Idiots
The Spectator
Thursday
Spectator letters: Scottish Tories, ambulances and Florence Nightingale
The other Tory split Sir: With regard to the article by James Forsyth (‘The great Tory split’, 6 September), there is another dimension to the future of the Conservative party of which the Scottish independence vote is symbolic. The Conservative and Unionist party looks as though it lacks the leadership and the political skills to keep the Union together, certainly to make a convincing job of it. Whichever way the vote goes, it will not reflect well on the Conservative leadership. They are seen as part of an ‘out of touch’ Westminster elite which has neglected not just Scotland but much of England, becoming a party of the south-east rather than a genuinely national/UK wide party; what is more they do not seem even to mind that this is the case.
Tories weren’t quite sure about the Union 300 years ago, either
[audioplayer src="http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_11_Sept_2014_v4.mp3" title="Fraser Nelson, Tom Holland and Leah McLaren discuss how we can still save the Union" startat=50] Listen [/audioplayer]Birth of a nation A reminder of how England and Scotland came to be one country: — Proposals had been made throughout the 17th century, with English Whigs generally in favour and Tories less keen. — For the English, there was the attraction of neutralising an old enemy. For the Scots the attractions were mainly economic. The collapse of the Darien scheme, a failed attempt to establish a Scottish colony, New Caledonia, in what is now Panama, had run up heavy losses for investors. Union would bring Scotland access to markets in England’s extensive colonies.
One week to save Britain
[audioplayer src="http://traffic.libsyn.com/spectator/TheViewFrom22_11_Sept_2014_v4.mp3" title="Fraser Nelson, Tom Holland and Leah McLaren discuss how we can still save the Union" startat=50] Listen [/audioplayer]Next week, the most important vote in recent British history will be held. Indeed, it may well turn out to be one of the last ballots in British history. Seven months ago, this magazine devoted its front page to warning that the United Kingdom was at grave risk of dissolution. The unionist apparatus had decayed, argued Alex Massie, and Alex Salmond was the best late-stage campaigner in Europe. The SNP deployed the language of nationhood and destiny, while the ‘no’ campaign droned on about the Barnett Formula. The conditions for calamity were in place.
