Boris Johnson & Scottish Nationalists Big Winners in UK Election

Nationalism won yesterday in the United Kingdom.

Boris Johnson's victory will allow him take the UK out of the European Union next month. However, the results also demonstrated the growing strength of Scottish and Irish nationalism which may eventually result in the break-up of the United Kingdom.

ABC.au: "The pro-Scottish independence Scottish National Party (SNP) has taken 48 of 59 Scottish seats in the UK parliament's House of Commons, representing a gain of 12 seats compared to the 2017 general election."

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon views the election results as a mandate for a second referendum on Scottish independence. An earlier referendum failed narrowly in 2014, but that was before Brexit which is deeply unpopular in Scotland.

Brexit is also unpopular in N. Ireland and yesterday voters there elected candidates that support leaving the UK to form a union with the Irish Republic which is a member of the European Union.

Reuters: "In Northern Ireland, supporters of a united Ireland won more seats than those in the province who want to remain part of the United Kingdom for the first time since the 1921 partition which divided the British north from the Irish Republic in the south."

It would be ironic, indeed, if Boris Johnson's nationalist rhetoric was, in some small way, a catalyst for a nationalist tide in N. Ireland and Scotland that eventually resulted in the break-up of the United Kingdom.

#news #Brexit

By: Don Lam & Curated Content