Thread by @redhistorian

Can the UK survive the rise of "muscular Unionism"?

Excellent piece by @ciaranmartinoxf on the danger to the Union from a tone-deaf, "know-your-place" British nationalism, keen to reorder the Union "on the terms of an English majority in a unitary state". journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.11…

"Muscular Unionism" is intolerant of anything that limits the power of the governing party in London. In that respect, it's part of the "executive power project": a way of thinking that rejects the democratic legitimacy of any counterweight to the majority party at Westminster.

This is especially problematic when the "Westminster Model" allows a single party to rack up huge majorities in Parliament, with only a handful of seats outside England. Westminster elections are increasingly contests between English parties for Eng votes

https://twitter.com/redhistorian/status/1381953081840128003?s=20

Devolution was an attempt to recognise the uneven balance of forces within the Union, & the danger that a Parliament in which more than 80% of MPs came from England might be insensitive to Scottish, Welsh & Northern Irish concerns. The desire to roll that back is growing stronger

As @ciaranmartinoxf points out, the danger to the Union doesn't come from English nationalism, but from a narrow, Anglo-centric version of Britishness. I discussed this in May on the @TPpodcast_ , with David Runciman, @HelenHet20 & Robert Tombs. talkingpoliticspodcast.com/blog/2021/321-…

If we want the Union to endure, we need to reject the "Kneel before Zod" mentality currently gripping parts of the right. And Westminster needs to think harder about what it might mean to view the Union as a partnership, rather than merely as a possession.

https://twitter.com/redhistorian/status/1386603908827652096?s=20