The Flowering of Scotland

"Voltaire asserted: "We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation." Obviously, he'd never seen Sauchiehall Street on a Saturday night, but the point is well made."

"We don't take foreign money": That's the response a Scots relative received when he presented a Royal Bank of Scotland £20 note at a Bridlington fish & chip shop. He replied with profanity and something about 'Remember Bannockburn'. Such episodes do nothing to foster the 'Union'. For the record, Scottish notes are legal tender in England.

As if Brexit and Covid-19 wasn't enough, the United Kingdom is facing the prospect of a breakup. If Nichola Sturgeon, Scotland's First Minister, has her way, the path to Scottish independence is heaving into view this May. With Scottish parliamentary elections due, Sturgeon has said her party will hold an independence vote if it wins. And the polls show the majority of Scots want independence. By setting out her 11-point roadmap, Sturgeon seeks to bypass Boris Johnson's veto on the issue.

Until now, the serial adulterer Johnson failed to win over Sturgeon. And henceforth, saying 'no' to Scotland isn't going to work. Further, Johnson's blundering over Covid-19 has awarded Sturgeon a victory. She came across as a leader with vim, control and vision. In stark contrast, Johnson flip-flopped and proved incoherent at times. No matter that Scotland faired no better than England on deaths and Covid-19 cases, because wee Nichola looked superior. 

Many Tories are starting to believe that Sturgeon is the real opposition rather than the unfortunate Labour party. Last week, the Spectator magazine ran an article that Sturgeon is the biggest threat to Johnson's premiership. Things must be bad when she enjoys better poll ratings with English voters than Johnson.

Plus, we know that Johnson tends to ignore issues until the last minute. Thus sticking to a blocking approach amounts to drifting towards a constitutional crisis. And, as if the prospect of Scotland heading off isn't worrying enough, Northern Ireland is watching with interest. They may yet take a cue from Scotland. 

While Johnson managed to bluff his way through Brexit and Covid-19, his career is over unless he acts to safeguard the Union. The man who idolises Churchill may yet go down in history as a latter-day Chamberlain. Outflanked and outclassed by a savvy opponent.  

Let's not forget that Scotland produced the most astonishing array of philosophers, engineers and mathematicians. Voltaire asserted: "We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation." Obviously, he'd never seen Sauchiehall Street on a Saturday night, but the point is well made. 

Scotland gave birth to many ideas and innovations that transformed Britain and spread out into the world through the Enlightenment. That this all spilt forth from a population of just over a million in the 1700s is remarkable. In truth, much of this was possible because of the Union, which conferred stability and synergy (hate that word, but it fits the bill). 

As Boris appears incapable of forming a vision for the Union's future, and the SNP is in the ascendancy, is the die cast? What shape the independence will take is now the question.  

​Meanwhile, not all Scots welcome independence. Here is one delivering his opposition with some levity.