In the aftermath of the Belfast Agreement and the Brexit vote, this book asserts that the aggravated place of Scotland in the UK has now become Britain’s “most enduring” conflict. The authors wish to “give a clear-sighted account of what independence is about, where it came from, and why the risks might be worth it”. Given the need for brevity, I must be blunt. Taking these three aims in turn, the first is attempted, the second is comprehensively explored, and the third — perhaps the most interesting — is all but untouched.
These unfulfilled expectations mar the reading experience, as one slowly realises that the remaining chapters won’t get to the heart of the matter, namely, the reasons why Scotland should leave the UK and the procedures that would make the new arrangement work.
The most sustained argument involves a critique of the Scottish National Party on socialist grounds. For instance, in the introduction the reader is treated to a brief analysis of the recommendations of the Sustainable Growth Commission. Established by the SNP in 2016, the commission is an economic policy unit devoted to answering the hard questions about Scotland’s departure from the UK. The authors criticise the commission’s report for its “sweeping cuts (or tax rises)” and for its advocacy of sterlingisation — keeping sterling as the currency of independent Scotland — which they characterise “as a route to austerity”. As intriguing as this analysis is, however, little more is said about the matter.
This absence is revealing of a wider inadequacy: the authors generally fail to balance their descriptions of circumstances with an analysis of why those circumstances were selected. They give us timelines, histories and personal biographies, but rarely unpack claims and assess the validity of positions.
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That said, there are many insightful passages contained in this text, dealing with subjects such as Alex Salmond’s rise to prominence; Marxist views of nationalism; Brexit; the Scottish electorate’s rejection of Labour, etc. The flaw is that they don’t amount to what the authors promise.
A brief discussion in the conclusion, touching on concrete proposals for independence, comes too late, serving only to highlight what we missed previously. I am tempted to butcher Marx’s famous line: the authors have only interpreted Scotland’s place in the UK; the point is to show how to change it.
