it be external or internal, and this is referred to as “blood and soil nationalism.”

     With regard to Scotland, the SNP has done much to promote itself and the separatist movement as being “civic nationalism” – supposedly expressing itself not so much as being against the United Kingdom, but for the idea that Scotland can better manage its own affairs and deliver social justice as an independent country. Furthermore, this nationalism supposedly promotes the ethos of the late SNP MSP Bashir Ahmad, who said in 1995: “it isn't important where you come from, what matters is where we are going together as a nation.”

     However, as has been seen throughout the referendum campaign and since, the SNP’s style of nationalism at the very least has undeniable blood-and-soil elements. Some of it comes from the top – as when former leader and first minster Alex Salmond implied that Scotland is in “subordination” to England – and some tends to bubble to the surface from the rank-and-file, especially the so-called "cybernats" on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.

     This seemed to be the case on Thursday night during the BBC’s popular discussion and current affairs program, Question Time. Hosted by the venerable David Dimbleby and featuring a panel of politicians and commentators before a studio audience which puts questions to them, the program travels across the United Kingdom to be taped in different cities every week, and for last Thursday, it was set in Dundee.

     The panel featured a representative from each party represented in the Scottish Parliament – Deputy First Minister John Swinney of the SNP, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, Labour MSP Jenny Mara, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie, and Scottish Green Party co-leader Patrick Harvie – as well as columnist and commentator Tim Stanley of the Daily Telegraph.

     Now as a foreigner living outside the UK, I did not see and have not yet seen Thursday night’s program as of the time of this writing (YouTube, anyone?), but from observations on Facebook and Twitter, it appeared that the SNP had a challenging time as John Swinney faced questions from audience members regarding Scotland’s financial position following the release of the latest GERS figures (my views on it here). Panelists also rounded on Swinney and the SNP for making a case for separation and breaking up the United Kingdom based on rosy scenarios which have failed to pan out as Scotland approaches what would have been its formal independence day per SNP plans.

     The fact that three of the four other politicians on the panel (Harvie being the exception) were pro-Union was enough to cause consternation among some Nats on social media, but it was the make-up of the audience which produced a substantial fuss.

     Dundee was the city which produced highest “Yes” (to independence) result among Scotland’s 32 council areas at 57% during the referendum, the city council is SNP-controlled, and it is represented by SNP MP’s and MSP’s. Given that, one would think that the audience make-up would have been pro-Nationalist, but the audience apparently reserved much of its criticism and jeers for the SNP. Not only that, but it appeared that there were many people supporting “Brexit” (which is opposed - on the surface, at least - by the SNP) in the audience.

     However, the biggest gripe appeared to be the accents of the people in the audience, and on Facebook and Twitter, many SNP supporters and sympathizers questioned whether the audience members were actually from Dundee, or even Scotland at all. Some even went so far as to accuse the BBC of busing in English people to Dundee to give the appearance of anti-SNP discontent in the “Yes City”.

     Indeed, looking at some of the comments, one would perhaps come away with the idea that Dundee is an area free of anti-SNP sentiment or that Scots are 100% pro-EU and generally think in lock-step, or even that people outside of Dundee and/or Scotland are not welcome – especially those from England or with English accents.

     SNP MP for Perth and North Perthshire Pete Wishart appeared genuinely taken aback at the prospect that the Question Time audience did not conform to his worldview of how Scots and/or Dundonians should think in this tweet where he said: “Hi #bbcqt are you sure you're in Dundee? You've managed to find an incredible number of Tories and Brexiteers for your audience.”

     Meanwhile Kevin Stewart, SNP MSP for Aberdeen Central queried about the supposed lack of local residents in his own tweet: “Can we please hear some Dundonian voices before the end of this #bbcqt?”

     This edition of Question Time created enough “controversy”, that the BBC ended up having to defend it in a statement which in part said that all of the audience members “was a Scottish resident and from Dundee or the surrounding area” and were “chosen because they hold a spectrum of views on a number of topics, including the EU referendum and Scottish independence.” They even went so far as to add that one audience member was an Englishman who had moved to Dundee because he supported separation.

     However, the fact that the Beeb felt it had to release a statement with those words in the first place is a sad indictment on the state of Scotland and Scottish politics in the wake of the referendum. It is a sign of an increasing inwardness and parochialism, and where paranoia and grievance appear to be the order of the day for a substantial part of the population. As much as it is simply ludicrous, for example, to believe that the BBC (or MI5 or whoever) bused or parachuted people into Dundee for Question Time (or even that the program was taped outside of Dundee altogether), the reality is that there are many people who either believe this or are willing to believe it.

