Anthony Seldon
The Brexit vote has left us a Disunited Kingdom – but we already possess the means to overcome our divisions, says Anthony Seldon
This weekend, Britain is more disunited than at any point in living memory. The EU referendum did not create these divisions – but it has put them in stark and frightening relief. The ‘‘One Nation’’ that a defeated Prime Minister spoke about on the steps of Downing Street on Friday morning now faces the imminent prospect of break-up, as he had warned it would if Britain voted for Brexit. David Cameron will be wondering whether the country has any idea of the forces that have been unleashed by its decision to leave the EU, about what must now be done to prevent the Union’s disintegration – and how on earth we as a nation can redefine ourselves, which we now must.
It will be vastly more painful a process than the referendum or the Brexit negotiations to come. Great Britain was formed over many years, with Wales absorbed by England in 1536, Scotland with the Union of Crowns in 1603 and the Act of Union in 1707, and Ireland joining in 1801. Only southern Ireland has ever broken away, in 1922.
But within hours of the Brexit declaration, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon had called for a second referendum on Scottish independence, and Martin McGuinness suggested there was a “democratic imperative” for similar in Northern Ireland. Even without demagogues whipping up Welsh nationalist feeling, centuries of British history are on the brink of being ripped apart.
The Brexit reveals how deeply divided our supposed ‘‘One Nation’’ has become, with Scotland voting 62 per cent to Remain, Northern Ireland 56 per cent. England – which voted overwhelmingly for Brexit – is deeply torn, with the North, the countryside, older people, and those who did not attend university, determined to leave, with only the cities, parts of the South East, the young and graduates favouring remaining in the EU.
I am writing this from AlsaceLorraine, a land that has been repeatedly fought over by French and Germans, town fighting town, village against village, and family against family. What prevents the same fate befalling divided Britain?
I am here at the start of a 400-mile walk along the Western Front to the English Channel. It is in homage to a young soldier, Lieutenant Douglas Gillespie, who, 100 years ago, wrote to his headmaster suggesting a via sacra (sacred road) be created after the war was over. “I would like to send every man, woman and child in Western Europe on a pilgrimage along that via
sacra, so that they might think and learn about what war means from the silent witnesses on either side.” His vision was never realised.
Britain is now as divided as Europe was in 1914. The referendum revealed the extent of the gulf between the haves and the have-nots, a divide that has existed throughout history, but that has never been more present than now.
Trust in the bastions of the British status quo, politicians, the police, media, judiciary and business, has been rocked by a series of scandals, with the most damaging of all being the MPs’ expenses scandal in 2009. A belief has grown that they, the bureaucrats, bankers, and politicians, all have their noses in the trough while ordinary folk are left out in the cold.
Divisions within our political parties are so severe that even they may split. With the smart money on Jeremy Corbyn’s replacement as Labour’s leader being another from the party’s far Left, it is entirely reasonable to believe the party may rupture, as it did in 1981, with the SDP breakaway.
The Conservative Party, too, is more divided than at any point since the split over the repeal of the Corn Laws during the 1840s. Many Tory MPs, disgusted at certain tactics deployed by the Brexiteers, will never forgive the likes of Boris Johnson and Michael Gove for coming out in opposition to Cameron, without which the referendum would never have been lost. The likelihood of a party split is far greater if either Johnson or Gove is elected as Cameron’s successor, and it is an open question whether a compromise candidate such as Theresa May will be able to hold both wings of her party together.
But, more important than all that, what of our Disunited Kingdom? What does it mean to be British – as opposed to English, Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish – after a divisive referendum? Have we lost for ever the notions that have long united us?
The monarchy unites us still, certainly – for now. The Queen’s 90th birthday in April reminded us both of her remarkable achievements, and that she will not be with us for ever. Her successor would be unable to draw on a folk memory of having reigned for more than 60 years. The Prince of Wales has many gifts, but appealing across all parties, ages and regions is not notably one of them.
Christianity no longer unites the nation, as once it divided it between Protestant and Catholic. Prince Charles, when he is king, wants to be known as the “Defender of Faiths”, rather than just the Protestant denomination. Many of our nonChristian faiths think they need protection. There is rising antiSemitism abroad; at home, Corbyn has been singularly spineless in standing up to the anti-Semites in his party.
British Muslims are equally feeling afraid, due to the growth of Islamophobia prompted by the farRight’s response to the Isil threat and incidents of Islamist terrorism. And such sentiment has been given legitimacy by political headlinegrabbers, the likes of US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and vehement anti-immigration candidates on the Continent.
It is almost exactly 100 years since the poet WB Yeats wrote: “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; / Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.” Ironically, those who voted for Brexit to bolster British cohesion may have facilitated its dismemberment.
We must not, however, be defeatist. Much more unites British people, from the Shetlands to Land’s End, and from the Wash to Londonderry, than divides us. We may talk with radically different accents and dialects, but we share a common language which many countries, including China, India and even the United States, do not.
Many of the greatest writers in the world were British to their fingertips, and wrote sublimely in the English language, none more so than William Shakespeare, whose 400th anniversary of his death was this year. We share a common history, never more so than the experience of fighting during the two world wars, side by side. We need to do much more in our schools to teach British history, because a nation’s identity is grounded in an understanding of a collective past.
We share a common geography. We may be a nation of islands, but over 95 per cent of British people live on one mainland.
The BBC unites the nation, with its record of quality and impartiality, without parallel across the world over the 90 years since its formation. The Armed Forces and the National Health Service are similar shared institutions, which is why we should look after them more carefully.
But above all, regardless of our views on Brexit, we share a common set of values, a belief in the rule of law, a sense of fair play and decency. To these, we must now cling.
For me, the most remarkable event of the often grisly referendum campaign was not the vitriol emanating from both sides, but the way that the nation, Left and Right, young and old, North and South, united in outrage and compassion at the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox.
When Douglas Gillespie wrote to his mother on the night before he went into battle, he said he was sure that the spirit of his brother, killed on the Western Front two miles away, would be present to protect him the following day. It was to be his last evening on earth.
As I continue my walk today along the Western Front with members of Gillespie’s family, we hope to realise his dream 100 years on of a via sacra. We must also hope that the forces dividing Britons from each other can yet be vanquished by those of unity and peace.
Cameron at 10: The Inside Story by Anthony Seldon and Peter Snowdon (HarperCollins, £10.99). To order your copy for £9.99 plus p&p, call 0844 871 1514 or visit books.telegraph.co.uk. An updated edition will be available on Kindle on July 4
The Queen’s 90th birthday was a reminder how the monarchy unites us What does it mean to be British, English, Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish?