Writer and architect Jamie Blairford says Yessers should consider how Scots abroad can aid the independence cause
I REPORT from deep in Conservative-Ukip (ConKip) territory, where I live and work, in exile, wondering what the future holds for my relationship with Scotland.
Homeland-based Scots may well ask what any of this has to to with those of us who have left, when it is those who have stayed behind that have fought and made progress for a better future for the country, rather than just up sticks for a better life elsewhere.
Well, there are vast numbers of us in the Scottish diaspora, who take a close interest, and who may be useful allies in the future, so we may be worth connecting with, but more of that later.
I, like my father and grandfather before me, left Scotland in tough times, to find work and a future that Scotland could not offer me at the time, like so many others before.
I, like my father and grandfather before me, left Scotland in tough times, to find work and a future that Scotland could not offer me at the time, like so many others before.
My father and grandfather both ended up fighting in world wars before returning to the homeland. I was spared a war, but set up a business and established a family, making it much more difficult to do the same, so now I get north when I can, and keep in touch with its current affairs through online news media.
Living and working in ConKip land has meant that I have long had to suppress my Scottish left of centre political views, despite the constant irritation of being assumed to be a Tory.
With that being the natural state of affairs, any other point of view being beyond comprehension, until, at least, the emergence of Ukip. I have many good friends and colleagues who hold these views as naturally as I hold mine, but you learn to just sidestep political issues.
This was particularly important during the indyref when I was constantly pressed for a view, or interpretation, of what it was all about, but found a way to be non committal, despite my leanings to independence.
Giving that away would have been tantamount to saying I was anti English, in their minds, although I took every possible opportunity to at least educate where total ignorance of Scotland, its culture and history, was universal.
The ConKips seem to have already priced into their market the departure of Scotland and possibly other parts of the UK, generally viewed as benefits burdens on the English in any case.
I still get asked regularly about Nicola Sturgeon – "the little Krankie", as they insultingly refer to her. "She must really hate the English," I’m regularly told, and I try to make them understand that its Westminster that she and her supporters hate, not the English themselves.
The falling price of oil was seen to be an end of the issue for them until Brexit brought it all back again.
The text has changed post Brexit. The indyref had at least managed to establish in southern minds that England and Great Britain, or the United Kingdom, were not synonymous, with "England" being used much more carefully. But since Brexit, it has all been about England again.
"We have got England Back again," or "We will make England great again", are phrases that are heard frequently, with a diminishing regard for what happens to the rest of the UK.
The ConKips seem to have already priced into their market the departure of Scotland and possibly other parts of the UK, generally viewed as benefits burdens on the English in any case. The place is turning in on itself in a most depressing way, becoming more extreme in its views, xenophobic, and with a completely unrealistic self image of being a great world power again, once released from the ties of the EU.
I used the think that the Daily Mail and its views were those of just another newspaper baron trying to plant his nasty prejudices on the public, but now I am starting the have to face the possible fact that the views of this hideous rag actually represent the, previously concealed, views of a substantial section of the English population.
This is quite uncomfortable to watch – Scots have spoken of the same uneasiness to the point where we are asking ourselves some questions about where we will stand after what is seen as an inevitable Scottish exit from the union.
Who knows what will come out of the post Brexit political chaos, but my guess is that Ukip will survive and model itself on the SNP as the go-to protest party, feeding off rightwing nationalism and the alienation of the English rust belt regions.
Politically it is, of course, far to the right of the competent centre left of the SNP, and could whip up some very nasty far right sentiment in communities desperate to get out of the neglected hole they are in.
This is quite uncomfortable to watch happening around you, and other Scots have spoken of the same uneasiness to the point where we are starting to ask ourselves some questions about where we will stand after what is seen as an inevitable Scottish exit from the union.
We do not even know, at this point, what our options on nationality would be. Will we be eligible to apply for Scottish citizenship or a Scottish passport? Will there be some sort of arrangement such as the Republic of Ireland has, with a joint nationality? What are the implications of a choice of nationality in the case of a split?
Some have talked about moving back to Scotland. Would this happen in some numbers and what impact would that have on housing availability and prices in Scotland. What about our children and their families who have grown up in England and who probably see themselves as more English than Scottish?
We do not even know, at this point, what our options on nationality would be. Will we be eligible to apply for Scottish citizenship or a Scottish passport?
Are families to be broken up, separated with a Schengen border? Those of us brought up with a Scottish background and communitarian view of politics finding ourselves locked in a rightwing, Tory country without a viable, balancing Labour Party, underpinned by the Scottish vote, may find ourselves in an increasingly uncomfortable political and social environment.
OK, many other Scottish exiles have probably ended up in much more uncomfortable political systems, so its not new, but it is for us, as it may be for those of us in the USA if Trump is elected.
I said I would turn back to the support an independent Scotland could get from the diaspora. Please don’t be put off by Donald Trump’s ham fisted attempts to invest in the land of his fathers, or mother, at least.
Like the Irish, I’m sure many exiled scots would like to see an independent homeland succeed. We have taken it for granted that Scots just have to leave their country to find a future, much as we hated to do it, but we would dearly love to see a Scotland that could provide futures for its own children, within its own borders. Yes, the wandering spirit of the Scot will always be there, but lets see an end to the necessity to leave, from the Clearances, right up to the present day.
The Irish have dipped into these feelings, unfortunately too often, for the funding of terrorism, but Scotland could do it for more positive outcomes. Perhaps there should be a Diaspora Investment Bank where exiles, like myself, could invest directly in the future of Scotland.
Perhaps there should be a Diaspora Investment Bank where exiles, like myself, could invest directly in the future of Scotland.
Look at the success crowdfunding has had for some Scottish companies, driven by goodwill from beyond its borders, as well as within. As an example, Scotland’s progress towards a fully sustainable fuel economy is impressive and I’m sure would draw investment from the diaspora to fund a move to make the country a world leader in the field.
The whole Brexit project smacks of a reversal of the disastrous Darien Project, which was also driven by trading block issues. England was the dominant power in international trade at the time and was excluding Scotland from the club, blockading any attempt for the Scots to trade with the huge, emerging, North American market which, as subsequent events proved, it was ideally placed to benefit from.
Scots were thus left with trying to set up their own colonial outpost on that continent, in Panama which, although a good idea, turned out a disaster. With the country effectively bankrupt following the losses, the elite saw no option but to go fully into union with England to get access to trade. The original move into the UK Union was therefore substantially about access to trading blocks which Scotland subsequently made a huge success of.
Now it is England which is withdrawing from the EU, a huge trading block, leaving itself on the outside, trying to find its own misty-eyed dream of a Darien Project, and threatening to take Scotland with it.
We exiles will not have a vote in an indyref 2, but we will take a close interest in its outcome and will do whatever we can to support Scotland should it take the independence route.
The key benefit to Scotland of the original UK union, i.e. access to a huge trading block, is now being seriously threatened, while the continued membership of the EU gives it all the benefits of the original UK union. This means independence first, of course, but we are simply doing it to retain the position established in the original UK.
We exiles will not have a vote in an indyref 2, but we will take a close interest in its outcome and will do whatever we can to support Scotland should it take the independence route. Should Scotland leave the UK, those of us in ConKip territory should also prepare ourselves for the current, condescending curiosity about Scotland turning into something far more hostile.
This will increase even more as international businesses move their activities north of the border to retain their EU links.
Picture: CommonSpace
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