Professor John Robertson OBA
From: Scottish Social Attitudes | 25 years of devolution in Scotland: Public attitudes and reactions published last week:
https://natcen.ac.uk/publications/scottish-social-attitudes-25-years-devolution-scotland
The researchers offer no explanation for this recent collapse, from 2021 to 2024, in the proportion of Scots who consider themselves ‘British’, at all or best as.
Readers will have their own views. I’m guessing the rise of Reform UK, Nicola Sturgeon managing the pandemic response far better than Boris Johnson, the Partygate Scandal, UK support for Israel even before the full genocide, England fans riot after losing to Italy on penalties, and the last years of the Conservative Party might be popular choices.
A quick AI explanation:
Key Reasons for the CollapseThis shift builds on long-term trends but has intensified post-2021 due to specific political and cultural shocks. Devolution since 1999 initially stabilized dual identities, but recent events have fractured the “layered” Scottish-British sense that once held sway. Here’s a breakdown of the main drivers:
- Brexit’s Enduring Backlash: Scotland voted 62% to Remain in the EU in 2016, yet was dragged out by a UK-wide majority. This reinforced perceptions of Westminster as dismissive of Scottish priorities, eroding the “shared enterprise” of Britishness. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Post-Brexit polls show a 10-15% drop in British identification among Remain voters, with many younger Scots now prioritizing “European” over “British” affinities (up to 5% in 2024 SSA data). en.wikipedia.org As one analysis notes, Brexit “destabilised the status quo,” turning latent resentment into outright rejection.
- Revived Independence Momentum and the 2021 Holyrood Election: The SNP-Green majority in 2021 (pro-independence parties won 72 of 129 seats) reignited the 2014 referendum debate, polarizing identities further. Support for independence hit 47% in 2024 SSA—nearly double 1999 levels—correlating directly with declining British ties. natcen.ac.uk The Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling blocking a second referendum without Westminster consent was seen as democratic denial, accelerating the “falling away of Britishness.” bbc.co.uk X discussions highlight this as a tipping point: “British identity in collapse, esp. among youth.”
- UK-Wide Scandals and Perceived Moral Decline: Events like Boris Johnson’s Partygate (2021-2022) and Liz Truss’s chaotic 49-day premiership (2022) amplified views of Westminster as incompetent and out-of-touch. Scots, who lean more progressive on issues like welfare and climate, increasingly see England-dominated UK politics as antithetical to their values of “egalitarianism and solidarity.” pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov Trust in the UK government fell to 25% by 2024, down from 40% pre-2021, per SSA. southwalesargus.co.uk This echoes Thatcher’s 1980s poll tax legacy but feels more acute now, with X users calling it a “crisis of consent.”
- Demographic and Cultural Shifts: Younger generations (Gen Z and Millennials) are driving the change, with only 15-20% feeling “very strongly British” vs. 55% of over-65s. bbc.co.uk Urban areas like Glasgow and Edinburgh show the steepest drops (under 20% British affinity). bbc.co.uk In-migration from non-UK countries has slightly boosted “British only” (to 13.9% in 2022 Census), but this is offset by native Scots rejecting it amid global decolonization narratives. bellacaledonia.org.uk Culturally, the decline of shared British symbols (e.g., BBC influence waning among youth) and rise of Scottish media like The National amplify distinct narratives
- Broader Erosion of Britishness Across the UK: This isn’t Scotland-specific; British identity has waned UK-wide since the 2010s (e.g., from 50% in 2000 to 30% primary identity by 2021). e-ir.info But in Scotland, devolution created a “distinct Scottish demos,” making divergence sharper. bbc.co.uk As empires fade, regional identities revive—Scotland’s just ahead of the curve. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Sources:
https://www.gla.ac.uk/news/headline_866543/
https://ifs.org.uk/publications/15512
https://www.scotcen.org.uk/ssa-2023-generational/
https://whatscotlandthinks.org/question/are-you-in-favour-of-independence/
https://x.com/ProfJohnCurtice/status/182000123456
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2024/scotland
https://ukandeu.ac.uk/explainers/brexit-and-scottish-independence/
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Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Driven also by the colonial media which pretends to be Scottish but whose content/opinionators are relentlessly partisan.
The “ Scottish” sections of the English press has propagandists like Alex Massie, Tom Gordon, Brian Wilson/Monteith, Iain MacWhirter, Kenny Farquharson, Euan McColm et al whose only purpose is to rubbish the SNP, devolution and Scotland.
gavinochiltree
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“Why has British identity in Scotland plummeted in since 2021”
Just since 2021 ?
That’s interesting…..seems to me it plummeted long before then.
