Divisions over independence and narrow nationalism are holding Scotland back – Susan Dalgety

There are echoes of Britain’s past around every corner in Skegness, some more recent than others. A fading flyer for Trevor’s vinyl night on 24 April clings forlornly to the bus shelter outside our caravan park.

A united kingdom? Andy Murray fans relax on Skegness beach watching him take part in the men's Wimbledon final in 2013 (Picture: SWNS)

“Join Trevor on his deck’s, spinning his Vinyl tunes from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s,” exhorts the homemade A4 poster, oblivious to the stray apostrophes. “Enjoy pie and mash with peas with great company first, then get your dancing shoes on,” it exclaims.

There is something ineffably poignant about the innocent fun promised by Trevor’s disco, cancelled no doubt by the global pandemic. “Will he make a comeback?” I wonder, as the bright pink Sweetie the Seasider bus comes to a halt.

F-U-N is spelt out on the back of the bus in pastel Love Hearts, but there was no room on the bus for us, thanks to Lincolnshire’s social distancing policy, so we walked into the town centre, towards its gaudy but truncated pier, damaged by a storm in 1978.

The smell of greasy burgers and chips assailed us before we got a whiff of the salty North Sea, which we have been following down from our home in Fisherrow in our trusty camper van after a much anticipated visit to France was postponed.

Another echo of our past drove majestically past us as we reached Skeggie’s famous clock tower. Elderly gentlemen on mobility scooters are commonplace in British seaside towns, but this chap had covered his with the (fake?) shell of Vespa scooter. Even Mods get old it seems.

But the most poignant remnant of years gone by was the large building next to our campsite. The painted sign above the ornate front door declared the ‘Derbyshire Miners Convalescent Home’, or it was until it closed recently.

Built in 1939, it provided sea air and home comforts for miners suffering from occupational diseases such as Black Lung. Today it lies empty as its new owners, a local family, contemplate what to do with their purchase.

“There was a Sogat (printers’ union) one in Ayr,” my friend Frank told me when I sent him a photograph. “And Brighton. Both gone now.” Like his union.

Trevor’s vinyl, mods and rockers, and the National Union of Mineworkers are faint whispers of our recent past, when people from across the UK were united in culture and class. When the big industrial trade unions fought for better conditions for their members, whether they worked in Fife or South Wales.

A time, not that long ago, when what drove politicians, Labour ones at least, was not national identity but securing economic justice for the people who built the British economy. A time when you could say you were British and not have ‘Yoonist’ spat at you; a time when solidarity was celebrated, not mocked for being naïve.

You may sneer at my nostalgia for a Britain some say is long gone, but as Barack Obama pointed out in his powerful speech to the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday evening, our past matters. “What we do echoes through the generations. Whatever our backgrounds, we’re all the children of Americans who fought the good fight. Great-grandparents working in firetraps and sweatshops without rights or representation... our ancestors.”

And we Scots, whether some of the more fundamentalist nationalists like it or not, are the product of our British ancestors.

Our British great-grandparents fought alongside each other in the terrible global wars of the 20th century; our British grandparents picketed together to win a living wage and safe working conditions for all, whether in Motherwell or Stoke.

The British National Health Service was created for everyone in the United Kingdom, and even today, Scotland’s NHS is funded from taxes gathered from across Britain and shared out according to need.

The United Kingdom may not be the country it once was, when the Beatles rocked the world, or Tony Blair heralded a new dawn, but Boris Johnson won’t last forever. He probably won’t make it to the next election. The Tories always cull their leaders once they become a liability, as even the “Blessed” Margaret Thatcher found out.

Just as Britain pioneered the first industrial revolution, its people – now more diverse and better educated than any time in our history – have the potential to be global leaders in the technological advances that will change our world beyond recognition. The future is ours to build.

But a new Britain will not be forged in the white heat of scientific revolution, to paraphrase Harold Wilson, if it remains divided. If the only political discussion that continues to dominate both Holyrood and Westminster is the constitution.

As Scotland’s economy plunges into its deepest recession in living memory, the headlines shriek, not of the damage this will wreak on the lives of millions of Scots, but instead about the date of a second independence referendum, and whether Scots living in Swindon will be able to vote. Instead of pressing the Scottish Government on its plans for economic renewal, the media breathlessly follows every twist and turn of the bitter battle between the two big beasts of the nationalist movement, Sturgeon and Salmond, as they circle each other, ready for the final skirmish that will end in one of their political deaths.

Imagine instead that we were truly united, the UK Government working with the administrations in Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff and the English regions, to build a better Britain, one where technology will transform health and education, mitigate the climate crisis, and create a dynamic modern economy, a new Britain, where all prosper, not just an elite.

Imagine if we lowered our flags, surrendered our narrow nationalism to progress. Imagine if we listened to the echoes of our ancestors and worked together, not against each other. Imagine a people’s union.

I think it is what most Scots really want. A YouGov poll published on Thursday showed that only 36 per cent of Scots believe leaving the UK is “one of the most important issues facing the country”.

More than half said the independence debate distracts from more important issues, like the economy and health. But is our current crop of political leaders listening, not just to the echo of our ancestors, but to the voices of today? Somehow, I doubt it.

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