Cameron: BBC and NHS are key reasons for The Union

David Cameron caused some controversy last week when an article for The Telegraph suggested that he thought Scotland could thrive outside of The Union.  Today, in Gretna Green, he is delivering a short speech in favour of the Union.  Here are his key messages:

Security interests: "Over the centuries, Scots have made an outstanding contribution to the UK's military successes, from Waterloo to D-Day, from the Falklands to Afghanistan.  Scotland punches above its weight in Britain's Armed Forces and Britain punches above its weight in the world because of the expertise and bravery of those Armed Forces.  Scotland benefits from the expertise of the Metropolitan Police and MI5 in fighting both terrorism and organised crime."

International weight: "Britain is one of only five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.  We have a seat at the top table and are listened to in a way that other countries can only dream of.  Our ability to influence the European Union derives from our size within it.  Smaller countries frequently complain that the EU is dominated by the bigger countries.  Certainly, the UK would never have achieved its rebate without the institutional muscle that comes from a population of 60 million people."

Shared prosperity: "Britain has the fourth largest economy in the world.  The City of London is overtaking New York as a global powerhouse.  Edinburgh's role as a major financial centre is built on the expertise of its workforce and underpinned by its position in the UK. "

The NHS: "The NHS is one of the greatest institutions created in 20th century Europe.  It is the best of British, created by a Welshman and benefiting enormously from the skill of doctors trained in Scotland's great medical schools, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen."

The BBC: "Another institution we can all be proud of is the BBC.  The British Broadcasting Corporation was founded by a Scotsman and is the most prestigious broadcaster on earth.  People around the world tune into the BBC for news they can trust.  The BBC also reminds us of our common culture.  Programmes like Doctor Who and Mastermind aren't English or Scottish - they're British."

Comments

[Michael McGowan]

The NHS and the BBC are great institutions. He really is scraping the barrel if this is the best he can come up with.

[Tim Aker]

"Another institution we can all be proud of is the BBC."

What is this man trying to do??? After the Greg Dyke fiasco, he's now out to praise the inherently biased, anti-conservative BBC. What is he smoking?

[Justin Hinchcliffe]

Bollocks!

[History Man]

Act of Union: England/Wales passed in 1535/1542; England/Scotland passed in 1707; Great Britain/Ireland passed in 1800.

BBC: founded in 1922 as a private company; nationalised in current form as public corporation in 1927.

NHS: launched 1948. Does not exist in Northern Ireland, although there is something called Health & Care NI which is sort of the same. Ceased to exist as a uniform body in 1999 when it was broken up and the Scottish and Welsh parts were handed to the devolved administrations.

[Happy Tory]

How about the millions and millions of "English" people who have Scottish ancestry and Scottish surnames? We English are more closely tied to Scotland than many might think and would lose great richness from our heritage if we were not united.

[DrFoxNews]

Well heaven forfend anybody should ever utter a word in praise of the BBC. Thank the Lord (and Dr Fox) that ConservativeHome brought this craven adulation of that hive of unreconstructed Trotskyism to our attention yet again.

[Tally]

Cameron said today he does not want to be an English Prime Minister. Those words will come back to haunt the prick. I notice he has not mentioned English contibutions to the union. Camerons "sour little Englander's" are not worth a mention.
Cameron might well be a tory leader but he will never be an English leader. I do not trust that anti English bastard with England's future.

[Jon Gale]

The BBC and NHS are two well-loved British insitutions.

Nigel Lawson said the NHS was the national religion. The BBC in particular is an international symbol of Britain and Britishness.

Heaven forbid a Conservative should want to conserve great institutions loved by the public!

[don beadle]

The main danger to the Union comes not from the SNP but from the people of England who are beginning to realsise how unfairly they are being governed. And it is no use thinking that EVoEL would be any solution as that, besides being impractical, deals only with parliamentary voting and not who governs England ie many Ministers who do not represnt English constituencies.
It may now be too late to save the Union as all MPs in Westminster have ignored the problem for too long. At this eleventh hour the best hope is the English Constitutional Convention that David Cameron should support.

