The Scot Abroad

I've been looking forward to an opportunity to talk to one of my Scottish friends here in Ilkley for a while now. I've been quite keen to make a contribution to the #indyref project. It's not an easy thing to represent visually from here in England but as far as this exercise in citizen journalism is concerned I think it's important to offer some thoughts from south of the border.

Ewan here is a proud Scot. With his broad accent his identity as a Scotsman is unmistakeable but despite being thoroughly Scottish he has no vote in the referendum because he lives in England. It's odd that I know people here who are thoroughly English yet because they are temporarily studying for a degree at Edinburgh University they do actually get to have a say in the future of Scotland. That in itself begs rather interesting questions about national identity.

Given the chance, Ewan would vote no for independence but suspects that if he still lived in Scotland he might sway the other way. He feels that it should first and foremost be an emotional vote, not one based on economics, that people should vote based on how they feel in terms of their identity and then let the politicians work out the details once the decision is made. I can't help but feel the same way. It's far too important a decision to be made based upon whether it will put more or less money in your pocket.

From the outset I've wanted to see a no vote but it's not been easy to articulate the reasons why. I can perhaps best rationalise it in terms of the fact that I think of myself as more British than English. If I'm asked about my nationality my instinctive response is to say I'm British. I asked Ewan how he'd respond and he said that he'd always call himself Scottish first. I feel like Scotland, and Wales for that matter, are part of my national identity whereas the Scots, and I suspect the Welsh too, do not feel like England is part of their identity. Scotland becoming independent would in a way erode my Britishness.

We English struggle to define ourselves. The country is too big and simply too diverse. Throughout history there have been so many waves of immigration that it's become impossible to say definitively what it is to be English. It possibly means something different to each and every individual. Perhaps the only way to describe it is through that very diversity and inclusiveness. I believe the Scots feel a stronger sense of identity because the country is that much smaller in population. I asked eldest son tonight about whether he thought of himself as English or British and he responded by saying that he most closely identified with being a Yorkshireman. It does rather beg the question of whether an independent Yorkshire makes any less sense than an independent Scotland? In strictly economic terms they must be comparable.

If I can speak for Ewan, he feels distinctly Scottish in the context of also being British - just as my son feels distinctly a Yorkshireman in that same context. Like me, he finds it hard to embrace an English identity because it's so difficult to pin down what that means. Perhaps for me it ultimately comes down to geography. I have such an affinity with the Welsh and Scottish landscape that they feel like my homeland, every bit as much as the English landscape is. The borders are artificial. That's why I feel British first, and why I hope that we remain one nation. It's a shame that the vote hasn't been extended to those many people who were born in Scotland but are living away for economic reasons. If Ewan is typical I believe the no vote would be very much stronger.

NB It has rained almost all day and is still doing so. I took this shot on a brief visit to the Continental Market in Ilkley during the one little bit of respite we had from the weather all day.