Amid all the debate about oil, currency, pensions and a million other items, I’m surprised higher questions have not been asked about our cultural identity. I’ve never said I’m British in my life, I’m Scottish, but the full story is more subtle than that.
Despite being a football fan, a Scot and a Gordon Strachan fan, I watched another channel when Germany-Scotland was on. My sense of personal identity, the anthems I cherish, the emblems I’ve always worn, my ‘national’ community, is the one I share with you.
I know we have a large number of England-supporting, English-Celtic fans here, just as there are Ireland-supporting, Irish, and Scotland-supporting Scots, but some of us feel our strongest affinity among our urban, west of Scotland-based, Celtic community. This community will only ever march behind a green flag. There is nothing wrong or unpatriotic about this, finding your own identity is what multiculturalism is all about.
There are a thousand more national identities than actual nations, but why do many of us feel more like sons of Jock Stein, than Jock Tamson, or (cough) John Bull?
I don’t think there is a single British, or Scottish, cultural institution I feel an attachment to. I was really caught up with the whole Mo Farah/Jessica Ennis-inspired Super Saturday at the Olympics – delighted at the success of British athletes, but later that day, when Ki stepped forward to take the decisive kick for South Korea against GB, I punched the air with joy. The whole Burns Night thing feels like someone else’s party.
In fact, it’s worse than not having an affinity with a British cultural institution, our Celtic community is marginalised by competitors in the south. If Scotland, which is perhaps more bound-up in tribal football culture than anywhere on the planet, had EQUAL access to the UK’s cultural markets, would we feel so excluded?
I know there are many who are happy with the way sentiment is going right now, but if those intent on saving the union want to get busy on some urgent nation-building, they should set about removing the two-tier cultural divide which keeps our club, our community, from the top table. We pay an obligatory BBC tax to subsidise an England and Wales league, our non-tax-based pay TV money goes the same way. This is a distorted market, with Scotland obscured by an England-Wales cartel. As a result we’ve been drained of talent and financial muscle for a century.
Football is not controlled by politicians, but it can be, and is, influenced by them. Westminster is speaking with a more unified voice than I’ve ever known right now. Its voice should be clear: Scotland needs equal access to the UK’s cultural markets, including football.
Our exclusion is intolerable, unfair, has fermented disaffection and must end, irrespective of what happens next week. Why would Westminster politicians be unable to say this?
Let’s hear you.
The fantastic new edition of CQN Magazine is out today. You can read it, for free, here, at it’s dedicated site (don’t try to read on the graphic below).
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San Jose Buoy,
Excellent, paradise is a sight to behold. It takes my breath away at every visit and I’m there often.
Hope you have good camera.
HH
Ok
Read back
Let me see
Scotland’s going nowhere
Celtic”s going nowhere
Res12 is going nowhere
And Paul67 doesn’t feel Scottish Irish or British just Celticish
I feel a bit peckish
Aff oot
young man off to sydney in october for 6 months any good tim bars for him for all yous sydney tims?
Maggie, you missed the one positive there doll. Yesterday was a watershed moment in my life on earth. I survived 25 years married to Mrs acgr.
C’mon, res 12? Geeza brek.
How is the H bomb, not heard from him in a while?
A Ceiler Gonof Rust – today was a sight to behold. Maybe I have been away too long or it was the fact that I saw both of my kids in front of Jinky, Brother Walfrid and not but last least the immortal that made me emotional today – one of the best sporting arenas in the world!
a ceiler gonof rust
01:48 on 10 September, 2014
Congratulations!
The H bomb is doing fine
Spoke to him last week
P.S. ya manky trollop.
xxxxx
There ye go mags, it’s not all doom and gloom. I’m as happy as Larry who in the latest opinion poll is 5% happier than a sand boy.
So there ye go.
ACGR
Start in West then head west gradually sounds a plan tae me.
Mon the leather belts!
San Jose Bhoy
Thanks for your input…..this has been a miserable blog for weeks….lots of anti Celtic stuff….lots of referendum debates (often vicious).
Nice to hear an exPat coming home with wife and kids and enjoying themselves.
Enjoy your trip
San Jose Bhoy
I know exactly how you feel.
I had a tear in my eye when I had my picture taken at CP with my American grand daughter in my arms.
San Jose Bhoy, I hope you’re taking your family to the game on Saturday.
If you want a great family friendly wee place for pre match food and beer look no further than Coia’s on Duke Street. It’s an ancient establishment of great grub and wee Alfredo is an uber Tim and all round good egg.
Enjoy the rest of your time in your homeland.
Hail Hail bruv
ACGR
Congrats on making 25. I struggled to get to 22, but happily now free for 3 years. ;))
The Scots want “independence”.
The English don’t understand why.
A prescription costs 8 pounds 25 pence in England and Wales.
A prescription costs nothing in Scotland.
The Scots want to be better off than they are.
The English want to be better off too.
The Scots want a greater say in their own government.