I guess ‘British’ identity is , for many, something that is now seen as being toxic and also, as an identity, is being thrust upon people within the British State….by British politicians and their media.
However I think it’s not just plummeting within Scotland……
As there are a lot of people, within individual Nations that are a part of the British State, who prefer to regard their true nationality as being first and foremost the country/Nation that they actually live in (or were born in)….be it England, Scotland or Wales…..so an enforced British identity is tolerated by some, is then accepted by some but not at the cost of some losing their other true identity/Nationality……
How many times have we heard various English politicians declare “Who speaks for England” ?………so are they then totally embracing , accepting and promoting a “British identity” ?
However we are all aware of the ‘Proud to be British but also the Proud Scot’ declaration….. where the limit of their ‘pride’ in their “Scottish” part is confined to their country, Scotland, still being a part of a UK State , that as a State, often ignores Scotland, disrespects Scotland, undermines Scotland and misrepresents Scotland’s valuable contribution, as a Nation, to their UK State….which then contradicts the “Proud Scot” declaration made by them….in that they tolerate this and accept it…….so see it as somehow appropriate ? (but that is then surely totally illogical and irrational, as a tolerable and acceptable attitude, for someone who is supposdley “proud” of their actual country, Scotland)
I would also argue that many people who opposed Brexit , and still do, did not want to be regarded as being British as it has become very much, as an identity, something that is associated with being a State that seeks division with and from others, having a misplaced sense of superiority and having a false sense of entitlement to be treated with deference compared to other countries within the world……
British exceptionalism (which the British media are far more willing to accept and promote as a false truth…compared to the media’s obvious opposition to and contempt for what they defy as ever being a reality, that is them as a media, denying “Scottish exceptionalism” actually exists in some situations).
Indeed we often read articles where British newspapers go to great lengths to try to disprove there is any such a thing as “Scottish exceptionalism”……
In Scotland there are still many more honest and fair minded people who will fear the rise of right wing parties like Reform UK, and also abhor the obvious way in which mainstream parties like Labour and the Tories are trying to adopt similar positions to Reform UK. Indeed the only reason other less honest and less fair minded people within Scotland would welcome a party like Reform UK, is that they will see Reform UK as being yet another hostile (pretend) political opponent to the SNP, as a (pretend political) party, and also as other hostile (pretend) political opponents to Scottish independence.
In England there was no alternate left wing party that existed until the announcement of Jeremy Corbyn’s newly formed party and also with the election as leader, of Zach Polanski as the new Green party leader in England & Wales.
They both , as Left wing parties, now offer the electorate outwith Scotland an alternate to the fake British Nationalism type of politics….as offered by Labour, the Tories, the Lib Dems and Reform UK (and also other rogue , specially set up parties, that declare their British Nationalistic credentials as being uber significant to them as political parties).
Both Corbyn and Polanski do not seek to rely upon an enforced false British Nationalism or fake British Patriotism as being the supposed solutions to all of the ‘British’ people’s woes within the British State….instead they promote what and who it is that prevents real change and reform happening within the UK….and they do not see it as being the fault of ‘Immigrants’ or indeed the fault of those on Welfare benefits…….. but instead they know it is the choices that are being made by successive UK governments that instigates more problems that they, as successive UK governments, fail to resolve ….where UK political parties seem way too reluctant to impose a “Wealth Tax” upon those who could contribute far far more to the finances of the UK that they too, as citizens, live within…..
That’s why it is said that ‘the ‘within the UK the rich have got richer while the poor have got poorer’….as the wealth gap has widened in recent years……because UK governments have chosen to protect the wealth of the rich while expecting the poor to pay for any of the alleged shortfall within the UK’s finances………
Scots have become far poorer as part of the British (UK) State….not just financially poor but also in the concerted efforts being made by various British (UK) governments who try to actively suppress the culture that exists within Scotland.
Whether it is the preferred chosen languages that some of us use in Scotland, as in not speaking English but speaking either Gaelic or Scots , also since Brexit they deny the source of our Scottish food and drink produce being labelled as being “Scottish” and instead label them as being British…… but also our politics in Scotland are also distinct but then that also is to be seen , by them , the British (UK) governments , as then being somehow subversive and extreme…..
Really it is a wonder that anyone in the UK would be proud to be a British Nationalist as it is fast becoming seen as a hostile identity that wants to exclude all people who are considered ‘Others’ and so then to be seen as enemies of the State…..that in reality, the enemies already exists as uber BritNats within the State…… too many enemies within it………namely all of those who declare themselves as British patriots or uber British Nationalists..
Liz S
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