[Eleanor Justice]

Well said Tally agree with every word, but of course when England does get her own Parliament,Cameron being the gent he is will do the right thing and stand down****
WONT HE?

[colin ray]

I noticed that in his support for the NHS, Mr. Cameron's omission of the fact that it has become a health apartheid, with life-saving drugs freely available to the Scots but denied to English patients on grounds of cost. Free prescriptions for the Welsh, while costs for the English are increased. Free nursing care for the Scottish elerly, while our English old folk are forced to sell their homes.

And then we can add free tuition fees for Scottish students while our English students take on debts that take many years to repay.

Perhaps, when Mr. Cameron insulted we English by calling us "Sour little Englanders", he should have given some thought as to the reasons why St. George is getting Cross.

[Jon Gale]

Eleanor,

Why would Cameron have to stand down as UK PM if there was an English parliament?

[MagicAldo]

There may be some good points in his statement. Despite its socialist/PC bias, the BBC does embody "British" culture, and one only has to imagine the implications of an Anglo/Scottish separation for the BBC to realise what sort of huge impact such a split would have on mainstream culture in the two countries. [Consider Ireland, for example. Many Irish residents watch BBC output, but it has little Irish content. By contrast almost no UK residents watch RTE output.]

But I think Cameron is missing the big picture. Given our relative popularity in England & Scotland, could he not have been more open-minded about the matter. Perhaps suggest both advantages and disadvantages of an independent Scotland. He has virtually nothing to lose in Scotland. . and a more balanced speech would have given him greater credibility there. As a strong leader in England (with a majority of votes), he is surely entitled to say to Scots: "You make up your own mind based on the arguments . . whatever you decide, we will not be responsible".

[Wayne Bridges]

What on earth is this idiot doing praising the BBC! - He might as well join the Labour Party now and have it over with!

[Wayne Bridges]

What on earth is this idiot doing praising the BBC! - He might as well join the Labour Party now and have it over with!

[Michael McGowan]

If the NHS and the BBC are the main reasons for staying in the Union, then if I were a Scot, I would definitely vote SNP. The idea that a public sector monopoly broadcaster joined at the hip to the Labour Party and dispropoptionately staffed by the inhabitants of West London "represents" Britain is a joke. Likewise a healthcare delivery system which has consistently failed to meet public expectations despite devouring monumental sums of public money.

[Peter Hatchet]

I agree with "History Man" at 12:11

Both the BBC and NHS are institutions that have been created in the last 80 years.

The union was in existence for 200 years before that and provided many benefits for Scots without them.

Having said that, Camerons first 3 points are very apt and very relevant. These should be given greater emphasis.

You could also add how the union also binds together the commonwealth, the value of how something as simple as the union flag still represents a great deal around the world - even in many other nations flags - and how it has represented peace, tranquility and stability in these islands.

But, of course, the strongest reasons to keep Scotland part of the union is much more abstract and nebulous.

We have intertwined families, shared history, (largely) shared protestant religion, shared economic and literary heritage - much more shared culture than we give ourselves credit for - and we hold similar political values.

We *feel* funny about Scotland separating, because it would feel like a personal divorce for many of us and we'd be admitting defeat that we can't find a way of making a 300 year old union of peoples work in the 21st century.

It's an emotional argument, but, for me, it would feel like amputating a leg.

Scotland is part of our country and I think we'd all feel much worse for losing it.

[TaxCutter]

The only reason I can think of why Dave has talked such blatant nonsense about the BBC and the NHS is to disguise the ridiculousness of the comments about the UK influencing the EU and even suggesting that the United Nations means anything. I remain concerned that he still doesn't get it

[DavidTBreaker]

The BBC is left wing, but it's not a reason to abolish it - it's a reason to reform it. As an institution it's respected around the World, didn't Kofi Annan call it the 21st Century's greatest gift to the World? It also produces many great programmes, which as a small country could never be made commercially in such quantity. If you think the BBC is bad, watch TV in France or Spain, or even try without the BBC.

The NHS again needs reform, but could be made good. I wouldn't use it as an example of why to defend the Union, but it suits many so why not?