The English don’t understand that either, since the Scots have more levels of government that they do.
The Scots want their own government.
The English don’t understand that because the Scots have had their own government since 1999.
The Scots want independence but want to keep the royal family.
The English don’t understand that.
The Scots want independence but want to keep the GB pound.
The English don’t understand that.
The Scots have made many English feel that they are hated.
The English don’t understand that either.
Night Night
Thanks Westies – have some strong views on the referendum – however plan to stay away from that – given the trouble that I have gotten myself into this week! Amazing how divisive (however not surprising) that it has got…….no further comment from me…..
ACGR
Congratulations on the silver platter.
HH
‘GG – thanks – it was one of the best days that I have had since the kids were born visiting paradise today! Thankfully Mrs San Jose Bhoy knew how important it was to me……..
It means so much to so many people, is it any wonder its called paradise.
We are Celtic
Goodnight Celtic men and wummin, and especially our expat visitors. you are most welcome.
San Jose Bhoy
Magic :))
HAIL HAIL
RWE, thanks bud, I had a smashing day with a fantastic woman (aye it was ma missus)……………………………………:_))
Hope you and the young un are good.
Goodnight all, its love chamber time for sure.
ACGR – unfortunately we are flying home on Saturday – trip was booked in March before we knew the fixture list. Hopefully we will make it to a game the next time we are back. Had a great time today wandering about the place – however the game atmosphere is something to behold!
ACGR – Congratulations young fella to you and the long suffering moaning cow.LOL
I might see ya soon…..I’m raising a glass of Laphroig quarter cask…a large yin of course.
Slainte
tony
San Jose Bhoy
Lovely stuff about you and your family.
Have a great time and make lots of memories.
HH
San Jose Bhoy
Safe journey home……your family will treasure the memory of this trip for the rest of their lives.
I am also an expat for some 45 years but went back many times to see family and also important games.
Very best regards
westies
Mhan, I admired you last night on here.
HH & KTF
Thanks to all for your best wishes. Was driving home today and the sign said ‘people make Glasgow’ I thought very apt for today – given the wonderful level of service and the very nice people we met today. Heading off for tonight and will log on sooner than the last time – HH.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/england/11086028/FA-on-alert-after-England-fans-anti-Scotland-chants-spark-fears-of-hooliganism-at-Celtic-Park-friendly.html
http://youtu.be/OsLcCYf0OLA
A wee tester.
Didn’t read every page but it would appear that Ernie has been given the day off.
More double standards from UEFA
“Uefa will not be taking any action over the nationalist chants from the away end which were not mentioned in the delegate’s report.”
FT
Is it really only the Huns who bury their heads in the sand?
Investors pull cash ahead of Scots vote
By Alistair Gray in Edinburgh and Josephine Cumbo and Martin Arnold in London,
Asset managers, investors and pension savers are moving billions of pounds out of Scotland, according to industry executives, amid rising concerns about the financial consequences of a Yes vote in next week’s independence referendum.
Multrees Investor Services, a manager of bank accounts for the wealth management industry, said it alone had moved hundreds of millions of pounds on behalf of several wealth managers. “They’ve all been taking action,” said Chris Fisher, Multrees’ chief executive. “If our clients are doing it then other financial services companies are doing it as well.”
Douglas Connell, senior partner at Turcan Connell, one of Edinburgh’s best known legal firms – which also has a wealth management arm and specialises in handling the affairs of the well-heeled – said: “We’re extremely busy at the moment. There is an unprecedented level of questions. There is almost a frenzy [among clients].
“The big question is, ‘Is my cash safe in a Scottish bank?’,” he said. Clients were “concerned that there could be some kind of controls” put on funds in Scottish banks. They were worried that “some kind of axe might come down” immediately after the referendum. He said such worries were unfounded.
In a further sign of nerves, “exit clauses” are being inserted into commercial property contracts in Scotland to allow buyers to scrap deals or renegotiate prices if voters opt for independence, according to leading advisers to the sector.
With opinion polls indicating the two sides are neck and neck, Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, warned that a currency union between England and an independent Scotland would be “incompatible with sovereignty”.
His comments mark a significant hardening of his position against sharing the currency and come as the leaders of the main Westminster political parties scramble to regain the initiative and prevent the break-up of the 307-year-old union.
David Cameron and Ed Miliband, the Labour party leader, are to cancel their weekly House of Commons question time duel to campaign in Scotland on Wednesday along with deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.
The decision to suspend hostilities reflects mounting concerns in Whitehall and the City about the implications of a Yes vote. Wealth managers report clients moving deposits out of Scottish banks, and pension funds out of the stock market and into cash. One independent financial adviser said a client had shifted close to £1m out of stocks into a safer asset.
“Clients are concerned about the unknown,” said Claire Walsh, chartered financial planner at Aspect 8, the independent financial advisers. “Some of them are elderly and nearing retirement and are worried about their assets.”
