(Updated) SNP Ekes Out a Win in Scotland
The Scottish National party appears to have pulled off an historic coup and has overturned Labor’s 50 year dominance of Scottish politics, clearing the way for a referendum on independence.
The SNP became the largest single party in the Scottish parliament, winning 47 seats to Labor’s 46, while the Conservatives won 17 seats and the Liberal Democrats 16. Other parties won three seats.
The outcome of the outcome parliamentary election had been in doubt because of widespread reports of problems.
Election officials said that the problems, which included 100,000 paper ballots being spoiled, some absentee ballots not arriving in time and electronic counting being halted in several close races because of glitches – was a “cock up†and not a “conspiracy,†but the Tories wee predictably miffed.
As reported here yesterday, at the heart of calls for a referendum on independence – which a vast majority of Scots tell pollsters that they favor and would be a logical result of an SNP victory — is a renewed sense of Scottish nationalism and deep dislike of being taxed and ruled by politicians in London.
The English are bitterly unhappy about a possible Scottish secession and say that it would be disastrous economically. Beyond that argument is a deep-rooted feeling that the union of England and Scotland is a primary reason for Britain’s greatness. Scots and English alike once considered themselves British first, but that is no longer the case for many if not most Scots.
More here.
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Perhaps we should soon expect to see some crates of Earl Grey floating about Tobermory Harbor!
Just a passing thought: I wonder if the rise in nationalism in some parts of the world is related at all to the rising anti-globalization feelings.
The Left has decried nationalism for decades, unless it’s politically correct (or a corruption of the concept happens to be politically correct). So does the Left think this nationalism is politically correct and deserving of support? Blair did support the war in Iraq, after all.
> rise in nationalism in
> some parts of the world
You probably have Latin America on your mind.
Go Quebec! Let’s parse all oss territories and reassemble them better.
DLS-
Unlike yours, my world is not divided between the Right and Left as different species.
In my world, I note that people seem to need to identify with a familiar group. The debate about immigration is partially fueled, I believe, by the fear that the group to which some ar linked emotionally is changing. and this leads to feeling that one’s identity is being threatened.
In a global world, one becomes an ever tinier speck.
A nation is smaller and easier to feel a part of.
This, alien as it may be to you, is not a political observation. Nor is it an evaluation of what’s bad and good. It’s certainly not a prescription for the future.
It’s simply a passing observation on the changing world.
————
Cosmo-
I don’t get what your comment means. How does this relate to Scotland’s nationalism?
> Unlike yours, my world
> is not divided between
> the Right and Left as
> different species.
Many on the Left see it that way, even if you and I do not.
> Go Quebec!
I wouldn’t have a problem with this at all.
Even fracturing this nation (USA) into more than one would make perfect sense. This continent is not homogeneous.