     They cannot believe that it is possible that there are some – perhaps many – Dundonians who do not worship at the altar of the SNP and have alternative points of view from the SNP, that some audience members perhaps came from the surrounding areas of Fife and Angus – where there are relatively substantial numbers of Liberal Democrats and Tories, respectively – and that in Dundee itself, there are still Labour stalwarts. Above all, 57% is not 100%, and so 43% of the city voted No. Perhaps they need to visit Dundee themselves and get a feel for the political pulse of the city and its surrounding area's. But then, what are we to make of them apparently not being able to fathom that (GASP!) English-accented voices may be present in a city within the United Kingdom? Just imagine the reaction if this had been the other way around.

     This is blood and soil nationalism, pure and simple, and the contempt for “outsiders” was barely concealed. If the Nationalist's actually believed in what they preached with civic nationalism, there should have been no complaints about English accents on Question Time in Dundee any more than complaints about Scottish accents on Question Time in Liverpool.

     As a British citizen or legal resident within the United Kingdom, it indeed should not matter where you come from.

GERS and the Long-Term Survival of the UK

     The common sense economic case for keeping the United Kingdom together was bolstered by yesterday's release of the latest Government Expenses and Revenues Scotland (GERS) report for 2014-2015.

     In summary, it showed that Scotland has a total budget deficit of £14.9 billion – the difference between public expenditure in Scotland (£68.4 billion) and revenues raised in Scotland (£53.4 billion). This amounts to 9.7% of Scotland’s GDP, as opposed to the overall UK deficit being only 4.9% of its total GDP, which means that Scotland runs a deficit two times higher than that of the UK as a whole.

     On a per capita basis, that deficit is £2800 compared to the £1400 per capita deficit of the UK overall, and this deficit gap amounts to £7.4 billion. If Scotland were to be independent, this would be the amount by which the Scottish deficit would get bigger in that scenario, and these figures get worse when North Sea oil is stripped away, so that the onshore deficit gap hits an eye-watering £9.2 billion.

     With the collapse of oil prices since the summer of 2014, Scotland’s geographic share of North Sea oil and gas revenues was £1.8 billion – a far cry from what the SNP said would be £7.9 billion with prices a 110+per barrelaccording to the white paper it released leading up to a vote.

     Indeed, that white paper, Scotand’s Future, has often been described has overly-optimistic in its prospectus for an independent Scotland – which touted the strength of Scotland’s finances and promised the maintenance and expansion of public services and the public sector in Scotland because there was untold wealth around the corner of separation became a reality. Now with the release of the latest GERS figures, STV’s Stephen Daisley has written that it looks “more like a piece of creative accounting, a 649-page confidence trick” because the SNP failed to come up with a credible economic plan which most voters could reasonably support, and that those who continue holding up the white paper’s contents engage in “downright dishonesty.”

     In response, some nationalists say that the numbers – produced by the Scottish Government – cannot be trusted because they don’t reflect the true wealth of Scotland and assume that with all “economic levers” at its disposal, it will follow the same economic course of the UK. The SNP itself does not dismiss the numbers in such a way, but does offer much of the same spin about the lack of powers and how an independent Scotland would do things differently (to overcome the financial challenges):

“GERS tells us about the status quo and very little about the opportunities of independence. Scotland is rich in human talent and natural resources. But what we lack are the economic levers to maximise growth in our economy, and invest according to our own priorities.”

     Again however, these are the numbers from their own government, and if they were good enough to argue the (nonexistent) case for separation (as indeed, was the case), then they are good enough to make the case against separation.

     Nationalists also interject that because UK and everyone else runs a budget deficit, why should Scotland be expected to balance its books? Here, this is a matter of scale and context. The United Kingdom as a whole runs a budget deficit that is larger than Scotland’s in terms of raw numbers, but the UK – being a larger and stronger country with a more diverse economy – is able to absorb and handle large deficits from year to year, and the same is true of the United States, France, and Germany. Scale matters, though it would be unreasonable for an independent Scotland to balance its books from Day One, it is reasonable for it to start life as an independent country with a smaller budget deficit that is in line with the size of its economy, which means cuts to services, tax increases, or both.

     Another response to these numbers is saying that “oil is just a bonus”, but this flies in the face reality when one notices that without oil, the deficit would be far worse and the scale of the financial challenge more daunting.

     In his column on GERS yesterday, Alex Massie makes it clear that the SNP government's own figures have destroyed its economic case for separation and that keeping the UK together was the good option back in September 2014. After all, each man, woman, and child in Scotland is better off by £1400 because Scotland is part of the United Kingdom and benefits from fiscal transfers via the pooling and sharing of resources, which is how the Union is supposed to work (and I recommend reading Kevin Hague’s thoughtful and thorough analysis on GERS).

     However, Massie also made it clear that sheer economics alone will not be enough to ensure the survival of Britain, not least because a day may come when the economic case could favor separation. “Numbers matter”, he said, “but they are not the only fruit. But this, again, must apply to both sides of the constitutional divide. Britain, and the UK, must be worth something other than £1,400 a year.”

