Introduction: The Scottish Debate and the Crises of Britain

Abstract

Contemporary Britain is not a society at ease with itself at the start of the 21st century. Instead, it is characterised by multiple and deep-seated fissures, tensions and conflicts, which point to a long-term, almost existential crisis about the state of Britain, its prospects and potential future.

What happens in Brussels or Beijing can have more impact on all parts of the United Kingdom than what happens in Westminster. The cross-national interdependencies arising from globalisation diminish England’s claim to be a big fish by increasing the size of the pond. In the words of a former Belgian Prime Minister, ‘There are two kinds of countries in the world today: those that are small and know it and those that are small and don’t.’

— Richard Rose, Learning about Politics in Time and Space, 2014: 93