Back to the future...

So that’s it and I am pleased to say that this great nation of ours remains united - long may it continue.

Of course the whole independence thing is a delusion. Yes, Scotland could have voted themselves out of the United Kingdom but in truth it would have remained interdependent. How could it not? The world is an increasing small place and day by day everyone becomes more and more dependent on each other. What Japan or America or France does effects us all, how could Scotland think that it could ‘break free’? Independence is simply an illusion in an interdependent world of climate change, diminishing resources, and financial indexes.

The good news for the United Kingdom in all of this is that big changes are going to come out of this whole exercise. But then a re-evaluation is long overdue. Westminster is going to have to reinvent itself just like the monarchy has done since the death of Dianna. She was the Royal’s wake up call and the Scottish independence referendum is going to prove to be Parliament’s. The alarm clock has gone off and for once the politicians are going to have to listen.

The more I think about it, the more I think that a kingdom as large as ours run from Westminster is archaic and really not that much different from being ruled by a single monarch. Yes I know we have a democratic government, but in reality what does that mean? Are the needs and views of the Cornish being taken into account? And what about Lincolnshire, or even Yorkshire – although it goes against the grain to give Yorkshire any more big-up than they already give themselves.

Yes, smaller could be beautiful.

Why not a return to the old Anglo-Saxon kingdoms? It strikes me that they were a nice manageable size; small enough to be pretty inclusive, but large enough to manage as an interdependent whole when required. We’d need to sort out what our new kingdoms could control for themselves and what would be managed collectively, but in general it could work and the names conjure up all manner of memories and images: Wessex, East Anglia, Mercia, Wales, Ulster, Northumbria, Caledonia, and of course I’d be happy to have Cornwall and the Scottish Isles as separate kingdoms if they wished - not Essex though.

Each kingdom could have an elected ‘king’, with an elected ‘chief king’ replacing the Prime Minister. I’m sure that we’d all get on swimmingly and if it were to happen I’d be happy to be king for a while. Vote for King Andrewbert the Unprepared!

Of course I’m not serious about the king thing, just letting my imagination run away with me just a little. But I am hoping that Westminster has learnt a long awaited lesson from all of this. We came very close to losing a big part of The United Kingdom; some might even say that although Scotland remains with us (just) we are now less united than ever. Time to start doing something about that and the devolution of England could be the way forward.

We’ll see, but at least we know now what the political parties will be fighting and squabbling about in the lead up to the next election. Perhaps it’s time for them all to start trying harder.