Today's contribution to our 'Tell Us Your Story' campaign is a short one from Jennifer McGeoch: A Citizen of Scotland
This is important to me not just because of the historical nature of the bond that was forged by 4 different countries, hundreds of years ago to unite as one for the common good of all, but for me as an individual within this union.
I am a citizen of the UK. I am a British citizen. Moreover I am also a citizen of Scotland. I am in many ways blessed by where I have been born in the world.
Until a few years ago it was something I took very much for granted. Like breathing, it was natural. It was there and it was part of me, something not to be questioned as it's part of my very being and identity.
My UK passport proudly shown when travelling abroad.
Scottish Nationalists want to tear part of this identity away from me. They want to diminish me by stripping away a central plank of who I am. By removing me from a Union that makes me British. They want to withdraw Scotland from the three other nations in which our union is so closely intertwined. Separate me from countries where many of my relatives and friends live. Put up barriers where none have been.
The Scottish nationalists want to diminish our horizons and limit us. This is narrow mindedness and certainly not a trait we are known for here in Scotland (until now).
The Unity of the United Kingdom is something very precious, it's to be prized and nurtured. Like The Musketeers of Alexander Dumas, the motto of the UK should be: "All for one and one for all."
If the nationalists ever did get their way then I would feel personally violated, extremely sad and a stranger in my own land.
- Jennifer
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