Mike Small: Day to day, we didn’t exist. Yet all of a sudden, here we are
FOR those of us who believe in self-determination, the explosion of interest in the independence issue this past week has been enlightening. Scotland has emerged from the shadows. Radio news programmes with actual coverage of Scotland? “National” newspapers with the issue explored (often with wild inaccuracy and ridiculous analysis)? So what new territory is this in which we actually exist?
There is the idea that nations are born, or “imagined’ once they have been charted in books, plays and films. We had a good start inventing the novel itself (Scott) and with classics such as Kidnapped, this idea of a place that you named and could travel around and have a shared experience of has been seminal in shaping a shared cultural experience. We’re mapped. From Alasdair Gray’s Poor Things (1992) to Stephen Greenhorn’s “road movie for the stage” Passing Places (1997) and Alan Warner’s The Man Who Walks (2002) we have located ourselves. But day to day, in the Anglosphere, we don’t exist. Yet here, all of a sudden, we are.
First we have Nick Robinson framing the debate on “national” UK telly as Salmond v Cameron: “Have a referendum and we’ll take you to court.” Then we have Faisal Islam on the (normally better) Channel 4 News, who suggested it was unreasonable for the SNP to expect to take 90 per cent of the oil from the North Sea yet only 8.4 per cent of the UK’s total debt. The logic of which – if you haven’t followed it, because there isn’t any – is that either Scotland should take 90 per cent of the UK’s total debt or 8.4 per cent of North Sea Oil.
Confused? Well the London media are. Setting aside the foaming-at-the-mouth anti-Scottish outpourings of the Mail, Express and other outlets for off-the-leash Jock-Baiting – and the new manifestation on Twitter, it’s clear that we’re now entering a feeding frenzy of disinformation, misinformation and propaganda. At the start of the week, Patrick Wintour writing in the Guardian seemed to be re-producing Tory press releases: “Salmond has been talking about holding a referendum to coincide with the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn (1314)”, a claim which had no basis whatsoever but neatly allowed Danny Alexander and Michael Forsyth to raise the straw man of Bannockburn.
But there’s another element to the new reality than having an awkward presence on the media landscape. There’s an indignant confidence growing. How did this happen? I think you can chart it not just from the very same Forsyth’s botched efforts to pass off rising nationalist sentiment by returning the Stone of Destiny in 1996, but from the Stone’s liberation in 1950 to Sheena Wellington’s rendition of A Man’s A Man For A’ That at the opening of the Scottish Parliament. We’ve shifted from stone to song, from something solid, static, a sort of relic of ourselves to something capable of song and movement. Something in flow. The independence movement is in flow and the problem for the British State and its supporters is that they represent something dead, inert and static.
The very idea of Britain has died between 1950 and today, and it will take more than Pippa Middleton’s bottom, Seb Coe’s (eye-wateringly expensive) running track and yet another bloody Jubilee to revive interest in the notion. Scotland means possibility whilst Britain seems more and more like a chintzy idea from the 1950s, where only Kirstie Allsop belongs. This week there’s hope for the future.
• Mike Small is editor of the politics blog Bella Caledonia and secretary of the Scottish Independence Convention
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Comments
There are 25 comments to this article
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footdee
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 08:27 PMbannerfield Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 11:56 AM Mr Small exhibits all the insularity that tends to result in a nationalist outlook. ------------------Surely its the supporters of the British state who are insular,consider the atitude to Europe .Scottish nationalists want Scotland to join in the wider world its people like you who want a Scotland hidden away as a backward province
footdee
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at 08:23 PMbannerfield Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 12:31 PM #12 Believe it or not, the audience might not know much about the referendum because they're not that bothered and don't spend all day pondering nationalism. Like the rest of the world, they're probably a bit more concerned about what is going on in the global economy and what it means for them." ----------------------bannerfield if thats the case why are the unionist parties demanding a referendum now last year they said it was a distraction from the recession ,now the it cant come quick enough altough theres still a recession
Buford Van Stomm
Monday, January 16, 2012 at 11:14 AM"The very idea of Britain has died between 1950 and today" ==================================================== A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on. Ideas have endurance without death............................................................ - John F. Kennedy
Buford Van Stomm
Monday, January 16, 2012 at 11:11 AM"We had a good start inventing the novel itself" ==================================================== This type of rhetoric should not be printed without an editorial note advising of the absolute historical inaccuracy. It is a shameful day when a national newspaper allows such a perversion of the writings of thousands of years to be discounted for the shallow meanderings of an inarticulate oafish firebrand playing to the mob.
