It is difficult to focus on British politics when it is interrupting a blissful summer holiday, sunbathing on unspoilt, empty, white beaches with occasional dips in a gentle emerald sea set against a background of beautiful mountain scenery. No, I haven't managed to wiggle through the quarantine system to get to the Seychelles or Jamaica. This is Scotland : the Hebrides; the island of Mull. The water is on the chilly side and the rain arrived today, but otherwise I have painted a fair picture. Scotland is also a good place to look at the politics of identity. Mull is part of an SNP constituency, Argyll and Bute, both at Westminster and Holyrood. But until 2015 it had long had a Liberal, and Lib Dem , MP. Across the Loch is what was Charles Kennedy's long-held Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency. The legacy reminds us that nationalism is recent and not necessarily permanent. I found a powerful antidote to it in the cemetery of the ancient chapel on nearby Iona. There lies the simple but affecting grave of the late Labour leader John Smith: a patriotic Scot, Briton and European. I was privileged to be his special adviser in the… Read full this story
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The use of identity politics to win elections is a trend that needs to be reversed – I’m sure it can be have 313 words, post on www.independent.co.uk at July 7, 2021. This is cached page on wBlogs. If you want remove this page, please contact us.