Two weeks ago the Campaign for an English Parliament wrote to Kezia Dugdale asking her to publicly acknowledge that England entered into Act of Union in 1707 as a nation. We also asked her to stop suggesting that another country (England) is broken-up for the benefit of Scotland.
Please read the letter and Kezia Dugdale’s comments.
Currently Kezia Dugdale has not replied to the letter.
Best
Eddie Bone
Campaign Director
Campaign For an English Parliament
The letter is below
Kezia Dugdale MSP
M1.07 The Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP
Dear Ms Dugdale
In regard to your comments dated the 7th December 2016
It was reported that on the 7th December 2016 at an IPPR event you unveiled your proposal for a new Act of Union to save the UK. Your speech raised some serious concerns. I am writing to request that you respond to these concerns at the earliest opportunity.
You mentioned in your speech that:
“The Act of Union of 1707 still underpins the relationship between Scotland and the rest of the UK. In fact, it forms part of the argument that the Scottish Government will be using this afternoon in the Supreme Court”.
With respect you made a fundamental historical error by claiming that the Act of Union of 1707 was between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom because it was not. The Union was between ‘the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland as is expressly stated in the Act of Union 1707. Below is a chart outlining the evolution of the UK to help you understand the truth.
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/files/2014/06/ruk_info_email.jpg
I hope you can publicly correct your error by acknowledging England entered into Act of Union in 1707 as a nation. Such errors and the rewriting of history does not improve the stability of the UK as it appears to any English organisation that you are putting Scottish and the Scottish Labour Party’s interests above the national rights of another country: England!
I was pleased to note that you admitted that devolution had been beneficial for Scotland. It was however disappointing to see that you didn’t mention that it was England which was the nation that had been ‘left behind’.
I hope you will acknowledge that is England that has been left to raise taxes for the UK and has been left without a parliament, government or a First Minister?
You stated:
While devolution has been positive for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, we have to acknowledge that progress has been erratic and while there has been significant progress in some parts of the UK, other parts have been left behind.
But it was your proposal that most worried me as the words which you used appear to be anti-English and could easily be construed as racist. The Oxford dictionary states that racism is the:
‘belief in the superiority of a particular race’.
To confirm what you stated:
“This would mean a radical reshaping of our country along federal lines where every component part of the United Kingdom – Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the English regions – take more responsibility for what happens in their own communities, but where we still maintain the protection of being part of a greater whole as the UK.”
You are proposing, as a Scot, that England should be broken-up and that governmental changes are required to be put in place to ensure it cannot be reversed.
I have no issue with you putting ‘Scotland first’ you have every right to as a Scot. To suggest however that another country is broken-up for the benefit of Scotland is appalling especially as your intention is to put Scotland in a superior position over England.
Also I hope you can see that it appears as blatant hypocrisy from you to condemn nationalism and yet to claim that Scotland needs to be on a footing of equal importance to the UK government?
I shall await your reply for two weeks from the date hereof before taking this matter further.
Yours sincerely
Eddie Bone
Campaign Director
Campaign for an English Parliament
Mobile 07980667732
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