France - UK Union : England Scotland breakup? ; Franco-British

Divorce fears cloud 300th anniversary of England-Scotland union --Yahoo! News

by Lachlan Carmichael Sun Jan 14, 4:27 AM ET

LONDON (AFP) - Talk of divorce is clouding the anniversary this coming week of the union between England and Scotland.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, tipped to become the next British prime minister, warned Saturday against a "Balkanization of Britain" beset by separatist leanings within not only its national but also its new immigrant communities.

Such sentiments have long stirred in Scotland and Wales as well as in the complex sectarian case of Northern Ireland but they are now spreading to England, the union's political and economic anchor.

With soccer long a barometer of national sentiments, England team fans have in the last decade caught up with the Scots and Welsh by dropping the Union flag in favor of their own national banner at all international games.

And in the last few months, at least two opinion polls have shown majorities in both Scotland and England backing independence.

University of Hull politics lecturer Simon Lee said that he believes that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is nearing the Rubicon on the way to breakup, possibly within a decade.

"I think it's going to come a lot sooner than people imagine," Lee told AFP. However, he said it would resemble more the "velvet divorce" of Czechoslovakia, rather than a violent Balkan-style meltdown.

Most other analysts took the trends seriously but thought any split was a long way off, doubting whether people in Scotland, let alone England, were ready to vote in a referendum for independence.

Nonetheless, in what the analysts say is a reflection of the uncertain mood, the 300th anniversary on Tuesday is due to pass with little public fanfare.

It was on January 16, 1707 that the Act of Union passed, merging the English and Scottish parliaments and paving the way for the new country of Great Britain, which is celebrated on May 1.

Brown, a Scot, held up a unified Britain as a model for an interdependent world because it united various national, racial, ethnic and religious groups around the shared values of liberty, democracy and social responsibility.

The chancellor of the exchequer told Britons that they are "stronger together and weaker apart" as he called for preserving the union in The Daily Telegraph newspaper and at a conference later in London.

His plea for unity also included his governing Labour Party's reversal on multiculturalism, which it now fears has promoted separate identities within new immigrant communities, such as Muslims of south Asian origin.

The Daily Mail on Friday found that 48 percent of the English and 51 percent of the Scots want a split, with 39 percent disapproving in England and 36 percent in Scotland.

Twelve per cent in England and 14 percent in Scotland do not know.

The poll underscores a potential threat to both Brown's and his governing Labour Party's fortunes.

Many voters in England see Brown as too Scottish to take over from Tony Blair, who has promised to step down as prime minister by September, after 10 years at the helm.
Brown's comments clearly also have in view May's elections to the devolved Scottish Parliament, which was re-established by his Labour Party in 1999.

Opinion polls suggest that the Scottish National Party, which campaigns for full Scottish independence, could surge embarrassingly ahead of Labour, currently in charge in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

Many English voters also resent Scots for getting the best of both worlds.
Brown and several other Scots serve in top-flight national politics in London and people back in Scotland receive a larger share of tax money for public services than those in England.

English voters are unhappy with an anomalous constitutional situation in which Scottish lawmakers can continue to vote on English issues at Westminster but their English colleagues have no say on policy north of the border.

The Scottish Parliament controls policy in Scotland over issues such as health and education, but lawmakers in London retain control over such things as defense, foreign affairs and major economic issues.

Brown accused the opposition Conservative party of "playing fast and loose" with the union with a proposal to remedy the anomaly by excluding Scottish lawmakers from voting on laws affecting only English voters.

George Foulkes, a Labour member of the unelected House of Lords in London, told AFP he is "genuinely concerned" about the rise of separatist sentiment as his party mounts a vigorous campaign for seats in the Scottish parliament.

He also admitted he could not be sure whether Labour's policy of devolution had actually sharpened rather than blunted the appetite for independence.

However, he said he believes that opinion polls reflected various political frustrations in both Scotland and England rather than a majority push for independence on both sides of the border.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070114/wl_uk_afp/britainscotland


-AFP



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Brown warns of threat to England-Scotland union --Yahoo! News

Sat Jan 13, 5:01 AM ET

LONDON (AFP) - Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, widely tipped to become the next prime minister, has warned of a "dangerous drift" towards the separation of England and Scotland, 300 years after the two were united.

Brown outlined a "patriotic vision for our country's future" and warned against the "Balkanisation of Britain" in an article in the Daily Telegraph Saturday.

The Chancellor's comments are likely to be seen as evidence of his concern that English voters see him as too Scottish to take over from Tony Blair, who is due to leave Downing Street this year.

"It is now time for supporters of the union to speak up, to resist any drift towards a Balkanisation of Britain and to acknowledge Great Britain for the success it has been and is: a model for the world of how nations can not only live side by side, but be stronger together but weaker apart," he wrote.