Buford Van Stomm
Monday, January 16, 2012 at 10:53 AMFor those of us who believe in self determination......... ==================================================== yes because anyone not supporting the snp is opposed to self determination.....what an insidious nasty wee article.
HMNP
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 11:25 PMRoytenn, The ScotsmanScotland on Sunday stance over the last decade has made it impossible for me to buy, they need to reflect the nation better instead of the snooty dismissive bourgeois stances they always take. It is totally counter productive to have a constant negative attack on Nationalists. It might suit the Gerry Fitt's in heavily anglicised Edinburgh but it ends up causing resentment. I have struggled to have a decent conversation with unionists as they always take a churlish negative approach so, you end up thinking, why bother! They would rather Scotland failed as an independent country (some attitude that) & that is why over time they will be on the losing side.
Scat Rabies
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 10:53 PMAnother dewy eyed bedroom philosopher speaks. I feel sorry for any person those who defines himherself solely by comparison with their neighbours , not exactly a positive state of mind when you think about it . Leave it to the rest of us Scots to take on the world for you and off to the pub to drown your sorrow , poor soul .
briteric
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 10:51 PMA positive article. Independence inevitable.
Tightfisted
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 08:14 PMIt's time to reinforce our ability to totally IGNORE the INGURlish elements of these posts in the various papers...........full to the brim with anti-Scottish bile and faarting thunderous noise without saying anything of value (for it was always such with many INGURs). NO....it is now time to reflect on the momentous decision the country gets nearer and nearer to, a decision to be approached with confidence...especially as we look south and see the perpetual mess the unionista parties have made of running this wonderful UK they drone on about. I'm simply satisfied by asking myself the question....for the future of my family and its hoped for generations to come.......after three hundred years of "Union"........................... .......IS THIS AS GOOD AS IT GETS WITH THE UNION???????
Taigh na Croiche
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 07:28 PM#15 - don't know about you but Bannockburn doesn't feature in my hopes for a progressive independent Scotland anymore than current - and also progressive - policy in Norway, Denmark and Sweden is dictated by the Sagas. All nations have their histories and they deserve attention. However, like Flower of Scotland says, its time to leave past battles in the past and move forward.
True Scot
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 02:31 PMcomes across as a poor man's Pat Kane so salmond would never ever ever invoke Bannockburn and the nats would never ever ever hold meeetings there. Sorry guys but it's time ot look to the future with devolved assemblies in the UK, not back to the middle ages with wee kingdoms sniping at each other
bannerfield
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 12:31 PM#12 Believe it or not, the audience might not know much about the referendum because they're not that bothered and don't spend all day pondering nationalism. Like the rest of the world, they're probably a bit more concerned about what is going on in the global economy and what it means for them.
thenightwillalwayswin
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 12:13 PMIt's not a case of hoping the Scotsman can provide a balanced view - It's now a case of them having no other option than to provide a balanced view incase of the risk of a backlash. You only have to look at the BBC Scotland page in the last two days to see this. Internet is powerful. MSM have used the scare tactics so much now that they fail to shock, and look silly. The investment uncertainty has made a mockery of our MSM. Happy Days :)
Il Penseroso
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 12:11 PM#11 bannerfield If you really want to hear "VAPID THINKING" tune into Any Answers (BBC Radio 4) on Saturday. The sheer ignorance of almost every respondent , including Dimbleby to the referendum debate astounded me. The knowledge and arrogance of many was hard to understand. Greed, narrow nationalism and self opinion were outstanding qualities expressed. I believe they reflected little of the sense and sensibility of most of our cousins across the border.On either side there are hotheads. Let the rest of us reach an honourable settlement. The British Press and I regret to say the BBC are contributing nothing to the debate other than self preservation.
bannerfield
Sunday, January 15, 2012 at 11:56 AMMr Small exhibits all the insularity that tends to result in a nationalist outlook. A view of the rest of Britain shaped from daytime TV and internet chat to people of the same view. Maybe a little more time in the real world and beyond your living room might help? The shift from "stone to song" is another classic case of nationalist vapid thinking. Let me think, would I like to see the dynamism in a Scotland, within the union, that created the New Town and West End. Or would I like to see Alex Salmond and Sandi Thom singing "Caledonia" and some saltire lapel badges. I'll take the solid stone option.
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