THE global pandemic doesn’t seem to have damped the eagerness of the BBC and British nationalist politicians to refer to the UK as a “nation” or “country” (singular). At the weekends, when Radio Scotland virtually closes down its news coverage, I listen to BBC Radio 4 news and play the game of spotting the number of times “the UK” and “our nation” are alternated and used interchangeably.

This doesn’t stop then occasionally referring to the “four nations of the UK”, apparently unaware of the illogic of a nation consisting of four nations!

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It has always needed to be challenged, it’s a deliberate strategy, and it seems to work. Burned into my memory is a doorstep conversation I had with a BritNat while campaigning for independence. I had said something about “other countries the same size as Scotland” and his reply will live with me. Curling his lip and gathering his bile, he spat at me the words “Scotland’s not a country!”

Derek Ball
Bearsden

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