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Alistair McConnachie

We're all Jock Tamson's Bairns


Patriotic young British people at the 2014 referendum, in Glasgow

We've had at least 12 years of listening to the Nats saying, "Britain Sucks".

It's time for to hear about how Great...Britain is, for a change.

And in that regard, we love to speak of our home town, Glasgow, as "a Great Union City" whose people stand in solidarity with all the other people of the United Kingdom.

A city which stands in solidarity not only with people in Scotland alone – as the ScotNats and Greens would have it – but we stand in solidarity with the entire United Kingdom.

As we said in our address here, it does not matter if you live in Aberdeen or Aberystwyth, Bannockburn or Belfast, Carstairs or Carlisle, Dundee or Donaghadee.

Edinburgh or Eastbourne, Glasgow or Glastonbury, we are all the same people united in history, geography, language, family ties, culture, traditions and institutions; and the Monarchy, which gave us the Union of the Crowns under the Scottish King in 1603, who became James VI of Great Britain.

And it was King James (Jack) VI who designed our wonderful Union flag!

Polls consistently show that on most political matters there is basically no difference between the thoughts of the Scottish versus the thoughts of the English.

Truly, we are all Jock Tamson's Bairns.

But here's the thing: Scottish Nationalists will say that – they'll say "We're all Jock Tamson's Bairns", but they don't really believe it!

However, unlike the SNP and the Greens, and the Scottish Nationalists, we Unionists really do believe that we're all Jock Tamson's Bairns, regardless of where in the UK you come from.

That's why we're called Unionists. The clue is in the name.

We know that Britain is the creation of all Jock Tamson's Bairns.

As Unionists we actually believe that. As Scottish Nationalists, however, all Jock Tamson's Bairns are literally only the Scottish people!

For us, we're Scottish and British. These entire Isles are our home. All of it.

We know, if only instinctively, that the UK is a Nation of Families...not just a "Family of Nations".

WE are a NATION OF UNIONS and a NATION OF FAMILIES

Too often, the British Government, and most MPs and MSPs (if they think about it at all) think of the United Kingdom as a loose association of different nations.

You hear it in the language they use: For them, the UK is a "Union of Nations", and a "Family of Nations".

And sure, we can describe it in that way to an extent. But these are very flimsy ways of thinking about the relationship. They are not sturdy ways of conceiving of the bond.

However, the UK is much more.

A remarkable coming together of unions – tribal, social, cultural, economic, regal, political, familial – all coming together into the Unitary State and One Nation which we know and love today.

The United Kingdom is the work of centuries.

It is The Great Work of Time.

E Pluribus Unum – Out of Many, One.

We are also far more than a "Family of Nations"; we are quite literally a Nation of Families.

However, if you see the UK merely as some sort of loose association of 4 distinct parts, then you are going to be open to the idea that it can be broken up if one part decides to "go its own way".

You will be open to this idea because you don't conceive – as we do – of the UK as something integral; as something sure and fundamental in itself; as something which cannot be broken.

However, if like us you see the UK as something entire in itself; if you see it as something which is permanent and inseparable in itself – One Nation Indivisible – then you are not going to accept that it can be broken up, or that one part has the right to do what it wants without the other parts having a say.

We need your help to keep saying these vital Truths about our Nation. We need to be sustainable going forward and we ensure that through our Union Supporters programme where people can donate from £1.15 a week (£5 a month) here. Please help us.

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