Leaving the EU is straining the union with Scotland
A government led by Boris Johnson would be even less appealing to Scots
GORDON BROWN is doing a much better job of being an elder statesman than he did of being prime minister. A man who was seen as a failure in office has transmogrified into a widely respected figure. In April he delivered an electrifying speech on the shame of anti-Semitism in his Labour Party. This week he was at it again. He warned that “the union is today more at risk than at any time in 300 years—and more in danger than when we had to fight for it in 2014 during a bitter Scottish referendum.” He added that there was more at stake than just the unity and integrity of a country. Also on the line is a collection of values—“tolerance, respect for diversity, being outward-looking”—which are embodied in the United Kingdom and now threatened by various competing, narrow nationalisms. He is right on all counts.
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “The other union”
Britain June 29th 2019
- The front line of England’s NHS is being reinvented
- Boris Johnson, Britain’s first French prime minister?
- The search for ways to keep the Irish border open after Brexit
- A rare peep at the finances of Britain’s 0.01%
- Seeking students and status, regional universities set up in London
- How Welshmen went from mining coal to pumping iron
- Leaving the EU is straining the union with Scotland
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