Stronger Together
The 21st century case for Scotland and Britain
Gordon Brown and Douglas Alexander 

Fabian ideas 621
ISBN 978 0 716306214
£6.95

To mark this year's 300th anniversary of the Act of Union, creating the UK, Gordon Brown and Douglas Alexander make the case for the contemporary relevance of the Union between Scotland and England and show why Scotland benefits both politically and economically.

At the launch event in Edinburgh in April, Chancellor Gordon Brown and Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander spoke of their belief in the strength of the Union and its future at the launch of their Fabian pamphlet.

They argue that it would not make economic sense for Scotland to break away from the Union with England and Wales. Trading links have helped create 200,000 more Scottish jobs since 1997 and more Scots in employment than ever before, says the publication.

"Scotland is a country advancing towards full employment instead of a country weighed down by high unemployment and its social consequences."

The authors say the SNP's politics of "grudge and grievance" refuse to recognise these economic realities. Not only is Scotland linked economically with England, but the countries' populations are linked by migration. A million Scots live south of the border and more than three quarters of a million English people live in Scotland.

The Union gives Scotland - and Britain - a powerful international voice, at a time when many political challenges are international, not local. Issues such as climate change, international terrorism and poverty need collective not individual action, say the authors.

There was a time when saying you were British meant you were probably white and probably a Protestant. Now saying you are British will not indicate the colour of your skin, your creed or culture. It must mean that you believe in fairness, in equality and in social justice. As the nations and regions of the world seek greater integration but at the same time strive to retain their distinctive identities, the Act of Union is not a historical curiosity, but a blueprint for international co-operation in the 21st century.

In Stronger Together, Gordon Brown and Douglas Alexander set out powerful arguments in support of the Union and explain why the case is strengthened by the challenges we face, not weakened by them.

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