Gordon Brown said parts of the UK “feel disconnected from a centralized state.” Credit: Mark Runnacles/Getty Images
London and the political system of Westminster have excluded the Scots from the Union, Gordon Brown suggested after a survey was released showing that the vast majority have no “common ties” with residents of the UK capital.
A survey commissioned by Our Scottish Future, a think tank founded by a former Labor Party prime minister, found that less than one in five Scots, 17%, said they had a common bond with Londoners, compared to 65 % who said no.
Only 15 people. % of Scots said they shared the same values as those living in the capital, compared to 68% who said Londoners 'generally have different values'.
On the contrary, the survey showed that Scots feel a strong connection with people in other parts of the UK, especially in Newcastle upon Tyne and Wales.
However, Our Scottish Future says that a third of Scots feel alienated from London , 33% said they had common ties with “English people in general” compared to 52% who said they did not.
Similarly, 29% of Scots agreed they shared the same values as the British, while 57% are different.
The former Labor Party prime minister pictured in 2014 at a rally against Scottish independence ahead of that year's referendum. Photo: Leon Neal/AFP via Getty Images
Mr Brown said: “Our survey shows that Scotland's problem is with Whitehall, Westminster and the London-centric system. Many parts of the rest of the UK also feel disconnected from the centralized state.”
The FocalData survey of 1,000 people was conducted ahead of a rally in Edinburgh on Thursday organized by the think tank.
Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales, Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, and Tracey Brabin. , mayor of West Yorkshire, will join Scottish leaders in calling for decentralization of power in Britain.
The poll showed that six in 10 Scots, 59%, said they had a common bond with Geordie, compared to up to 21 % who said no.
A similar number, 58%, said they generally shared the same values as Newcastle residents, with only 19% disagreeing. The remaining 23% said they didn't know.
Greater closeness to the Welsh
According to the survey, the Scots felt an equally strong connection with the Welsh, with 57% saying they had a common bond, while 22% did not.
The poll also showed that 46% of Scots said they had a common bond with Liverpool, compared to 28% who said they didn't. For Mancunians, the figures were 37% and 33% respectively.
Donald Cameron, Scottish Tory Shadow Constitutional Secretary, said: At every turn, the Scots feel a strong closeness and connection with the people south of the border.”
But Keith Brown, SNP Deputy Leader, said: “Scotland is suffering from the ever-tightening control of Westminster. Independence, by contrast, will mean partnering on an equal footing with our friends in the rest of the UK.”
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