Thread by @DeanMThomson

I've been doing some research for a future book on Anglophobia in Scotland. I thought I'd share some findings.

A thread on Anglophobia and its relationship with Scottish nationalism (lower case 'n') in Scotland
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1⃣ While the SNP is not Anglophobic per se, Anglophobia seems to be a feature and not a bug with Scottish nationalism.
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➡️Looking at the data:

Look at this multivariate analysis of Islamophobia and Anglophobia in Scotland

It has been taken from 'Findings and Economic Research Programme on Devolution & Constitutional Change , briefings No.24, March 2005'
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We can conclude from this table:

➡️Scottish identity comes close to rivalling low levels of education as an influence towards Anglophobia

➡️Having an English friend reduces Anglophobia by about as much as having a Muslim friend reduces Islamophobia.
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"Scottish nationalism, unlike English nationalism,
does not make people significantly more Islamophobic. But at street level (though not at SNP
leadership level) it does make them more Anglophobic."
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Bottom-line: having a strong Scottish identity has a significant impact on Anglophobia.
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2⃣ Scottish nationalism has found it's 'other' in Englishness.

Whether we're talking about correlations and social attitudinal data, or examining the great Scottish literary giants of the 20th Century; Scottish nationalism has found its 'other' in the English.
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➡️Scottish nationalism ('n' or 'N') has more impact on Anglophobia than Islamophobia.

"Conversely, Scottish nationalism – with either a small ‘n’ or a capital ‘N’ has more impact on
Anglophobia" - ESRC Devolution & Constitutional Change, Briefing No.24, March 2005
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➡️The giants of 20th century Scottish literary tradition are virulently anti-English in sentiment.

We need to talk about Hugh MacDiarmid, Tom Nairn and James Kelman...
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👉Hugh MacDiarmid:

Hugh MacDiarmid’s papers in the National Library of Scotland notes and poems (unpublished) written in the first years of the second world war demonstrate his virulent Anglophobia
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‘The leprous swine in London town/ And their Anglo-Scots accomplices/ Are, as they have always been/ Scotland’s only enemies’.

In a note, he looked forward to the destruction of London — ‘earth’s greatest stumbling block and rock of offence’.
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That Hugh MacDiarmid is still held up in reverence in Scottish literary circles is deeply alarming to me.

MacDiarmid was an authoritarian as well as deeply anti-English, expressing attraction toward Mussolini, and more distantly to Hitler.
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👉Tom Nairn:

It can be seen from his books that Mr Nairn worked assiduously to engrain an anti-English sentiment.

Looking at his books 'The Break-Up of Britain' (1977) and 'After Britain' (2001), it is obvious he is pushing a national aversion to England & Englishness.
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Nairn argues that England lacks a proper intelligentsia, this being due to it not having a 'proper' revolution as the French did.

He also argues that England has failed to any vibrant or successful mode of capitalism.
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Going further Nairn argues that England is a ‘a sinking paddle-wheel state’, ‘an indefensible and inadaptable relic, neither properly archaic nor properly modern’ in his book 'The Break Up'

He even writes that England suffers from a ‘long-term irreversible degeneration'
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But not content with just that Anglophobic bile, Nairn actually sought to associate all England with the racism that killed Stephen Lawrence: ‘the country of Stephen Lawrence’
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Nairn doesn't care a jot that there was widespread disgust in England over the murder. He doesn't care that his mother, Doreen Lawrence, was given a peerage.

Nairn is only interested in painting as negative a picture of a whole country and peoples as possible
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And we can see the SNP has also taken up this rhetorical tactic in recent years, as they weaponise 'brexit' as a means of tackling their 'English question'...
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"The positioning of England as hostile to people of colour and to immigration is a major Scottish National Party trope, even though England has, proportionately, by far the largest population of immigrants & their descendants in the British Isles." -Spectator 8th Feb 2020
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👉James Kelman

Mr Kelman has been described by John Lloyd in his book 'Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot: the Great Mistake of Scottish Nationalism' as "The most prominent literary Anglophobe"
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Kelman writes that ‘the (Scots) bourgeoisie tend to go with the colonisers and the imperialists (the English) as a means of personal and group survival and advancement’.
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Kelman also explains that he refuses to read any English fiction (never a good sign when someone refuses to read something)

‘because of the class barrier. Why would you want to read things that were treating you as an animal?'
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The only problem for Kelman is that I can't think of any novel, or any piece of English writing, which treats us contemporary Scots as animals.

None.

Kelman's mindset is absurd. He actually sees Scots as oppressed, cheated and ignored by the English. Pathetic.
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3⃣ Conclusions

▪️ Anglophobia is a feature, not a bug with Scottish nationalism. The more intensely you feel your Scottishness, the higher the correlation in research to Anglophobic sentiments.
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▪️ Scottish nationalism has found its 'other' in England & Englishness. There is nothing 'civic' about this nationalism.

▪️ Scottish nationalism needs to confront the Anglophobic hatred of Scottish literary giants Hugh MacDairmid, Tom Nairn and James Kelman.
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Sources:

Devolution Briefings Towards a multicultural nationalism? Anglophobia and Islamophobia in Scotland
Briefing No.24, March 2005
web.archive.org/web/2013060308…

The Scottish literary giants who stoked the fires of Anglophobia
spectator.co.uk/article/the-sc…

Public Attitudes towards Migration in Scotland: Exceptionality and Possible Policy Implications
euppublishing.com/doi/full/10.33…

National identity and social inclusion
tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.108…

The Scottish Independence Debate: Anglophobia and Media Bias
huffingtonpost.co.uk/sophie-rodger/…