Cameron should not be ‘feared’ of the Scots

Tim Patmore advocates "a bold approach" for the 'No' campaign in the Scottish Independence Referendum debate.

A flagship speech should not be delivered from a faraway shore

Image courtesy of the Scotman

There is a great fear amongst the Southern fairies that live beneath the Watford Gap. If they travel to the lands North of the River Tweed (in an attempt to persuade the wayward Scots not to leave the United Kingdom), they will be mocked, ridiculed, and, worse, will have a negative effect on the independence vote, making the ‘No’ campaign seem desperate.

This was reinforced a few weeks ago at Prime Minister’s questions when Ian Davidson (Labour MP for Glasgow South West) told Cameron:

“The last person Scots who support the ‘No’ campaign want to have as their representative is a Tory toff from the Home Counties.”

In response to the question, Cameron agreed with him and said that he would not join the referendum debate. Furthermore he has now made the fatal mistake of making his first prominent intervention in the debate from London, thus underlining the SNP’s case that the British government dictates things to Scotland from London / Westminster, and does not deign to listen to the concerns of those North of the border.

Hardly a "head, heart, body and soul" approach.

 

But Cameron’s line of reasoning and the perception of Scots as scary Northern Barbarians is utter nonsense or, as the Shadow Chancellor’s Twitter feed might say, “...Balls”.

 

Not only that, it is a coward’s line of reasoning. If you want to persuade people in politics, it is a capital mistake to be afraid to speak to them. It is what is known as a “bunker mentality”, and indicates a leader is out of touch with people on the ground even if, in reality, he isn’t.

The speech Cameron made was one of his best, worthy of inclusion with his EU speech, and his 2012 conference speech on a 'Greatest Hits' CD when he retires. However, even though Cameron answered the criticism of his not having made it in Scotland, it has still been relentlessly mocked by the SNP and Scottish newspapers as being precisely what is wrong with the union relationship at present.

Though the damage of the ill-chosen location has been done (surely more suitable for a second speech than a first), the damage is not terminal. Cameron would do well to completely ignore the advice of well-meaning Glaswegian MP’s and do a speech in Banffshire – the spiritual heartland of the SNP, and carefully consider a bold strategy for defeating the Nationalists on their own turf.

Polling has suggested that most Scots regard Cameron negatively, with an approval rating of -38 (compared to -10 for Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson). However, if Cameron talked to Ruth Davidson, as I have, he would know that she welcomes people from the South to come and help canvas in Scotland. At conference, I specifically asked her whether a ‘posh’ southern accent would be a problem, and she emphatically said no – it did not matter.

Furthermore, from discussions with various South-of-the-border Scots, they say that accents do not matter and, as Stephen Fry has demonstrated on QI, there are ‘posh’-speaking Scots too.

 

If Cameron really wants to save the UK, he should not reinforce negative stereotypes and the cowardly behaviour of some in Westminster. Although Scotland only has one Conservative MP, it has a surprising number of Conservative MSP’s (including Ruth Davidson herself, who is an MSP for Glasgow). There are also said to be more Conservative councillors in Scotland than in the North of England, and over 16% of Scots still vote Conservative  (with even the famed landslide 2011 Scottish parliamentary elections not showing a popular majority for the SNP).

Rather than writing off Scotland as a lost cause, Cameron would do well to take the courageous “Serving Scotland” approach of Thatcher after the set-back of 1987, which led to the Tories gaining a seat in the otherwise tough climate of the 1992 General election. Furthermore, if ‘poshness’ is a concern, he would do well to remember a bit further back in history to when the otherwise posh and clueless King George IV ended Jacobite / Anti-Union sentiment by a highly successful visit to Scotland.

Above all he could also do with listening to some of his own activists, who advocate a bold approach to the next General election in Scotland.

Although people in the South of England can often ignore the regions of the UK, there is still love in the marriage in the Union with Scotland. If Cameron wants the marriage with Scotland to survive, he could do a lot worse than renew those marriage vows in person.