Cameron could have added the Bank of England, created by the Scottish banker William Paterson; Sherlock Holmes, wrote by Scottish born Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; the steam engine, invented by Scottish born James Watt; the first television, created by Scottish born John Logie Baird; and the free market economist, Adam Smith. That's just off the top of my head, so there must be more.

The biggest threat to the Union is now in England, I feel, but it shouldn't be. The West Lothian Question is unfair against England, BUT England still voted for a Labour government. Yes, the majority would be smaller, and they may conceivably have lost a few votes in Parliament, but do you think Labour MP's would rebel anywhere near as much if there was serious risk of losing?

Howard only just secured more votes in England than Blair, but not as many seats, and turnout in strong Labour seats is always very low. Had the election been looking closer, or Presidential style (i.e. a national ballot instead of seat by seat), Labour turnout would have been far higher. Labour, sadly, won.

As for money, Scotland disproportionately costs the UK, but so does Northern Ireland, Wales, the North East, coastal and rural areas, the inner cities, the Falklands and Iraq. Should we "get rid" of all these as they cost more than they contribute? North Sea oil offsets Scotland's costs a great degree. Scotland would also have a great fishing industry but Edward Heath binned it in Brussels. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also form a large part of the Armed Forces.

[clive elliot]

Free prescriptions, more drugs available, more money for the elderly's upkeep,no student fees, etc., all these cost money. I don't mind the Scots/Welsh having them, and other things if they vote for them, as long as they pay the costs themselves through their own taxes.

The thing that is difficult to stomach is that both Scotland and Wales have much higher public expenditure per head than we do in England. In effect we English are paying for them to get benefits which we ourselves are denied.

We are idiots. No wonder the Nationalist parties are going well!

[George Hinton]

Surely the Union is worth more than the BeeB and the NHS. Who on earth selected the two most leftist organisations in the UK as being representative of the Act of Union 1707.
This is as shambolic as trying to select bleeding heart leftie Dyke as our candidate for London Mayor.

[601]

"David Cameron caused some controversy last week when an article for The Telegraph suggested that he thought Scotland could thrive outside of The Union."

Why is this controversial ofcourse Scotland could thrive outside the U.K.

[MikeA]

Er, Dave I realise you are trimming your speech to a Scottish audiance, most of who voted Labour and probably work in the public sector, but.....
"The expertise of the Met Police"..the same force that lets crime run rampant in the dark streets of London and would rather spend it's time filling in forms and attending diversity meetings that fighting crime and arresting bad guys.
"We have a seat at the top table and are listened to in a way that other countries can only dream of"...no-one listens to us any more or is prepared to support us when our sailors are illegally held hostage, after the debacle of Blair's foreign policy
"The NHS is one of the greatest institutions created in 20th century Europe"...it is a absolute disaster into which we could spend our entire GDP and it would still be a disaster
"Another institution we can all be proud of is the BBC"...the BBC makes me puke. It is basically a TV version of the Guardian. It pushes it's left-liberal bias at every opportunity and does not hide it's overt bias against conservatives and it's support for NuLab and Big Government. I hate it

[Cumberland]

I'm sure Cameron realises, as all MPs and indeed all our politicians do, that the NHS is wonderful, and that to say otherwise upsets the entire voting nation. The same applies to the BBC, if slightly less so. It is a matter of Pavlovian type reflexes. To socialist back bench Labourites such reflexes are their main response to many many British social problems. Just say "Fox hunting", or "Secondary school selection" for example and the shrieks of genuine outrage from the Labour back benches can be heard for miles around. Reason is unavailing. That's Pavlovian reflexes, and it shames our democracy, though to say so in Westminster will produce those shrieks from the entire house. The entire house, otherwise known as the elected dictatorship, or the left-liberal ruling elite.
From the practical point of view we all need to support Alex Salmond who likes the English and promises not only English independence but also a friendly neighbour on our Northern border. None of our three main parties, all led by Scotsmen will offer the English anything in comparison.

