Break up of the UK more likely now Queen is gone, journalist Andrew Neil says
The break up of the UK is now more likely now that the Queen is gone, journalist Andrew Neil has said.
Writing in the Daily Mail he said that she was “the glue” that held the Union together and that without her there was a risk of it “becoming unstuck and falling apart”.
“It is concerning that the Union is probably in more jeopardy now she is gone,” he said.
“King Charles will love Scotland just as much as the Queen. But he simply doesn’t have her authority.”
He added that she was particularly key in maintaining support for the union in Scotland.
“The Scottish Nationalists were never sure how to handle the Queen in their bid to break up the Union,” he said.
“They eventually affected to ditch their republicanism and settled on giving her the title Queen of Scots, implying that she would remain Scotland’s head of state even after independence.
“Anybody who knew the rabidly republican SNP realised this was just a subterfuge to get through the 2014 independence referendum and that, if Scotland did vote to separate, the Queen would not long remain head of state north of the border.
“The Nationalists will never forgive her for warning just before the 2014 vote that people should ‘think very carefully’ before casting their ballots. The Scots did think very carefully — and voted to remain in the Union.
“The Queen is more Scottish than English. It is fitting that she has died in her beloved Balmoral.”
‘Benefits’
In an article for the Times, journalist Alex Massie also expressed his concern that the Queen’s death would be the end of Unionism.
“Everything else about [Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s] career points to her preference for a republican future for Scotland,” he said.
“Whether the country agrees with that is something to be revealed in due course. Nevertheless, Her Majesty’s death is the end of one story and might yet be seen as the starting point for another.”
The Queen had previously made her support for the Union clear while staying away from frontline politics.
In a speech to both Houses of Parliament marking her silver jubilee in 1977, she said said: “I cannot forget that I was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
“Perhaps this jubilee is a time to remind ourselves of the benefits which Union has conferred . . . on the inhabitants of all parts of this United Kingdom.”
Before the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, she said that voters should “think carefully” before making their decision.
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
Let’s hope do
Andrew Neil said ‘Rabidly republican SNP’ and ‘The Queen is more Scottish than English’. It is HIS rabid British nationilistic venom and that of so many more that will end the Union because via HIS position of power, the TV station he gave us, the publications he puts out along with all the other like minded versions where keyboard cowards snipe daily at our nations, they all combine to deliver a persistent hate campaign against those people on this island who simply and quietly wish to have their own nationality and own autonomous Parliaments. As for ‘The Queen is more… Read more »
The irony is, by invoking such sentiments to try and curry favour, it is THEY who take on the mantle of the blood and soil nationalist. Like when Michael ‘Mole Rat’ Gove put forward that Scots in all parts of the UK should vote in the next referendum. The logical counterpoint to that stance is of course that nobody born outside Scotland but resident there should be allowed a vote!
I liked the quote “a time to remind ourselves of the benefits which Union has conferred . . . on the inhabitants of all parts of this United Kingdom.” Perhaps we should look carefuly and see just which country has benefitted most from the union. It does not take too much research to see that it is not Wales. We did better from being part of the EU. So yes, a break up of the Union wuld be an excellent idea although getting rid of the hard right Market Fundamentalist Tory government in Westminster would be a much better thing… Read more »
Why do the Conservatives, in all their laissez-faire, big-society-but-small-government ethos, not grasp the concept of ties between people, businesses, friends and families on this island outside of a single overarching state? Why do they prop up supposed dead duck economies like Scotland and Wales when they otherwise take the axe to anything that doesn’t pay its way? Could it be that it is really only ever about their own legacy and prestige?
“The Scots did think very carefully — and voted to remain in the Union.”
That they did. The European Union.
Yes; we need to remember the phalanx of party leaders who visited Scotland before the independence referendum. They peddled the advantages of EU membership as a reason to vote against separating. It turned out to be a great betrayal.
The British Union is dead. It should be laid to rest rather than allowed to fester. There’s a wise old saying apt. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Time we went out separate ways.
#YesCymru 🏴. #Ymlaen 🏴.
He is right but all his focus is on Scotland. He, along with many others over the border, have not given Wales a second thought, even after the very sudden announcement, by the King, of William becoming Prince of Wales. Our country is just non-existent in their minds. Let’s gain independence, let’s surprise them in their ignorance.
Exactly 100%
Why is HS2 an EnglandAndWales project but not an EnglandAndScotland project, funding wise? Nothing at all to do with Scotland being the current greater threat to the Union. No, certainly not!
I keep saying that whenever independence or the break up of the UK is spoken about outside of Wales, they are talking about Scotland, this article is typical. We need to be making a lot more noise.
Also, it is only ever England invoked as the separatee, not rUK inclusive of Wales and NI. It really does betray the underlying and inescapable truth – the UK is, and always will be, only ever about England.
Independence for Cymru and Scotland and union for Ireland and Northern Ireland are an absolute imperative of natural law and good ethics!
Let’s hope so, but why is he only talking about Scotland?
I find it hard to believe Wales and Northern Ireland would stick around after the circus has come to town.
The other good news is that this gammon-hued gimp is surely not long for this world either, given he looks the veritable picture of health. Funny how he gave Jimmy Savile such an uncharacteristic easy ride in their interview, isn’t it?
Old ‘ brillow pad ‘ ( as Private Eye calls him ) has this right.