British Unionism: 12 Fundamentals of Britain's Core Ideology
We were reading an article by a journalist called Juliet Samuel recently when we were struck by a few words in her paragraph: "It is just possible that the EU has found a real red line in Mrs May's heart, called unionism. This would put her out of step with much of Britain, I suspect, but it might actually give her a fighting chance of convincing Brussels that she is serious." (1)
Believing in "unionism" would..."put her out of step with much of Britain"?
We were taken aback by that claim.
After all, what is "Britain" in the first place, if it is not a direct consequence of the political ideology known as "unionism"?
THE BRITISH UNION
The British Union is the political Union of Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales, united in one Unitary State, with a sovereign National Parliament at Westminster.
The British Union is what holds Britain together. Without the Union, there is no Britain – certainly not in any political sense! (NB. When we speak of "Britain" – as in this article – we always use it as shorthand for "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".)
Britain, the Nation, is built upon the British Union. If it were not for the British Union then Britain would not exist.
If you don't care about the British Union then how can you care about Britain itself?
How can you be "for Britain", but not for the British Union?
UNIONISM IS FUNDAMENTAL
The ideology upholding the British Union is called Unionism.
If you don't believe in Unionism – the fundamental political ideology which creates, underpins and maintains the British Union – then you do not believe in Britain.
Britain is the political creation of Unionism.
Britain is the consequence of Unionism.
If you "believe in Britain", then you believe in Unionism!
How can you want "Britain to take back control", if you don't believe in the political ideology which sustains the very idea of Britain in the first place?
OPINION POLLS – preferring Brexit to Britain itself!
This apparent political disconnect among some people and the actual foundational ideology of the Nation they purport to support, reminded us of those "Opinion Polls" (and we always put that term in inverted commas since "Opinion Polls" are often a deliberate political tool intended to move opinion, rather than reflect it) which report that some people apparently care more about Brexit than the British Union. (2)
In our view, these "Opinion Polls" are just trouble-making. They are taking advantage of most people's lack of political awareness and constitutional knowledge in order to promote or attack a current political issue.
So, we are going to be kind to such people and we're going to presume that they don't really know what they are agreeing to, or saying, and that they haven't thought through such political and constitutional positions.
After all, if you want "freedom for Britain from the EU", then you cannot prefer Brexit to Britain itself!
If you really prefer Brexit to Britain itself then you don't believe in the idea of Britain in the first place! (3)
And yes, sure, we can understand that some people in England get exasperated with the ScotNats. However, if the Union were to break, then Britain is not going to continue to exist politically without Scotland! The only sense in which it might continue to exist (for a short while) would be as an increasingly-unused geographical term.
UNIONISM: THE IDEOLOGY UNDERPINNING BRITAIN
We'll often refer to ourselves as "unionists" who believe in "unionism", but it seems this ideology is regarded – if it is regarded at all – as just one ideology among many other 'isms', (like capitalism or communism or socialism), rather than as the core, foundational political ideology of Britain itself!
It seems – if Juliet Samuel is correct – that the political philosophy which underpins Britain is not known about, or recognised, or understood, or appreciated...by many people!
If so, then this is undoubtedly a weakness for us.
It means that if you say, "I believe in the Union", then quite a few people don't automatically know what you are talking about!
We know this for a fact because some people come onto our AFFG Facebook Page and think that we're speaking about being pro-European Union! A few others think, incredibly, that we're talking about promoting "Trade Unions"!
If people have some awareness, they may know that "unionism" is something to do with people in Northern Ireland wanting to be part of the United Kingdom rather than the Republic of Ireland. Yes, that is part of it, and tended to be the whole part, in the past, when the Scottish/English union was not a contested issue.
Yet, ask many people to define a set of characteristics which describe this political ideology of "unionism" today, and they might struggle.
That's why we have to lay them out! That's what we've been doing since 21 March 2012 when we were founded. And we summarise 12 of the main points below.
We have to do this because describing one's political ideology briefly and in a manner which is immediately understandable, which people can remember and explain easily to others, is a necessary requirement for the success of any political ideology.
When people say they "believe in Scottish independence" everyone knows what they're talking about. They're talking about Scotland breaking away, mainly from England but ultimately from all parts of the British Isles.
That ease of understanding is a big strength for them. It is one of the reasons why the political ideology of Scottish independence has such traction. It is simple to describe, understand, remember and explain.
What should we – those of us who do not believe in Scottish independence – say in response?
