In the end, democracy came to the rescue, and the people of Scotland voted by a comfortable margin to remain part of the UK. Still, the country's identity has been fractured, perhaps beyond repair, and things will never be quite the same again.
LONDON – In the end, democracy came to the rescue. The people of Scotland voted by a comfortable margin of about 10% to remain part of the United Kingdom – not least because of the campaigning of three Labour politicians, Alastair Darling, Gordon Brown, and Jim Murphy.
At times, it seemed that the result would be much closer, or even that we British might engineer the dismemberment of our country, which for centuries has brought together four national communities: England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. The Scots have been part of the British state for more than 300 years, at the heart of the Protestant, imperial, adventuring, outward-looking culture that forged Britain’s identity. Still, that identity has been fractured; I hope not beyond repair. In any case, things will never be quite the same again.
Now, the people of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland – not rejected, after all – must behave as well as possible to salvage something workable from the sometimes bitter and divisive arguments. We have to display magnanimity – a difficult enough virtue to practice at the best of times. Before trying to rise to this challenge, what can we learn from this walk along the cliff edge?
LONDON – In the end, democracy came to the rescue. The people of Scotland voted by a comfortable margin of about 10% to remain part of the United Kingdom – not least because of the campaigning of three Labour politicians, Alastair Darling, Gordon Brown, and Jim Murphy.
At times, it seemed that the result would be much closer, or even that we British might engineer the dismemberment of our country, which for centuries has brought together four national communities: England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. The Scots have been part of the British state for more than 300 years, at the heart of the Protestant, imperial, adventuring, outward-looking culture that forged Britain’s identity. Still, that identity has been fractured; I hope not beyond repair. In any case, things will never be quite the same again.
Now, the people of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland – not rejected, after all – must behave as well as possible to salvage something workable from the sometimes bitter and divisive arguments. We have to display magnanimity – a difficult enough virtue to practice at the best of times. Before trying to rise to this challenge, what can we learn from this walk along the cliff edge?