National tensions exposed within Brexit Britain | Letters

As David Marquand points out, the UK is a multinational state and two parts of it, Scotland and Northern Ireland, voted to remain in the European Union

David Marquand asserts that "there is no such place as Britain" (How can Britain exit the EU? Britain doesn't really exist, 13 January). If Britain is not a nation, to what nation does the "national" refer in "National Rail", "National Trust", "national debt" etc? No Welsh embassy, Scottish passport, Northern Irish armed force, or English international dialling code exists. All nations are artificial, invented constructs. The UK is no less a country than each of its constituent nations.

It is perfectly possible for a nation state to be multinational. Marquand calls France a nation state, yet nationalist Bretons assert their own national identity. Basques and Catalans constitute different national groups but there is no doubt that the Kingdom of Spain, like the United Kingdom, is itself a country.

Continue reading...