A TORY has come under fire for saying everyone in the UK speaks "the same language".

Lord Hannan, who joined the House of Lords in February, said Scottish independence has led to "the trashing of the British brand".

He made the comment while speaking in a debate on the Dunlop Review into UK Government Union capability.

The review was written by Tory peer Andrew Dunlop and published by the UK Government in March 2021, despite having been completed before the end of 2019.

In it, Dunlop calls for a comprehensive restructuring of the way in which the governments of the UK work together in order to stave off rising support for independence.

The debate on the report, which was dominated by Unionist voices throughout, saw Boris Johnson and his Tory government frequently lampooned for showing a lack of respect to the devolved administrations.

READ MORE: Scots born since devolution will ask what the Union is even for, former FM says

Lord Hannan said: “Why are we discussing the separation of this Kingdom? We're not riven by some massive ethnic difference like Kosovo or South Sudan. In all parts, we speak the same language, we watch the same TV, we follow the same sports, we shop at the same chains, we abuse alcohol in the same way. This common affinity predates our former union."

He went on to compare his speech to James VI of Scotland who said: "Hath not God first united these two kingdoms, both in language, religion, and similitude of manners?"

Hannan continued: "For a long time after that people had a sense of shared nationality, shared characteristics. We were stubborn, we were stiff necked, we bridled at injustice, we were slow to anger, we could be morose but we had a clear sense of union fostered by our habit of intermingling so what’s changed? What’s changed, it seems to me, is the trashing of the British brand.

"If the United Kingdom as a concept is systematically derided and reduced by our intellectual elites, if our history is presented to young people as a hateful chronicle of exploitation and racism, then is it any wonder that people in the constituent kingdoms will start roping back towards older patriotisms.

"And yet I ask the question: where else in the world would you rather have been poor or female or from a religious minority? Which country has done more to spread liberty and law?

"We don’t have to make up a fable, a noble lie, we have a tremendous story to tell. We defeated attempts to unite the world under fascist tyranny, we ended slavery. It's a great song to sing and we haven’t finished singing it yet.” 

Lord Davies of the Labour party, hit back at Lord Hannan's comments. He said: “I am proud to be British, to be English and even a bit Welsh so I know that to say we have one language in these islands is the sort of destructive attitude that is driving us apart.” 

Lord Hannan was named on a list of 16 new political peers announced in December.

He is a well-known Covid sceptic and last year shared a Sunday Times piece warning that the virus was set to sweep across the country, saying: “You’re unlikely to be killed by the coronavirus. Yes, the disease is unpleasant; and, yes, in some circumstances, it can cause complications that lead to fatalities.”