For centuries it has slumbered, unprovoked. Even when given a sharp poke by Scottish devolution 12 years ago, the notion of Englishness appeared to do little more than roll over and go back to sleep.
But as Alex Salmond seeks to invoke the spirit of Braveheart north of the border, the sense of English identity is finally awakening.
As Scottish devolution has bedded down, and the movement for full independence progressed, the notion of Englishness – as separate from Britishness – has not only begun to awaken, but to form a political momentum of its own, according to new research.
The joint report between think tank IPPR, and Cardiff and Edinburgh universities, is based on the first major survey of English attitudes since the election of the Scottish Independence Party to power on a mandate of Scottish independence.
Professor Richard Wyn Jones, director of the Wales Governance Centre and co-author of the report, said in a statement: “There is strong evidence that English identity is becoming increasingly politicised. The more English a person feels the more likely they are to be dissatisfied with the way that the UK is being governed post-devolution, and the more likely they are to support the explicit recognition of an English dimension to their country’s politics.
“Even if the form that this English dimension should take has yet to fully crystallise in the electorate’s mind, this is arguably at least as much a failure on the part of the political class to lead a public debate on this increasingly important issue.”
The report says that regardless of what happens with Scottish progress to independence, the political imperative to tackle the “English question” is growing.
“It has long been predicted that devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would provoke an English ‘backlash’ against the anomalies and apparent territorial inequities of a devolved UK state. To the surprise of some, evidence of such a development was limited in the initial years of devolution. However, there are now signs that a stirring within England is beginning to take shape,” the report states.
According to the researchers, the English increasingly believe they get a raw deal from the devolved settlement.
A significant part of this is the so-called “West Lothian” question – the constitutional anomaly that allows Scottish MPs to vote on English laws at Westminster, but not visa versa. Seventy-nine per cent of those surveyed said Scottish MPs should be barred from voting on English laws and only one in four supported the current constitutional set-up.
- A woman struggles with an England flag on the Waterfront on June 17, 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa. Cape Town hosts the match between England and Algeria in the second of their group stage matches. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Nick Pearce, IPPR director, said in a statement: “English identity is on the rise and it is increasingly expressed in terms that are resentful of the devolution settlement. But that doesn’t mean that Englishness is not capable of an open and inclusive political and cultural voice, within a reformed United Kingdom.
“Our mainstream political parties need to embrace Englishness, take it seriously, and find new ways of giving it political expression. It is not something to be feared or abandoned to those on the margins of right-wing politics.
“There are those that fear that an engagement with a debate about England and Englishness will weaken the union, but the truth is the opposite. The longer this debate is ignored, or worse, denied, the more likely we will see a backlash within England against the UK.”
Forty-five per cent of voters in England say that Scotland gets “more than its fair share of public spending” – almost double the number since 2000. Meanwhile 40 per cent of voters in England say that England gets “less than its fair share” of public money.
But even with their growing discomfort, the English aren’t in a hurry to jettison Scotland. Only 22 per cent say Scots should go it alone – the English strongly support the view that the current devolved settlement should be reformed.
Eighty per cent support the “devolution-max” option (full fiscal autonomy) for Scotland.
The report emphasises the growing importance of English identity over British identity.
The report states: “The proportion of the population that prioritise their English over their British identity (40 per cent) is now twice as large as that which prioritise their British over their English identity (16 per cent). The English are not rejecting Britishness outright and retain a dual sense of identity, but in recent years they are increasingly choosing to emphasise their English over their British identity.”
According to the research, this increasing deference to English identity is true across all regions and factors – with the exception of Ethnic minorities who still regard themselves first and foremost as British.