     He further added:

“People are not, in any case, bloodless calculating machines. They appreciate that [the economic] arguments are, in the end and at root, about something more than that. They are about who we are, how we see ourselves, and what we intend to achieve together. They are arguments about where we have been and where we may yet go.”

     In this light, more of an effort must be made to communicate the social, cultural, and sentimental value of the Union - including the very idea of Britishness and living comfortably with more than one identity. It should not be about competing identities or pitting identities against each other, because for example, to be Scottish is also to be British, and you cannot have Britishness without Scottishness.

     Emphasis must be made on shared history, culture, heritage, society, and values. There needs to be an inclusive approach which recognizes and respects the distinctiveness among the peoples the United Kingdom while also encouraging commonality and cohesiveness.

     In effect, this effort must answer the following questions:

“Who is British?”

“What’s good about Britain and why should it exist?”

“What’s the UK’s purpose at home and abroad?”, and

“What does it mean to be British in the 21st Century?”

     This will not be easy, but with a little work from the ground up – starting with individual, and eventually national, efforts – a stronger, positive, and confident British patriotic identity combined with a competent economic case can be forged to withstand the forces of nationalism in the long-term.

St. David's Day

The Cross of Saint David

     Today is St. David's Day, and it is a national day of celebration in Wales.

     Saint David is the patron saint of Wales - one of the four patron saints of the British – or Anglo-Celtic – Isles (with the other ones being St. Andrew for Scotland, St. Patrick for Ireland, and St. George for England).

     He was born in Wales, and began his ecclesiastical career as a teacher and preacher, and he became widely known throughout the Celtic world. David would go on to found monastic settlements in Brittany, Cornwall, and his native country. There, he established a Celtic monastic community at Glyn Rhosyn in Pembrokeshire, where St. David's Cathedral stands today. Among his well-known miracles was that of causing the ground to rise into a small hill at the spot where he had preached before a large crowd in the town of Llanddewi Brefi, and he eventually became a bishop.

Stained-glass window featuring St. David at the Jesus College Chapel, Oxford. Image Credit: Self via Wikimedia Commons cc

     He is often portrayed with a dove, which represents the Holy Spirit that gifted David with eloquent speaking. St. David lived by example, and had a simple lifestyle which included refraining from meat and alcohol, engaging in prayer, and disavowing personal possessions. During his final sermon, he told his followers:

"Be joyful, and keep your faith and your creed. Do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about. I will walk the path that our fathers have trod before us."

     At the time of his death on March 1, 589, he was said to be 90-100 years of age, and was buried at the cathedral that bore his name, where a shrine was erected. The shrine was vandalized by Viking invaders, but was rebuilt in 1275, though its decorative elements were stripped during the Protestant Reformation. In 2012, the shrine of St. David was restored again, and rededicated on the patron saint's day that year.

The Red Dragon of Wales

     Commemorations for St. David's Day go back several centuries, but it was not until 2000 that the devolved National Assembly for Wales unanimously voted to make it a public holiday, though it is not a bank holiday where most people officially have the day off - making it one of two patron saint days in the UK which is not a bank holiday (with the other one being St. George's Day in England).

     Parades are held throughout Wales in commemoration of St. David's Day, and the largest of these take place in the Welsh capital city of Cardiff, which is usually attended by the monarch of the United Kingdom or the Prince of Wales.

Charles , Prince of Wales on a visit to Wales. Image Credit: Peter Broster via Flickr cc

     In addition, people take part in eisteddfodau - a Welsh festival of literature, music, dance, and performance - and some of the Welsh regiments in the British Army conduct a military tattoo. Furthermore, castles and other significant heritage sites in Wales are usually open to the public, including Cardigan and Caernarfon castles. There is also the annual St. David's Day Run in Cardiff, which helps to raise money for local charities, and this year, there was a PugFest in Bridgend which featured a dog show, doggie dash, face painting, and other activities.

     Celebrations of the day often include the use of Welsh emblems, such as the leek and daffodil, the Welsh flag featuring the Red Dragon, and the flag bearing the cross of St. David - a gold cross against a black field. Some children as well as adults wear traditional costumes from the 18th and 19th centuries which feature Welsh flannel petticoats and waistcoats, tall hats, wool long socks, and frilled bonnets. There is also the custom of confectioners producing "Taffies" – gingerbread figures baked in the shape of a Welshman riding a goat.

St. David's Day celbrations in Cardiff BAy. Image Credit:  lilo Lil via Wikimedia Commons CC

     In the United States, celebrations such as these may be found in areas with significant numbers of Welsh expats and/or Americans of Welsh descent, particularly Ohio, Idaho, and Pennsylvania. Going further, it is celebrated throughout the world - from South America, continental Europe, and the Middle East.

     Here's to the celebration of one of the United Kingdom's patron saints.

     Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus! Happy St. David's Day!