Spectator letters: In defence of the EU, the Welsh and Mary Wakefield

Breaking the unions

Sir: By the time this letter appears we shall know whether the land of my birth has separated from the land of my life. I hope not. But is there not an uncanny parallel between the rise of the Scottish desire to quit England and the English desire to quit Europe? The same arguments about control from a city outside the nation; about elites and technocrats dictating to and imposing upon a sturdy independent people; the belief that outside the union (with England, with European partners) a radiant future beckons; endless columns, pamphlets and books explaining why rule from London/Brussels must be overthrown; and a charismatic, one-liner leader worshipped by his followers and given uncritical support by the BBC and other media. For 25 years the Scots have been told with increasing intensity that union with England is a bad thing, and the English have been told that being in Europe is like being ‘shackled to a corpse’, to use Douglas Carswell’s metaphor.