Is the United Kingdom Really 'United'?

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By Elaine Sanderson

With the added pressure of the coronavirus pandemic, the UK government has seen the union on the brink of a potential break up. Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has recently made a case for Scottish Independence. A poll conducted by YouGov suggested that support for Welsh independence is at an all-time high. Northern Ireland often gets left behind: a blunder by Amazon resulted in them claiming Northern Ireland wasn’t part of the UK. Is the English centric government to blame? Is England itself as broken as the rest of the union?

The first sign of a dent in the union was the Scottish independence referendum of 2014. The question was, “Should Scotland be an independent country?”, which could be answered either “Yes” or “No”. The electorate rejected independence by 55% to 45%. Scottish independence seemed settled and sidelined by the likes of Brexit. However, the pandemic and reactions from devolved governments have brought previous, unsettled issues to light. 

Nicola Sturgeon, who has maintained strong Scottish support for her handling of the pandemic, gestures in the Scottish Parliament. (PA Media)

Scotland’s coronavirus action plan - led by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon - has been stricter and stronger against combatting the virus, as opposed to the English government’s vague and loose approach. In Edinburgh, they conducted one of the world’s first drive-through testing centres. In summer, Scotland relaxed their lockdown in a step-by-step way. This differed from England’s rapid relaxation, said Sridhar in the New Scientist. According to YouGov, as of May 1, 74% of Scottish people believed their country had handled the pandemic well. In contrast, another YouGov poll found that 71% of Scots believed Nicola Sturgeon would make the right decisions, with only 40% having faith in Boris Johnson.

Scotland overwhelmingly voted to remain in the EU. Along with Northern Ireland, their vote didn’t impact the overall result for the UK. It begs the question, is there a point in being part of a union where your voice is ignored?

The same attitudes have spread to Wales. A recent YouGov poll shows increased support for independence, reported at its highest level. Evidentially, the Welsh attitude is changing. YesCymru, the group at the forefront of the independence movement, has seen increased membership over the last few months. When Westminster denied furlough support after Wales headed into their second lockdown, membership increased by more 10,000 in a fortnight. 

Sion Jobbins told the Sunday National: “At the start of the pandemic, the First Minister and the Health Minister would do their briefings with a Union Jack and a Welsh dragon in the background. Now it’s just the Welsh dragon. That’s significant.” Throughout the pandemic, it seems Wales has shifted slightly out of the central government’s grasp. When calls for a travel ban between England and Wales were made by Welsh First Minister, Mark Drakeford, Johnson refused. Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price commented on the issue on Twitter: “Begging letters to Tory Prime Ministers have never really worked for Wales. It’s time to stop waiting on Westminster and take action ourselves, instead.”

In the midst of calls for independence, Northern Ireland seemingly gets left behind. In mid-November, Amazon told a resident of Northern Ireland that he could not watch the game because he didn’t live in the UK.

Amazon customer support seemingly forgets Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom.

What about England? England is not only becoming isolated from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but from within itself too. 

In England, the term North-South divide refers to the cultural, economic and social differences between the Northern and Southern halves of the country. Whilst the rest of the union shouts ‘England-centric’, many English regions are saying ‘London-centric’.

The idea goes that the north has suffered, and still suffers more than the south. George Orwell in The Road to Wigan Pier said, “The Northerner has grit, he is grim, dour, plucky, warm-hearted and democratic; the Southerner is snobbish, effeminate and lazy.” These stereotypes are still embedded throughout society, paired with the saying ‘It’s grim up north’. The divide has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. 

The Northern Health Science Alliance reports that Covid-19 has killed proportionally more people in the north than in the rest of England. Clare Bambra, a professor of public health at Newcastle University, said, “It has to do with social and economic inequality. Inequality in people’s working conditions, in their standards of living, in people’s nutrition and in the underlying risk factors, such as diabetes, or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.” According to the Office for National Statistics, the North-East has the highest level of employment.

It was only last month when Chancellor Rishi Sunak came under fire for his anti-northern spending plan. The Treasury acknowledged their spending has “inherently favoured the government in the South East of England and London.” Jake Berry, chair of the Northern Research Group of Conservative MPs, said his group had been campaigning for not reform but to “chuck it into the shredding machine” and “start prioritising northern investment”.

As PM Boris Johnson imposed 1-3 tier restrictions across parts of the country in October, Greater Manchester was hit with the toughest tier. However, what the PM failed to do was create an economic support package for low-paid workers and businesses. A standoff over funding was the result. Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham wanted £65 million, with the sides eventually settling on £60 million. In his fight, Andy Burnham was dubbed ‘King of the North’ in regards to not allowing the region to be left behind.

Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham commenting on the Chancellor’s tweet.

It has been argued that the pandemic response has been London-centric. Whilst Greater Manchester tier 3 residents were offered 67% furlough pay in October, as the national lockdown came into effect November 2, furlough coverage was upped to 80%. The argument here is that Northern lives are worth less than those in the South, and in particular those who reside in London.

Calls for independence and a revolt across the Northern region shows the United Kingdom’s state as one union is increasingly fragile.

Elaine is a political writer for La Tonique. You can follow Elaine on Twitter @sando_99.