Britain must look towards Europe. Image: Flickr/ Eric Fischer
The Conservatives have unexpectedly formed a majority government, with Prime Minister David Cameron declaring it “the sweetest victory of all”. But what Britain exactly has he ‘won’?’ The Union is on the edge, and the world watches with puzzlement as it pens its suicide note. Cameron was never going to win Scotland, but with the Scottish National Party taking all but three seats, it will push for more powers if not, although officially ruled out, another referendum before the term is out. The anti-SNP scaremongering achieved nothing north of the border. But the Britain we woke up to today is held together by the toxic glue of English nationalism, and we are stuck with it.
Underlying all this is Europe. The trap of an in / out referendum has now, at long last, been sprung. As the 331 Conservative MPs raise their champagne glasses, they will be toasting the onset of civil war within their party. They have called it the “open wound” of British politics, but the ‘Europe question’ may prove fatal to both the government and to the British union, whatever the result. The SNP and the Welsh national party Plaid Cymru have demanded the referendum be conducted separately in each nation. Cameron will not allow this. The very prospect of the rest of the nations being overruled by England is enough to accelerate the break-up of Britain.
