Restless Nation

by Alan Clements, Kenny Farquharson and Kirsty Wark
Reviewed by Sharma Krauskopf and rated

"Scotland is in the midst of one of its most exciting political periods ever, and in order to find out how it has reached this point we must look at recent history." This is the introduction to a detailed and beautifully illustrated book about Scottish politics since World War II. The book says the period covered is "politically the country's most turbulent half-century since the Jacobite rebellion."

This book is linked with a major BBC television series, Restless Nation. The book analysizes why the Scots have flirted with, but never committed themselves to, home rule - through the Covenant petition, the rise of the SNP, the devolution debates of the 1970s and the Constitutional Convention. The book superbly relates how the Scottish Question is played in the British political system.

The authors bring a unique combination of backgrounds to the book. Alan Clements runs Wark, Clements & Co and has produced television programmes for the BBC, Channel Four and Scottish Television. Kenny Farquharson has been political editor of Scotland on Sunday since 1993. Kirsty Wark is a highly acclaimed television journalist; she has fronted BBC Scotland political programmes and is currently a presenter for BBC2's Newsnight.

The book begins right after the end of the war in Europe when party politics came back to Britain with a vengeance. Winston Churchill called an election and Labour had their first ever election victory. Labour captured the mood of the time. Even though Labour was cold to home rule for Scotland the "torch burned brightly" for a five year period in the 1940s and 1950s largely fueled by a non-party political organization called the Scottish Convention. The Scottish Convention was eventually extinguished but set the pattern for future outbreaks which would dominate Scottish politics for the next 50 years. During the time of the Convention a Scottish Covenant was launched and over 2 million Scots signed it. It kept Home Rule on the front pages. In 1950, the Stone of Destiny, the symbol of Scotland on which Scottish kings had been crowned, was stolen. Even with the success of the Covenant and the outrage over the stealing of the Stone the large political parties decided the Convention was no electoral treat and its supporters started to drift away.

The book says "At the heart of Scotland's sense of Britishness was the British Empire. The Empire mattered enormously to the Scots and pride in its military prowess and feats of construction ran deep...Whatever their feeling now, they enjoyed being part of the British state and Empire when it was its height." When the empire crumbled after the Suez crisis the Scots once again focused on what linked them to the other nations of the United Kingdom. Old localities began to crumble and support for the government once again began to decline. This showed itself in a highly visible manner when Scotland voted differently from England in 1959.

The 1960s were a decade of great economic planning and Scotland benefitted greatly through new industries. The Conservative and Liberals continued to battle for the Scottish vote with economic development schemes. But, it did not work and the Scottish Liberal party gathered strength especially in the rural areas. The SNP also gathered increased support from Scots by resisting nuclear bases on the Clyde. SNP became real players on the political scene, taking over 200,000 votes and securing 69 seats on Burgh and County Councils in 1967. Harold Wilson calmed this down when he appointed the pro-reform Judith Hart to oversee a strategy for devolution. As the nationalist threat dropped she was quietly dropped and things went on as usual.

In the 1970s, Scotland's constitutional restlessness came to a head. Home Rule dominated political life. The major parties tried to play the right game to get those votes. One of the biggest issues was oil! The SNP demanded all revenue for Scotland, the Liberals thought Scotland should get half and the Conservatives wanted to establish a Scottish Development Fund secured by oil revenues. In 1974 the struggle for self-determination went from Scotland to Westminster.

There were constant changing of minds by the prime players including Margaret Thatcher who was for devolution and then against. The nationalist tide began to gather strength again in 1977 when the SNP took their highest number of seats. During the "Winter of Discontent" (1978-1979) the country was rocked by public sector strikes and the public felt angry but, it seems, not angry enough to do anything about it. In March of 1979 two thirds of the Scots did not vote and the devolution dream of the 1970 was dead. Margaret Thatcher came to power in the 1980s and the curtain closed on the devolution decade.

Margaret Thatcher was not popular in Scotland. She tried hard to prove she liked Scotland but nothing worked so in the 1987 election dramatic changes in all Scotland's opposition parties began. A result of all this was a Campaign for Scottish Assembly. Thatcher finally lost power and with a revitalized SNP and unified home rule movement in the convention surely Scotland would soon have their parliament.

John Major came to power and was able to hold on to it to the surprise of all the Scots. Support was shown by rallies in which 25,000 people took to the streets of Edinburgh wanting freedom. The battle went on with Alex Salmond making himself a promise that never again would SNP put so much into a campaign and come out with so little. Like so many SNP surges since the war this one became unsustainable. The reason was the growing strength of the Labour party. The battle goes on to this day. With an election soon to be held.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the political situation in Scotland. I agreed and disagreed with some of the issues but consistent throughout was the strong desire that most Scots want to be free.

The underlying question is answered. The Scots really want home rule. They want to be Scottish Citizens not British Subjects. Time after time their efforts have been foiled due to the nature of the British political system. I found myself on the side of a free Scotland but frustrated, just as the people and politicians who believe in a FREE Scotland must be. If you are at all interested in the politics of a nation fighting for its freedom and future then this is the book for you.