“Well, I'm British. I'm proud to be British and I love this country. I'm going nowhere.”

Jay Kay

It was 221 years ago, on 1st January 1801, that the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland’ came into being. It must have appeared quite an achievement, coming in the wake of the American War of Independence and the French Revolution.

However, ‘United’ is one of those charged words which often provokes opposition: the Irish struggles continued throughout the 19th century and early 20th, until the ‘Irish Free State’ was established 100 years ago. In the wake of the recent 6th May elections, it's clear that the word ‘United’ is being tested again.

Meanwhile, the election on Friday 14th May of Edwin Poots as leader of the DUP suggests that a Northern Irish referendum on union with the Irish Republic may be closer than an ‘IndyRef2’ in Scotland. In this commentary we take a look at UK disunity, and we suggest that now is the time to place more emphasis on being British, rather than continuing to use such a charged word as ‘United’ for our national identity.

Politics has changed massively in Northern Ireland since  the 2017 elections, when the DUP was the largest party with 28.1% of the vote and Sinn Fein a close second with 27.9%. A recent poll, taken following initial experience with the ‘Irish Protocol’, has shown DUP support falling to 19%, while support for the hard-line breakaway group TUV has grown to 10%.

The election of Edwin Poots may have been intended to draw unionists back together, but it will further erode DUP support in the middle ground. Following the Assembly elections next year, Sinn Fein may well be the largest party in Northern Ireland, and would therefore take on the post of First Minister.

56% of Northern Irish voters supported ‘Remain’ in the 2011 Brexit referendum, in a turn-out of 63%. Meanwhile, the demographics of Northern Ireland have been steadily moving in the direction of union with the Republic. It is not hard to see a call for a referendum in 2023. If this resulted in a united Ireland it would allow England, Scotland and Wales to re-assume their common identity, as Great Britain.

One of my favourite mugs is adorned with caricatures of ‘Britain’s 20th and 21st Century Prime Ministers’; the surnames of 9 out of the 24 are Scottish in origin – an illustration of the extent to which the Scots have governed Britain.

It was the Scots who formed the bedrock of the British Empire, and are now deeply embedded within the component countries of the British Commonwealth. Our passport nationality is British - not English, Scottish or Welsh.

So, it would be a positively good thing for our country to drop its ‘UK’ name and speak of being British, with which the citizens of Scotland, Wales and England can all relate. The resolution of the long-standing Irish dilemma would do much for the union of Great Britain.

Over the past week we've seen a host of well-written articles setting out the practical challenges to Scottish ‘independence’: my favourites are William Hague, writing in The Times’ and Matthew Lynn in the Telegraph business pages, both on 11th May. They set out issues such as currency, public deficits, sharing out the national debt, and hard borders. These are all strong arguments, but they tend to be quickly labelled by the SNP as ‘Project Fear’, as if they can be dismissed out of hand – which, of course, they can't.

There are also other practical arguments which we could make: for example, for including the millions of Scots living outside Scotland, both in the rest of Britain and across the world. These people have every right to help determine the future of Scotland, but currently have no vote in these residential referenda.

However, when people vote for their identity, they vote with their heart as well as their head: that's why we need to share a common purpose in being British.

The term ‘UK’, brought in to allow for the inclusion of Ireland 221 years ago, has outlived its usefulness, and is now more of a hindrance than a help. In any case, we have not been a Kingdom for nearly 70 years - we are governed by Queen! And it’s high time to stop provoking people with the word ‘United’.

So - let's allow voters in Northern Ireland to choose their destiny first, and gradually let us re-build the emphasis on being British.

Gavin Oldham OBE

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