First, the result, even though the Yes side was defeated, shows the power of national identity. After hundreds of years of being part of a larger state, almost half the population of Scotland voted for sovereignty, giving the lie to those who claim that peoples in liberal democracies, unlike oppressed minorities in brutal dictatorships, don’t need or want their own countries. (Are you listening, Stéphane Dion?)
Second, the leaders of the political parties at Westminster have promised the Scots “devo max” – greater devolved powers for the Scottish parliament. Scotland, like Quebec, will eventually become a virtual de facto state.
Third, with Scotland, and potentially Wales, becoming the equivalent of sub-units in a federation, with extensive powers, this will require completing the circle, so to speak. (Northern Ireland is a different matter altogether.)
The only unit in the United Kingdom now without its own legislature is England itself, a situation that needs to be rectified. There will have to be, as one commentator on the BBC put it, “English laws for English people.” English nationalism will grow, and “Britishness” will decline-
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Prince Arthur Herald
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