From the archives: Anglo-Scottish relations, 22 February, 1950

A treaty that has determined the relations of 
two countries for nearly 250 years has a prima facie claim to be regarded as a good settlement.

Thorough-going Scottish Nationalists may denounce the Treaty of 1707 as a surrender of Scotland’s independence, but a dispassionate scrutiny of the making, the terms, and the consequences of the Treaty indicates this sweeping verdict is unjustified. A contrary view has been taken by most historians. In the current debate on Scottish government the settlement of 1707 is frequently referred to, often without a clear idea of what was then achieved or of the circumstances which determined the Treaty. Yet there is no inconsistency in urging a moderate degree of devolution for Scotland, and at the same time, in regarding the 1707 Union as a statesmanlike solution for problems that then existed.

• archive.scotsman.com