[Henry]

The Unionists are just getting desperate now. We in England have noticed Blair and Cameron paying homage to the Scots in an embarassingly pathetic attempt to be elected to their Scottish Parliament.

Not one of them can tell the English what's in it for them.

NHS? Crap. More like the National Apartheid Service if you live in England. Cancer? Scottish? Fine. Here's the drugs that will keep you alive. English? Sod off and die quietly and cheaply. Oh and thank you for your contrubition to the Union. Those Scottish votes are not as cheap as English votes.

It must infuriate the Unionists when the dying little englanders dare to complain about the barnett formula. They are obviously not showing enough respect to the Scottish.

Bring on Gordon. Let's see the colour of the tartan that will end the Union. Cameron's tartan is cut from the same cloth. It will finish them both off in England.

[Goldie]

"The NHS is one of the greatest institutions created in 20th century Europe."

In fact, the NHS is a killing machine. The level of quality in the NHS is comparable to health care in Rumenia.

[allenglish]

DavidTBreaker
“or even try without the BBC.”

Been there, done that!

Still relishing it.

[Effie Notts]

In fact, the NHS is a killing machine. The level of quality in the NHS is comparable to health care in Rumenia.

That is totally insulting to Doctors, Nurses and all Ancillary personnel working in the Health Service.
It is no wonder that the Tories cannot rid themselves of the 'Nasty Party Image'
Most people using the NHS will tell you that their particular experience has been good, but they have heard rumours to the contrary about others, not having such a good experience but we never hear of them actually being named.
It remind me of the old newspaper trick "We have heard from a source etc etc"
Speak as you find!

[Eleanor Justice]

John. Because Mr. Cameron said in a speech in Scotland,That he did not want to be a Prime Minister for England ,but a Prime Minister of the U.K,so when the English get their Parliament(and they will)this man who calls us "sour little Englanders" and sings Scotland praises, but never mentions England if he can help it ,would surely be happier tending his chickens,or whatever

[Occasional Visitor]

On this and other topics, such as the EU, it seems that the leadership is striving with all its might to snatch electoral defeat from the jaws of victory.

[Adam]

But Eleanor dear, should we have an English Parliament, why would we not have a UK Parliament as well?

[David Sergeant]

Please. Cameron was making an election speech in Scotland. Can the loones please grow up and recognise the world they, and anyone intending to be a politician inhabit.

[Ian Campbell]

Well, the NHS is not British any longer - where has Cameron been?
No reason why the Beeb can't continue if there's a demand for its services after the Union is dissolved. After all they watch it in the Republic of Ireland and on the Continent. However, in Scotland the Beeb is seen as the English Broadcasting Company and they may not want it.
Cameron has said he does not want to be PM of England - let's take him at his word and ensure that he never is.

[Stephen Gash]

The way Cameron talks I can't for the life of me understand why the United Kingdom needs England.

Cameron falls over himself to praise Scotland's achievements and constributions and now Wales.

They don't need England as England may as well not have been in the Union.

So England had best get out of the Union and allow the Scots and Welsh to get on with it.

I don't know what England will do with all the CeltGelt which has been passing over the borders to Wales and Scotland though.

[Steve Wyatt]

Cameron, and one or two other posters here, are undert the delusion there is something called "British Culture". What tosh, there is no aspect of so called British Culture that does not involve an arm of the state. Anything that embodies Britishness is of a "top down" nature whereas true culture is of a "botton up" nature. Britishness is just about the best con trick since Tony Blair said " i've got an idea...why don't i make John Prscott deputy PM". Becoming an English nation state is our way forward and arch unionists like Cameron are slowly becoming a dying breed...thank goodness.

[TomTom]

"Britain has the fourth largest economy in the world.

Think that statistic is out of date...anyway Korea is already at 75% German per capita income and Italy will overtake Germany this year. China has already surpassed the US as global exporter and next year is forecast to beat the No1 global exporter, Germany.

Before the Highlanders were smashed at Culloden The Crown used German, ie Hessian and Hannoverian troops to fight in Scotland and in North America.

