AS Johnson continues his quest to suppress the Scottish identity he is asking us to believe his British fantasy.
When travelling abroad, speaking English, it has been my experience that people usually ask if you are English. Not British (or rarely) nor one of its institutions (surprisingly), but English. Johnson must know that to be true.
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However, for those of us who identify as Scottish in reply (and I would speculate that this would apply to the populations of Northern Ireland and Wales too) the reaction is markedly warmer and more engaged. Of that, I admit, Johnson will have had no experience. This is a real and well-known phenomenon in Scotland and I haven’t come across anyone who hasn’t recognised that encounter.
For Johnson, English and British will have been synonyms for most of his life. And, outwith his role in UK governance, I believe he will have used them as such. However no matter how hard he tries to change it, and no matter how much he wants it not to be, the four nations are perceived very differently abroad, and that, unlike his “one nation” hallucination, is not fantasy.
I Easton
Glasgow
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