March 25, 2012

Scottish Independence


 
I’m English, but I know Scotland better than most Englishmen do. I grew up there on account of my dad’s job, and to this day I support a Scottish football team, Dundee United. This means I still have many, especially online, Scottish friends, both from my childhood, and from the world of football. Whilst I’m not Scottish myself, I certainly have a bit of a handle on the place, including the abounding ‘arrogant English bastards’ mentality.

Everyone has their prejudices, the English hate the French, the French hate the English, the Canadians hate America, The Mancs hate the Scousers, the South hates the North, and on it goes, but this Scottish independence thing is bugging me right now. Not because I don’t want them to be independent, frankly I couldn’t give a flying fuck one way or the other, what’s bugging me is that Scotland seems to think that we (English) are shitting ourselves somehow about them breaking away. I can tell you as a proud Englishmen that a) no-one here gives a fuck if you do or don’t and b) no one here thinks it would be bad, good or indifferent for England.  

I’m from the north of England, Hull to be precise, and London/Whitehall has been fucking us just as much as them since time immemorial. Do Scots think your average Scouser, Yorkshireman or Geordie has much time for the goings on in London? Do you think they’d tell the lot of them to ‘get to fuck’ at the first opportunity? The English government is London-and-the-South-centric. Thatcher is hated in Scotland, well, take a walk around Liverpool, or Newcastle, or Leeds and ask about the old fucking witch. The answers will be the same.

I’ve got a Scottish pal, who shall remain nameless here, who when England are playing football, against anyone, starts banging on about the ‘English bastards’, and Highland clearances, and William Wallace and all that stuff.

Anyway, the upshot is this. No-one really cares other than the Scots, who are doing a massive ‘fuck you’ to England, so they think, but us English, we don’t give a fuck if you stay or go, it’s that simple.

Just to confirm, I’m not anti-Scottish, quite the opposite, but as for this ‘
England is shitting itself at the prospect’ thing? Not a fucking chance. We simply don’t care.