The article comes days before the January 16 anniversary of the 1707 Act of Union, which merged the English and Scottish parliaments and effectively created Great Britain.

Brown clearly also has in view May's elections to the devolved Scottish Parliament, which was re-established by his Labour Party in 1999.

Opinion polls suggest that the Scottish National Party, which campaigns for full Scottish independence, could surge embarrassingly ahead of Labour, currently in charge in a coalition with the Liberal Democrats.

Brown expressed regret that "opportunist" opposition politicians were highlighting the attractions of division.

It was "ironic" that this was happening "just as we are waking from a once-fashionable view of multiculturalism", he said.

This view had "over-emphasised separateness at the cost of unity", he added.

As well as resenting the number of Scots in top-flight politics at Westminster, many English voters express frustration with the so-called West Lothian Question.

This encapsulates the constitutional situation where Scottish lawmakers can continue to vote on English issues at Westminster but their English colleagues have no say on policy north of the border.

The Scottish Parliament controls policy in Scotland over issues such as health and education, but lawmakers in London retain control over, for example, defence and foreign affairs.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070113/wl_uk_afp/britainscotlandpolitics_070113100155


-AFP


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Last Updated: Monday, 15 January 2007, 02:40 GMT

When Britain and France nearly married --BBC News

By Mike Thomson
Presenter, Document



The major event of the year was the Suez episode


Formerly secret documents unearthed from the National Archives have showed Britain and France considered a "union" in the 1950s.

On 10 September 1956 French Prime Minister Guy Mollet arrived in London for talks with his British counterpart, Anthony Eden.

These were troubled times for Mollet's France. Egypt's President Gamel Abdel Nasser had nationalised the Suez Canal and, as if that was not enough, he was also busy funding separatists in French Algeria, fuelling a bloody mutiny that was costing the country's colonial masters dear.

Monsieur Mollet was ready to fight back and he was determined to get Britain's help to do it.

Formerly secret documents held in Britain's National Archives in London, which have lain virtually unnoticed since being released two decades ago, reveal the extraordinary proposal Mollet was about to make.

The following is an extract from a British government cabinet paper of the day. It reads:

"When the French Prime Minister, Monsieur Mollet was recently in London he raised with the prime minister the possibility of a union between the United Kingdom and France."

Mollet was desperate to hit back at Nasser. He was also an Anglophile who admired Britain both for its help in two world wars and its blossoming welfare state.

There was another reason, too, that the French prime minister proposed this radical plan.

Tension was growing at this time along the border between Israel and Jordan. France was an ally of Israel and Britain of Jordan. If events got out of control there, French and British soldiers could soon be fighting each other.
With the Suez issue on the boil Mollet could not let such a disaster happen.


Secret document

So, when Eden turned down his request for a union between France and Britain the French prime minister came up with another proposal.

This time, while Eden was on a visit to Paris, he requested that France be allowed to join the British Commonwealth.

A secret document from 28 September 1956 records the surprisingly enthusiastic way the British premier responded to the proposal when he discussed it with his Cabinet Secretary, Sir Norman Brook.

It says: "Sir Norman Brook asked to see me this morning and told me he had come up from the country consequent on a telephone conversation from the prime minister who is in Wiltshire.

"The PM told him on the telephone that he thought in the light of his talks with the French:
• "That we should give immediate consideration to France joining the Commonwealth
• "That Monsieur Mollet had not thought there need be difficulty over France accepting the headship of her Majesty
• "That the French would welcome a common citizenship arrangement on the Irish basis"

Seeing these words for the first time, Henri Soutou, professor of contemporary history at Paris's Sorbonne University almost fell off his chair.

Stammering repeatedly he said: "Really I am stuttering because this idea is so preposterous. The idea of joining the Commonwealth and accepting the headship of Her Majesty would not have gone down well. If this had been suggested more recently Mollet might have found himself in court."


Textbooks

Nationalist MP Jacques Myard was similarly stunned on being shown the papers, saying: "I tell you the truth, when I read that I am quite astonished. I had a good opinion of Mr Mollet before. I think I am going to revise that opinion.

"I am just amazed at reading this because since the days I was learning history as a student I have never heard of this. It is not in the textbooks."

It seems that the French prime minister decided to quietly forget about his strange proposals.

No record of them seems to exist in the French archives and it is clear that he told few other ministers of the day about them.

This might well be because after Britain decided to pull out of Suez, the battle against President Nasser was lost and all talk of union died too.

Instead, when the EEC was born the following year, France teamed up with Germany while Britain watched on. The rest, it seems, is history.


Document's A Marriage Cordial will be broadcast on Radio 4 at 2000 GMT on Monday.




Really I am stuttering because this idea is so preposterous

Henri Soutou
Historian

We could have been a considerable force today had we gone ahead with a union
Daniel Cook, UK


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6261885.stm