Katie Schmeuker (IPPR North): Much of the debate about the future of the union between Scotland and England focuses on constitutional, political and economic questions. But in reality, the vast majority of British people will not sit down with a balance sheet before deciding whether they support the continuation of the Union. A part of the debate that is often underplayed is role of cultural links between the two countries (and Wales), what we might call the ‘cultural union’ between the nations of the UK.

Nation Speaking Unto Nation by Douglas Fraser, Scottish Political Editor at the Herald is the latest of the Institute for Public Policy Research North’s commissioned papers on the Future of the Union to be published. It points out that the media has a key role to play in shaping this cultural union.

The media serves a number of purposes in public life, one of which is to mediate a conversation between the people of these islands and beyond. The media plays an important part in giving us a sense of our identity, and the community or communities to which we belong.