Last September, when it seemed possible that the United Kingdom might be torn asunder, many people wondered why the Scots had become consumed with such bile towards the English. We looked back to the time when the Scots played such a proud part in that “all-British team” that had more impact on the world than any nation in history. Scotland led everyone in shipbuilding, had a major chemical industry and great coalfields. It produced world-class philosophers, scientists, engineers, writers. Scots played a key part in our Armed Forces and in running the greatest empire in the world. Of the 44 presidents of the USA, 17 had Ulster-Scottish blood.
But today much of that glory has departed. The Scots have turned in on themselves, becoming petty, sour and envious. Alex Salmond may have his absurd dreams of a Scotland that can somehow “go it alone”, disfigured by thousands of useless windmills, dependent on North Sea oil just when its value is plummeting and it is fast running out. But this once clever politician looked increasingly like little more than an inflated Third World bullfrog, as he presided over that joke of a “government”.
The reason why the Scots have come to this pass is that their once-proud nation has become a sad provincial backwater. They have lost their self-respect. Yet it is this unhappy people, once our admired and cherished fellow countrymen, who may next year play a crucial part in deciding how England is governed.
