Categories: uncategorized
Date: 16 January 2007 15:00:39
Today is the 300th birthday of Great Britain, though you wouldn't necessarily guess this.
It is the day when Scotland agreed to the Act of Union with the rest of the UK, including Ireland. The event that finally united the British Isles into one nation. Yet, apart from a new £2 coin, there is almost no official celebration. There is however much controversy over whether or not this was a "good thing" or a "bad thing" (as historical events were classed in 1066 and All That).
The weekend saw Gordon Brown telling us that Scotland would be far worse off on its own, as would Wales presumably. With elections in the Welsh and Scottish Assemblies due in April he was raising the spectre of the Scottish and Welsh independence parties. A vote for them is a vote for the end of civilised Britain as we know it, or so he and others suggest.
There is also a debate starting over the rights of Scottish MPs to vote on policies that don't affect them anymore, as Scotland has been granted law making powers of its own in several areas. English, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs are rightly excluded from these decisions. However the Scots still vote in Westminster on matters that affect the rest of the UK but not them.
This year is also the 50th Anniversary of the foundation of the European Union, or Economic Community as it was then. This is another event that is also unlikely to be widely celebrated in the UK.