Does Northern England really want to join Scotland?
A petition that garnered thousands of signatures requests that the centuries-old border between England and Scotland be redrawn, which would result in major English cities such as Liverpool and Manchester being put under Scottish governance. How realistic are the chances of this happening?
The Scottish flag flies above Parliament in Westminster, London, on May 11, 2015. The separatist Scottish National Party gained an unprecedented landslide victory in the race for seats in the British Parliament, winning 56 of Scotland's 59 seats.
Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
Northern England is sick and tired of having its interests subverted under those of the "London-centric South."聽
Or at least that is what more than 21,000 signees of a Change.org are claiming. The Guardian reported, as members of Parliament work towards handing more administrative responsibilities to local governments outside of London, some citizens of Northern England think that the region should聽, saying they "feel far greater affinity with their Scottish counterparts such as Glasgow and Edinburgh than with the ideologies of the London-centric south.鈥�
The Guardian reports:
The petition suggests the map of the UK be redrawn, extending Scotland鈥檚 southern borders along a line that runs between the mouth of the Humber and the Dee, which flows east from Wales via Chester and discharges to the sea between Wales and the聽聽in England.
The border between England and Scotland was , and is one of the oldest extant borders in the world.
The petition, started last year before a Scottish succession vote failed, also includes a demand that Scotland and "New Scotland" succeed from the United Kingdom. In recent days there has been a spike in signatures in anticipation for a Thursday visit in Manchester by chancellor George Osborne. Mr. Osborne is the only member of parliament (MP) in the new Conservative聽cabinet with a Northern English聽constituency, according to the Guardian.聽
Osborne,聽MP for Tatton in Cheshire, is expected to launch a , according to the Birmingham Mail. The plan allows for any English city that elects a mayor to be given more governing powers over their own affairs, such as controlling funds for housing and public transport. It is part of Osborne's "" plan, according to the BBC.聽
A photo essay by artist Jo Metson Scott titled "" profiled English citizens living in the northern-most part of the country in the run up to the rejected Scottish independence vote. She and her partner Sarah Saey 鈥� who wrote accompanying 聽鈥撀爁ound that many of the English living there viewed themselves as more Scottish than English.聽
"Berwick鈥檚 the nearest English place, but Kelso is nearer and that鈥檚 Scotland. The doctor, dentist, hairdresser, local co-op, local post office; everything is in Scotland so you feel more Scottish because you spend more time in Scotland doing all your bits and bobs," a woman named Lynn of Northumberland, England, told Ms. Scott and Ms. Saey. "We also get Scottish telly and have a Scottish phone number and yet we鈥檙e still classed as English."
So is New Scotland actually on the horizon?
Despite a , the original intention of the petition was to ride the wave of succession, the聽Manchester Evening News reported.
Even as the Scottish National Party rocketed to an impressive victory, taking 56 of Scotland's 59 seats in the election on May 7, the chances of moving the border seem unlikely. Though the 2014 independence vote was described by many at the time as a "once-in-a-generation" occurrence, the SNP to propose another vote as soon as 2016, according to the Telegraph.