COLUMN Overseas Briefing

Author: Devin Zatorski

Edinburgh — Call it Take Back Vermont, only Scottish style.
Edinburgh may sit an ocean's distance from the polarizing civil unions bill, but the late nineties saw an equally charged debate unfold here. Three hundred years after Scottish Parliament was merged with Westminster, the people of this compact nation sought to reclaim their Legislature and assert a national identity apart from England. Complex diplomatic maneuvering and a surge in public activism made it possible.
Ken Farquharson, then political editor of the Daily Record, said his newspaper "became a propaganda rag for the yes, yes vote." He's referring to the sweeping public referendum that officially reinstated the Scottish Parliament — vote yes for Parliament, and yes again to give it tax-levying powers.
The Daily Record was a voice among many.
In what became a collective rallying cry, the Scottish press campaigned hard for the Parliament, often shunning the conventions of journalistic objectivity for the cause. "It's an issue of national self-determination," said Farquharson. "It's difficult to be neutral."
So after receiving a mandate from the people, Scottish Parliament reawakened. It is now empowered to legislate on environmental policy, healthcare and education, yet foreign affairs and defense remain reserved for Westminster.
Opening day was met with pomp and pageantry befitting of the occasion. Her Majesty the Queen offered the royal blessing, and Edinburgh-born actor Sean Connery arrived in full Highlands dress.
"We've waited 300 years for this, and it can't be more momentous than that," thundered the one-time James Bond. He even called the Parliament's opening "the most important day of my life."
In its inaugural session, Scottish Parliament has passed reams of legislation — almost an attempt to compensate for 300 years of dormancy.
It extended free personal care for the elderly, and later abolished university tuition fees. And in an assertion of egalitarian spirit, it even nullified Former Prime Minister Margaret. Thatcher's subtle ban on "promoting homosexuality in schools," which is still on the books in England. In a broader sense, though, the re-emergence of a Parliament here has anchored a fresh sense of nationhood.
Amidst talk of a Scottish political renaissance — even the possibility of full independence — the vision of an all-powerful British government seems better suited for history texts than the modern day. As Scotland launched its Parliament, Wales established a National Assembly to oversee domestic affairs. And Northern Ireland has long held a tenuous degree of autonomy from the UK center.
The unity of the kingdom has been considerably loosened.
The trend towards regional devolution has also gained currency beyond these Isles. Quebec's parliament frequently bristles at the central Canadian government in Ottawa, just as the Catalonia tries to wrestle its independence away from Madrid.
Like Scotland, these are places where cultural lines don't necessarily coincide with political ones — a fact the Parliamentary Union of 1707 overlooked.
Reflecting on that fateful merger, national bard Robert Burns once lamented, "Fareweel to a' our Scottish fame, / Fareweel our ancient glory; / Fareweel ev'n to the Scottish name, Sae fam'd in marital story."
But fret not, Robert. The Union of Parliaments is dissolved.
In its own way, Scotland has been taken back.