Swearing allegiance

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at reports of plans to make young people swear allegiance to Queen and "country". The Labour Government in Westminster is surely in dire straits if they think this is a good idea, and I don't see what's in it for them at all. It makes them look crazy - there's no popular demand for this idea outside of an Orange Walk, and everyone from Labour peers to the Scottish Government think it's completely unnecessary.

Leave aside for a second the fact that education is devolved, and therefore entirely outwith the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister. Personally, I would be completely offended if a teacher insisted I recited some pledge against my will. I can see young people (and indeed, plenty of teachers!) in Scotland rebelling against the idea, which can only help to highlight the need for Scottish Independence.

People who know me know that I've no particularly strong views on the Queen, but I know plenty of people who do hold strong republican views. I expect they will be aghast that Lord Goldsmith

...could not see why Republicans would not want to swear an oath, even though they may not believe in the present system of government.

Perhaps because they have strongly held principles? Ah, wait, right enough, New Labour do have a problem recognising such things!

I was fairly reassured that even people who do have a fairly favourable opinion of the Queen think this is a daft idea. Brian Taylor rather neatly points out the many flaws of the idea, and there's even a facebook group. I'm pretty nervous however that this puts me on the same side of the fence as Terry Kelly...

I don't understand why Lord Goldsmith thinks that this idea will give teenagers a sense of belonging over anything else. I don't think that this will benefit anyone. I don't believe that it's right that people should be forced into reciting this kind of thing against their beliefs (I've been uncomfortable about this since a primary teacher made our entire class recite the Lords Prayer every morning). The whole idea smacks of a last gasp attempt to patch together the British state.

Some thoughts on flying the flag

I don't really see myself as a small minded, narrow, flag waving nationalist - for a start, I don't own any flag bigger than the wee paper ones from Letham SNP (as stylishly modelled by my potplant!). I do, however, get some satisfaction from seeing the Saltire flying in the breeze above the City Chambers in Glasgow as I walk across George Square. It makes me think that, as in other independent nations across the world, a flag flying above a public building is a subtle sign that you exist.

I don't think we in Scotland should take the whole flag-flying thing too far, nor do I think we actually need to, because we have a fairly strong sense of who we are. I feel when nations have to continually wrap themselves in the flag, there's some latent doubt in society over identity. The United States is a prime example - a society which is huge and diverse, where children salute the flag each morning at school, and ordinary citizens take incredible pride in flying flags from their homes. When I was last down in England, the Flag of St George was flying from nearly every car and window - which is a real sign that people there are starting to think of who they are and who they want to be as a nation.

At a debate in the Council last week, many Labour Councillors were queueing up to say how proud they were of British institutions like the BBC, and how they felt equally British and Scottish; yet I don't see them falling over one another to hoist the Union Flag up the City Chambers flag pole. Gordon Brown, on the other hand, believes that the Union Flag should be flown from public buildings as often as possible, and has changed some old rules to let this happen. It might win him some votes in Middle England, but falling back on to the flag smacks of desperation to me.

Brown also talks of wanting to "take on" those people who don't conform to his sense of what being British is. He talks of terrorists, and of extremists. Does this mean me? I would never claim to be British, not out of any sense of animosity, but because I don't identify with the concept or feel I belong. When ever I go to London, I feel like a tourist in another land. Even small towns in England feel foreign to me: people don't understand me, I have to speak slower and more clearly. They reject my currency, they don't know anything about my politics (one friend of my boyfriend's parents asked me "what's an MSP?").

One of the positive things I did take from the BBC article linked to above was that David Cameron has come out with an unexpectedly sensible take on the matter:

In a speech last year, Conservative leader David Cameron accused Mr Brown of wanting to "institutionalise" being British, arguing it was possible to feel "multiple patriotism" with loyalties not only to where you live, but also to where you were born.

"I think we should realise that Britishness is a concept that, if grasped too hard, slips away," the Tory leader added.

I wouldn't deny that there are some people who have attachments to the Union flag, just as there are people who have attachments other flags or none. None of us should be forced, however, to fit into a stereotype of subjects in Brown's green and pleasant land or be branded terrorists.