§ 5. Political Preferences and National Parties 

1. What is the attitude of Scots towards independence? 

Scottish national feeling has continued to grow since 1945. In the late 1960s the Scottish National Party (SNP) began to attract serious support, and in 1974 won eleven of Scotland's seventy-one seats.

In 1979 the Scottish electorate failed to vote decisively for devolution, 32.9 per cent in favour (less than the required 40 per cent), 30.8 per cent against. As a result of Conservative government policy in the 1980s Scottish devolution is likely to take place. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was strongly hostile to devolution, unlike her predecessor, Edward Heath, who had proposed devolution to Scottish Conservatives in 1968. Heath had reco­gnised the significance of Scottish feeling.

In 1988 one opinion poll reported that 35 per cent of Scots wanted full independence. 42 per cent wanted a Scottish Parliament within Britain, and only 20 per cent wanted things to remain unchanged.

By 1992 another poll indicated that 50 per cent wanted independence, but it remained unclear whether this was a gesture of protest at an unrepre­sentative government in London, or indicated a genuine move towards inde­pendence.

In 1989 fifty Scottish Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs, leading Scot­tish churchmen and other community leaders met, significantly, in the Church of Scotland's General Assembly buildings in Edinburgh. Here they unanimously signed a ‘Claim of Right’: ‘We, gathered as the Scottish Constitutional Con­vention, do hereby acknowledge the sovereign right of the Scottish people to determine the form of government best suited to their needs, and do hereby declare and pledge that in all our actions and deliberations their interests shall be paramount. We further declare and pledge that our actions and delibera­tions shall be directed to the following ends: to agree a scheme for an Assem­bly or Parliament for Scotland; to mobilise Scottish opinion and ensure the approval of the Scottish people for that scheme; and to assert the right of the Scottish people to secure the implementation of that scheme.’ 

1. What influence can Scotland have on constitutional development of Great Britain? 

At a later meeting, a majority of the Scottish Labour Party voted in favour of the introduction of proportional representation. What happens in Scotland promises to be of constitutional significance for the rest of Britain. If proportional representation is used as the method of election, this is likely to influence more British (not only Scot­tish) Labour MPs to favour PR for the whole of the United Kingdom.

Finally, there is one more possible influence that Scotland may have on constitutional development. The basis of the English Constitution is the un­limited sovereignty and legal powers of the Crown in Parliament. This was the result of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, before the formal 1707 union with Scotland. In Scotland sovereignty resided in the community, in the will of the people. This was the great secular and democratic achievement of the Kirk. The Scots have never been as fond of the Crown as the English have. If the British people decide they need a Bill of Rights, it is possible that Scotland's constitutional view may prove as influential as the English one of the Crown in Parliament.

The latest opinion polls have shown the dominance of national idea in Scotland. The new Scottish parliament, the design and structure of which is supposed to be a replica of the British Parliament in London, is to be sum­moned in the nearest future.

Questions:

1. How strong is Scottish national feeling?

2. Why do you think many Scots resent the concentration of political power in London?

 3. What are the latest trends in the development of political situation in Scotland?

Additional Reading                           Prince Charles Edward Stewart

In 1707 a special treaty united the governments of Scotland and England. The Protestant Church replaced the Catholic Church as the ruling church in Scotland.

However, many people who lived in the Highlands and Western Isles did not welcome this change. They still supported the grandson of the Cath­olic James II, who had been exiled in 1688. His name was Prince Charles Edward Stewart and he was known as Bonnie Prince Charlie because he was young and handsome (‘bonnie’ means ‘good-looking’).

Charlie spent twenty years in Rome preparing to win back the Crown of Great Britain for his father and himself, and then returned to Scotland. The Highlanders were very proud that he still spoke Gaelic, and wore the traditional tartan kilt. In 1745, he landed in the Western Isles, then with 2,500 men, he marched south to Perth, Stirling and Edinburgh. There, on 17^th Sep­tember, his father was proclaimed King of Scotland and England. Four days later the Jacobites defeated the English army at Prestonpans.

On 1^st November Charlie led his men as far south as Derby in Eng­land. However not as many Jacobite supporters joined them in England as they had hoped, and Charlie decided to retreat. The Jacobites returned to Scotland and defeated yet another English army at Falkirk on 1^st January, 1746. By April of that year, however, the Duke of Cumberland had built up a huge army of 9,000 Protestant soldiers from England and Europe. On 16^th April they met Charlie's army of 5,000 tired and hungry men in the wind and the rain at Culloden. There was a terrible and bloody battle and Jacobites were defeated.

Charlie wandered in exile in the Scottish Highlands and in Europe. There was a reward of £30,000 for his capture but the Highlanders, though poor, never betrayed the man they loved so much.

After the rebellion of 1745, the Highlanders were forbidden to carry weapons, to speak their own language, Gaelic, or wear their own dress. Much of their land was sold by the British government.