SCOTTISH UNIONISM is the OPPOSITE of SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE
If Scottish Independence is the belief in an independent Scotland and separate independent nations in the British Isles, then Scottish Unionism is the opposite. It is the belief in a politically united British Isles.
We can say: "I don't believe in Scottish independence – which is about Scotland being separated from the rest of the British Isles; I believe in Scottish unionism – which is about Scotland being united with the rest of the British Isles."
Scottish Unionism is part of the overall political ideology of British Unionism – some core tenets of which we list below.
"British Unionism – is that even a thing", you may ask?
It is now! Because we are developing it as a very necessary thing, in the political struggle in which we are engaged!
As we say, it is British Unionism which is the core, foundational political ideology which creates, underpins and maintains the British Union, which is what binds together Britain the Nation.
So it is high time it was properly acknowledged!
We can say: "I believe in Scottish Unionism", or "I believe in British Unionism" or "I believe in the United Kingdom", or "I believe in Britain" or "I believe in the British Union", and if people ask us to elaborate on the core tenets of such a belief, we can say things like the following.
12 BRITISH UNIONIST FUNDAMENTALS (4)
1. Britain is a Nation in its own right, and not just a political State. The social, cultural, regal and political Unions created it into a Nation. (Scottish nationalists will immediately dispute this because they know it is central to our belief. By doing so, they demonstrate their intolerance to the very basis of our allegiance and identity.)
2. Britain is our country, as much as Scotland is our country, and we do not want to see it broken up.
3. We have more in common than what divides us, and it makes sense for our political institutions to reflect that fact.
4. We stand for the values of solidarity not separation, of unity not division, of giving not getting, of all for one and one for all.
5. Britain united is greater than the sum of its parts.
6. The constituent parts of Britain are related as in a family; which means that it's not appropriate for one part to put itself first without due regard to the other members. We do not put any part of Britain before the common good of all.
7. A problem in any part of Britain concerns us all, and the challenges which confront us throughout these Islands are most effectively resolved by working together.
8. Scotland within a united Britain is a better place to live, socially and economically, and with greater opportunity for each of us, than a Scotland separated.
9. Scotland within a united Britain makes global strategic and diplomatic sense, and is more influential internationally, than a Scotland separated.
10. Britain is the best Nation within which to accommodate diverse identities. It's big enough to allow for English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh identities, and all the variations within them to exist. (This does not work the other way, as Ireland has clearly demonstrated. When you remove fish out the big British pond and put them into a small bowl, then the differences within the bowl are amplified and they start eating each other.)
11. Britain is an evolving organism tending naturally towards unity, not spinning out of control towards separation.
12. Britain is a Work in Progress. There wasn't any time – ever since Britain "first arose from out the Azure main" – when we could say, "This was the perfect Union. This was the perfect Britain." It is something that we are always building together. It is an ideal we seek and work towards. Each day, we write a page in our endless story. (5)
REFERENCES
(1) Juliet Samuel, "The EU has just found the red line in Mrs May's heart", The Daily Telegraph, 22-9-18.
(2) Ben Riley-Smith, Gordon Rayner and Simon Johnson, "Voters more concerned about Brexit than Union", The Daily Telegraph, 18-3-17 at p. 5.
Michael Ashcroft, "Leave voters prefer Brexit to the Union", The Daily Telegraph, 19-6-18 at p.16.
(3) We must emphasise that A Force For Good does indeed support Brexit and since 2016 we have written in its favour. Unlike some people though, we have a well-thought-through position on it; a position which strengthens, not weakens, the British Union and Britain itself. See our work on our Legacy Site. For example:
Our Speech "How to Defeat the SNP and Deliver Brexit"
Our Article "How to Make Brexit a Great Success"
And our recent Interview, "Scotland is Leaving the EU: AFFG Interviewed by Major European Newspaper" on this site.
(4) We developed several of these points in considerable depth in our Speech in London "One UK: The British Union from 30 First Principles" (24-6-15).
(5) In that regard, we liked this phrase by Nick Groom, from his book, The Union Jack: The Story of the British Flag : "The dream of union has been long and for many it has been a nightmare, but it is the one dream from which Britain can never awake: to do so would be to end the 'British Isles' as a meaningful concept."
If you appreciate our quality Research and our unique Advocacy (found nowhere else) then please become one of our (aimed for) 200 Union Supporters. We need 200 people committing a minimum of £5 a month (£1.25 a week) to keep us sustainable. This is our full time work. Please contribute monthly here.
To give a one-off donation please chip in here.
To Sign Up to receive our fortnightly Briefings click here.
