There is a way to fight the breakup of the Union—but kneejerk nationalism isn't it

In Britain, fears that the United Kingdom could unravel have become the subject of increasingly urgent discussion. Unionists have begun to wake up to the fact that the ‘union’ as they know it could be on the verge of collapse, as a united Ireland and an independent Scotland—once dismissed by many as fantasies—now appear to be distinct possibilities within the next few decades.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued a grave warning last weekend, as he cautioned that the union is “sleepwalking into oblivion” due to “destructive nationalist ideology”, concluding that “we are, at best, only a precariously United Kingdom”.

The 2014 Scottish independence referendum saw 45 per cent of voters back Scotland becoming an independent country, while 55 per cent backed remaining in the UK. Although a defeat for Scottish nationalists, the referendum made apparent the depth of feeling and precariousness of Scotland’s future within the UK.

Since the Brexit referendum, many Scottish nationalists have felt their cause has been further buoyed by the fact that Scotland voted to Remain but now faces being “dragged out” of the EU on the insistence of England and Wales.

In Northern Ireland, the question of whether to remain in the UK is much more complex, as the topic is defined by ethno-national lines and bears the legacy of the recent Troubles conflict. However, for many there, Brexit has reopened the thorny issue of Irish reunification.

Polling has suggested that 56 per cent of people in Northern Ireland would back a united Ireland if a hard border is erected on the island of Ireland. Many in the region, which like Scotland voted to Remain, feel a bitterness that they are being “forced” out of the EU.

Added to this, many in the Catholic/nationalist community feel that the DUP’s increasingly hard-line approach to elements of Irish identity such as the Irish language has reiterated to them that their identity can never been fully respected while Northern Ireland remains in the UK.

As discussions around the future of the UK continue, those who wish for Scotland and Northern Ireland to remain in “the union” have perhaps a few more years to articulate why—before it is too late. However, this relies on political unionism having enough self-awareness to recognise its own contradictions and limitations.

Last week, a new All Party Parliamentary Group at Westminster on “protecting the union” was announced. Chaired by the DUP MP Emma Little Pengelly, the group will include MPs as well as Peers who “have come together to fight for and make the case for our union.”

The announcement came on the heels of a new initiative by the Policy Exchange think tank to “strengthen the union.”

Dubbed “the patriotic charter”, proposals include making Remembrance Day a bank holiday, allowing flags on car number plates and a feasibility study into a bridge between the island of Ireland and Britain. The charter has been backed by politicians including DUP leader Arlene Foster.

Engaging in British nationalism and merely attempting to tie the union Jack tighter around the UK will only backfire. Such identity politics will merely alienate many in Scotland and Northern Ireland by pushing a simplistic and cartoonish concept of Britishness onto them.

Including them should not involve the superimposition of a British identity upon them, but rather better reflection of and respect for Scottish culture and the culture of Northern Ireland’s Catholic/nationalist community.

Particularly in Northern Ireland, where British soldiers stand accused of killing many innocent—primarily Catholic—civilians during the Troubles, mandatory marking of Remembrance Day will likely cause considerable ill feeling towards Westminster rather than a greater sense of Britishness.

Furthermore, identity politics such as festooning car number plates with flags amounts to mere superficial tinkering with the national questions and instead ignores the bigger structural ways in which Scotland and Northern Ireland have come to feel undermined and ignored by Westminster.

These include the imposition of Brexit, successive right-wing Conservative governments who have implemented austerity and generations of politicians in Downing Street who have expressed little interest in or awareness of life outside England.

Increased spending in areas of socio-economic disadvantage in both Scotland and Northern Ireland, and a cultural shift in London towards seeing both as equal partners instead of afterthoughts, would do far more to make the case for the union than flimsy gesture politics.

Those who support the existence of the United Kingdom are right to be concerned about its future. But as the union disintegrates before them, merely wrapping the Union Jack around it tighter will not be enough to protect it and may only accelerate its unravelling.