Shares in Scottish-based companies rebounded on Tuesday after sharp falls the previous day in the wake of a Sunday Times/YouGov poll that gave the Yes camp a narrow lead for the first time in the campaign. But the pound was flat and 10-year gilt prices fell further on Tuesday, briefly pushing yields up to 2.52 per cent – close to a one-month high – before they retreated slightly.
Number 10 itself will fly the Saltire until the referendum is over, something Mr Miliband has also urged Labour councils to do. Mr Cameron is expected to announce shortly who he intends to chair a cross-party convention on the transfer of new powers to Holyrood if there were to be a No vote.
“There is a lot that divides us – but there’s one thing on which we agree passionately: the United Kingdom is better together,” the three main political party leaders said in a joint statement. “Our message to the Scottish people will be simple: ‘We want you to stay’.”
One Scottish asset management executive said that UK financial regulators were “quietly reaching out” to institutions to discuss their contingency plans for a potential Yes vote on September 18.
Big Scottish financial institutions, including Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, have said they are concerned about the consequences of a Yes vote and are working on contingency plans. Standard Life is one of the few to say it may move its domicile to England if Scotland becomes independent.
Barney Reynolds, a partner at Shearman & Sterling, said: “For firms to continue to be under UK supervision, their place of business and management generally would have to be in the UK. This will tend to create a gravitational pull on Scottish firms to relocate much of their infrastructure to the UK, particularly for retail-oriented businesses.”
Additional reporting by George Parker, Sam Fleming, Anne-Sylvaine Chassany and Elaine Moore
http://www.philmacgiollabhain.ie/share-offer-dead-in-the-water/
I think that lady on the stage, who is clearing her throat needs to go on a diet…..
Scottish independence: Foreign investors desert British economy amid fears of ‘yes’ vote
Jim Armitage, The Independent.
Major global investors have been pulling billions of pounds out of the British economy due to fears that Scotland could vote “yes” to independence.
Figures from investment bank Societe Generale showing an apparent flight of investors from the UK came as Japan’s biggest bank, Nomura, urged its clients to cut their financial exposure to the UK and warned of a possible collapse in the pound. It described such an outcome as a “cataclysmic shock”.
Sterling has fallen sharply since the shock poll at the weekend suggesting a narrow “yes” vote was on the cards. It fell again today until the governor of the Bank of England gave a speech to unions which investors took as suggesting he was eyeing an interest rate rise.
But investors have been pulling out for weeks and months, according to data on UK stock market funds cited by Societe Generale, which show a worsening exodus of global money from shares in British companies. From its best position this year of a little under $14bn (£8.6bn) flowing out from the UK earlier this year, the flight has accelerated to nearly $20bn (£12bn).
Nomura’s advice to clients such as giant pension funds was not only to pull money out of British investments, but to take out bets against British Government bonds and UK banks’ share prices.
Jordan Rochester, Nomura’s foreign exchange strategist told The Telegraph that fast-moving hedge funds had started moving out some time ago, but now traditionally longer-term investors like pension funds were also taking flight. “The risks are suddenly seen as much greater for Japanese pension funds,” he said.
The celebrated liberal economist Paul Krugman at the weekend warned a vote for Scottish independence would be catastrophic for the country. “The risks of going it alone are huge,” Krugman warned in his New York Times column. “You may think that Scotland can become another Canada, but it’s all too likely that it would end up becoming Spain without the sunshine.”
Mr Krugman’s key concern is the danger of losing control over its currency. He says “the combination of political independence with a shared currency is a recipe for disaster. Which is where the cautionary tale of Spain comes in.”
Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank analysts today said a “yes” vote could lead to the Bank of England to keep interest rates lower for longer due to the risk of independence derailing the economic recovery. The Bank may be particularly wary of raising rates due to the likely impact on investment into the UK. On the other hand, the pound would probably fall, leading to concerns about inflation, which the Bank might feel the need to counter with higher interest rates.
The developments follow comments from the governor of the Bank of England that a currency union with an independent Scotland would be “incompatible with sovereignty”.
Mark Carney was asked about the effect of independence on currency union during a question and answer session at the TUC Congress in Liverpool.
He repeated comments he made in Edinburgh earlier this year about the need for the same regulations on standards as well as fiscal arrangements, adding: “A currency union is incompatible with sovereignty.”
Hey who stole half my train? Only3 carriages today Cameron an Clegg must have high jacked the rest to tour Scotland
Kit keep posting your scare stories you’re doing a sterling job :)
Well done Jobo on a great round yesterday.
kitalba
It’s funny how Celtic fans believe word for word the MSM when it suits them.
pmsl
The MSM applies not only to matters soccer, given you’re an Aussie now.
Weefrae:
The berthing of boats and their operating depths have no connection. Whether we disarm, or not, will not change the chances of us being a primary target. A giant myth shrouds the hills around the Holy Loch. But if it is any consolation to you, London, before, the west of Scotland, would take a much more concentrated attack.