麻豆约拍

Richard Holloway delves into the history of the Scottish version of Britishness.

In the late 18th and early 19th century, Britishness without rule from Westminster was almost unthinkable. The extensive sovereignty of the imperial parliament was so important that arguably Britain lost its American empire over it. But in the later 19th century and early 20th century, it became evident that the empire, especially the white dominions, couldn't just be governed from London - and then there were the Irish... Parliamentary union with Ireland hadn't worked out quite as expected. But could you still be British, if you had your own parliament and weren't ruled from Westminster? 'Yes' said some and 'No' said others - sounds quite familiar doesn't it?