300 years ago today - how the English learned to pay and pay!

Today January 16th 2007 is the 300th anniversary of the Union between England and Scotland. One would think that such an auspicious date might be worthy of celebration in both countries but unfortunately this is not the case. Instead there is a fair chance that the anniversary will be celebrated later this year by the Scots choosing to take the first steps in breaking the United Kingdom apart - but I've bored readers with that elsewhere. Instead I just want to look at how the Union came about and what will be the consequences of its destruction.



In simple terms how did the Union come about? After all, previous attempts to unite the two countries had failed thanks to stern opposition in Scotland. By 1706 the atmosphere was altered and both countries saw the advantage of trying to make Union work, for entirely different reasons. For the English it was a case of trying to ensure that Scotland did not revert to a separate Monarchy and thus be in a position to plot with other countries against England, but for the Scots it was simply economic pragmatism. The independent Scotland had, in 1698, launched the ill fated Darien scheme to set up a Scottish colony in Panama, a scheme so disastrous that the nation virtually bankrupted its Exchequer. One of the conditions of Union was that the English would bale them out of the mire, which of course they duly did.

We have lived together more or less in harmony ever since, give or take a few pub fights and a bit of harmless football violence.

What are the consequences if the Union goes to the wall? Scotland believes it will be better off economically but in terms of services provided from the British Exchequer, the Scots receive more from the deal than the English do. It may well be that benefits for Scotland from the Act of Union have declined but its hard to avoid the impression, for me at any rate, that the Nationalists are capitalising on political disenchantment and, in the long term, that will be a source of much regret for the Scottish people.

What would happen with regard to security? Much of Britain's military hardware is located at Scottish bases. What happens to the British Army?

Economically I suppose there would be a battle over North Sea Oil even though its potential yield is declining.

I hope it doesn't come to any of this and I hope Scottish voters recognise the benefits of remaining in the Union, and I quote one view from historian Arthur Herman who wrote 'How the Scots invented the modern world'. He said 'It is daylight madness to suggest that the Act of Union was a bad thing for Scotland. Without it, Scotland's history may very well have ended up like that of Ireland - and that is far from a pleasant picture.'