Since when have Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland been insignificant?
Why are the parties of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland referred to as small parties when the possibility of a Lib/Lab pact containing other non English parties is mentioned. These parties aren’t small they are significant parties representing major elements of our national identity.
You also hear the argument that they would insist on less budget cuts than will be faced in England as their price for cooperation. Of course they would. That is, after all, part of the national deal that underpins the modern Union.
Centuries ago England acquired the other nation states of Britain in a rather old fashioned and direct kind of way that is mercifully no longer acceptable. That reality shaped a by-and-large communal culture, language and outlook. That is not to say there are significant differences. There are.
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If you think about it though, isn’t the idea of a Lib / Lab coalition a golden opportunity to reconnect the politics of Britain in the largest sense?
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But is that the only reason that keeps the Union together in the 21’st century? Of course not. It is also held together with the unwritten promise that the wealthiest of all British nationalities, England, would provide protection for the smaller populated Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. All they would therefore be asking for in a coalition would be a reinforcement of this understanding in these most uncertain economic times.
If you think about it though, isn’t the idea of a Lib / Lab coalition a golden opportunity to reconnect the politics of Britain in the largest sense. For decades the rule of the country by one single minority party after another has meant that politics in general has been distorted by the English marginals that make the first past the post system tick.
This then could be the chance to move our collective national politics forward.
By Mark in History
The Tory Party is not really a national party.
Why are the parties of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland referred to as small parties when the possibility of a Lib/Lab pact containing other non English parties is mentioned. These parties aren’t small they are significant parties representing major elements of our national identity.
You also hear the argument that they would insist on less budget cuts than will be faced in England as their price for cooperation. Of course they would. That is, after all, part of the national deal that underpins the modern Union.
Centuries ago England acquired the other nation states of Britain in a rather old fashioned and direct kind of way that is mercifully no longer acceptable. That reality shaped a by-and-large communal culture, language and outlook. That is not to say there are significant differences. There are.
________________________________________
If you think about it though, isn’t the idea of a Lib / Lab coalition a golden opportunity to reconnect the politics of Britain in the largest sense?
________________________________________
But is that the only reason that keeps the Union together in the 21’st century? Of course not. It is also held together with the unwritten promise that the wealthiest of all British nationalities, England, would provide protection for the smaller populated Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. All they would therefore be asking for in a coalition would be a reinforcement of this understanding in these most uncertain economic times.
If you think about it though, isn’t the idea of a Lib / Lab coalition a golden opportunity to reconnect the politics of Britain in the largest sense. For decades the rule of the country by one single minority party after another has meant that politics in general has been distorted by the English marginals that make the first past the post system tick.
This then could be the chance to move our collective national politics forward.
By Mark in History
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