English Made To Feel Like Outsiders In Scotland

Scotland has a rather unsavoury reputation for being a country full of small minded racist bigots. But I was a bit surprised that there still is so much resentment amongst Scottish people against the English. I came across this article recently:-

"The English in Scotland are constantly reminded of being different and face a difficult task in blending in with the majority population, according to new research.

As the largest immigrant population in Scotland, they face strongly negative attitudes towards them as a group, while often being welcomed as individuals, the Stirling University study found. The findings, set to appear in the journal, Sociology, are summed up by the reports title, quoting one example of the attitudes towards those in the research: We Hate The English, But Not You, Because You're Our Pal.

Using in-depth research into the experiences of a sample of 30 English people living in central Scotland, the researchers found that "recurring moral panics" in the media about belligerent discrimination and anti-English prejudice are not borne out by the experience of the English in Scotland. But it also found that the English minority is not comfortably well-integrated as others claim.

There was a preoccupation among Scots for seeking out differences, and the study concludes this is made stronger because of the outward similarities between the English and Scots. The research is all the more timely this week after First Minister Jack McConnell set out his plans to make it easier for people to migrate to Scotland to live and work. Much of his plan has focused on bringing immigrants into Scotland from outside the UK. But one of the easiest ways of turning around the falling Scottish population could be through attracting more English workers and retaining more English students after graduation from Scottish universities.

According to the most recent 2001 Census statistics, eight out of every 100 people in Scotland were born in England, a total of 409,010. Of those in the research sample, the average person moved here at the age of 28 and had been in Scotland for 18 years.

McConnell tackled the "fresh talent" issue in his Labour conference speech in Inverness yesterday, warning of people who "are frightened by diversity and others whose intolerance and prejudice do nothing but hold Scotland back."

He added: "Welcoming new people to Scotland does not threaten Scots, their jobs or way of life. New talent will help grow the economy, create new jobs and enrich our culture, just as Scots have done across the world for two centuries".

The Stirling research found that being English is the subject of constant reminders from Scots, including teasing, jokes, questions, hostility over sports, or the assumption that they were only briefly visiting Scotland. There is stronger antipathy to some accents, such as the educated twang of the Home Counties, while Scots can be more tolerant of northern English accents, assumed to be more working class. English-born people reported they were particularly conscious of the alleged links made by Scots between English accents and being "upper" or "middle class", "posh", "arrogant", "snobby", "individualistic" or "rightwing".

Scots tend to define themselves by not being English, according to the research. And one effect of living in Scotland among the English- born is that they take on some of the perceptions of injustice and unfairness common among native-born Scots. According to one 46-year- old woman: "I've become quite nationalistic up here. I'm very much for the Scots. I can't stand the way the southern English felt they were far superior and that Scotland was nothing really."

The researchers contrasted the difference between Scots living in Scotland, for whom a sense of identity exists in the background, and English people living north of the Border who face constant reminders of their difference.

"Choosing an 'identity' - certainly in the case of those who wanted to be seen as 'Scottish' - can prove to be a problematic endeavour," said the research. "This was the case even for a relatively powerful minority such as the English in Scotland."

The evidence for that came from several quotes in the report, often from people who enjoy living in Scotland and getting on with Scots-born family, friends and colleagues.

"Englishb*****ds - it's like one word," said one 41-year-old man.

And a 39-year-old woman commented: "I got p****d off with all the put-downs I didn't want to participate in being part of the Scots culture that wants to put me down."

One woman, aged 53, said: "A lot of Scotland's raison d'etre seems to be anti-English." And a woman in her 40s added: "I don't ever admit to being English if I can possibly get out of it."

From another came the comment: "I do think the accent is a key thing actually. Not being Scottish you always kind of feel an outsider when you open your mouth."

The study was undertaken by Douglas Robertson of Stirling's applied social science department with Ian McIntosh and Duncan Sim. Robertson said the findings were relevant to efforts to increase economic immigration.

He said second-generation English immigrants tended to assimilate and it was only where migrants cluster that the difficulties of assimilation and discrimination become apparent. He added that a similar study could be made into Scots living in England, since twice as many Scots live south of the Border as English north of it".