10% British Army is from The Commonwealth today, so there would still be room for Scots soldiers....after all they would not be overflowing with employment alternatives

I think we should offer the SNP a Referendum in England, eject the scots and invite Canada to join with England instead

[Patrick Harris]

The BBC can't spell England let alone say the word, it's Scotland, Scotland, bloody Scotland all the bloody time, a Martian would think that the only elections being held were in Scotland - Hello - there are elections in ENGLAND too you know. Tony asked for a good kicking - He'll definitely get one.
David, thinks he's on safe ground by proposing EVoEL, not good enough old son - the sour little Englanders are nicely coming to the boil. English Parliament or the Tories can stay on the opposition benches for ever as far as I'm concerned.

[Fred Bishop]

No wonder he called us little Englanders.
If you listen to all his speeches, we don't exist.

All the bloodline leaders of the 'three in one' parties are looking North to the 4.5 million Scots.
They do not see the 50 million Englishmen coming up on their southern flank to trample them

[HomeRuleforEngland]

Mr Cameron says that he does not want to be PM of England. So when the SNP win and Scotland declares independence, whats he going to do? If he loves Scotland so much why doesn't he stand for election there and give us English a break?

[Henry]

The Scots are now saying, "Vote Tory, Get Labour."

Well done Dave. You've just boosted the SNP's standing. They are now the ONLY Party that actually does what it says on the packet.

When you next visit the Isle of Jura in Scotland, to shoot the docile animals living there, who do not have guns and do not fight back, please buy a one-way ticket and stay with your beloved Scots. But don't visit the mainland. They don't want you there!

[will hanlon]

The BBC is the most consistantly anti-English organisation within the so called UK and is a disgrace,Scotland is welcome to it.As for cameron please go to Scotland dave you are made for each other.An English parliament cant be far off now the unionists are running scared,oh and "dave"take the barnett formula with you.

[John Coles]

First the flirtation with Greg Dyke, now this confession of love for the NHS and the BBC. Is there anyone at all who believes that Mr Cameron is a Conservative?

[Edward Longshanks]

Looks like the rumour, that Blair is going to hand over the leadership of the Labour Government to compatriot Cameron, is true after all!

Nowt to choose between 'em nowadays anyway. They're both anti-English.

[Patrick Harris]

Yesterday, Jack Straw had the guts to climb to the Portcullis House flagpole to test the theory that, because of health and safety issues, the Union Flag could not be flown, work is now in hand to remedy the problem and "the Union Flag will be flying before the next recess or sooner" bugger, he just missed the chance to fly the CoSG flag on Monday 23rd April. I'm taking bets, that before very long, the European Ring Of Shite will be billowing in the wind.

[Glenn Bowen]

BBC reporters could present a 15 second piece on snakes molting their skins, and a viewer would come away from it knowing it was all his fault.

No thanks.

[Tommy]

Being an Englishman there is only one thing I can do, not vote conservative in the next election.

[james allen]

cameron has got to cut down the bbc and axe it if they don't correct their bias.. i'm sick and tired of seeing the constant anti-conservative shite being smeared over the viewer's faces.. Take the current NHS series - makes me sick how distorted the coverage is. Always the same. My God, this country would sink if the Beeb had their way - someone has to stop it!!

[Maria]

"Cameron could have added the Bank of England, created by the Scottish banker William Paterson; Sherlock Holmes, wrote by Scottish born Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; the steam engine, invented by Scottish born James Watt; the first television, created by Scottish born John Logie Baird; and the free market economist, Adam Smith. That's just off the top of my head, so there must be more."

A nice bit of bragging (not all of it wholly accurate) by DavidTBreaker.

But then there's the Bank of Scotland, created by John Holland, an Englishman, and the modern kilt, created by an Englishman, and the World Wide Web - created by Tim Berners-Lee, an Englishman, and...

We can all play childish braggart games, can't we?

And HappyTory - why do you whine about "English" (also, why the speechmarks?) people with Scots ancestry and or/names. The same applies to the Scots with the English. Do grow up - beng neighbouring countries out of the Union does not mean we lose anything from our heritage. English and Scots are nationalities, not races.