It struck me today that Scotland's place and influence in the world is similarly disproportionate to its size (land mass and population) as England. Any proud Scot who knows their history will point at the incredible contributions made in the world of science and technology, literature and art. Just as an example, take a look at Wikipedia's entry for Scottish inventors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Scottish_inventors. Apart from the more well known John Logie Baird and James Watt there is a plethora of similarly gifted engineers and scientists who have shaped our modern world. A Brit (for I call myself that first, English second) might claim these achievements for themselves but that might diminish Scotland's unique national identity and it's son's and daughter's contributions.
My thoughts led me down this path from a comment made by Tony Blair yesterday about who would succeed him to the Labour Party Leadership. He said simply that he thinks it will 'be a Scot'. A barely disguised reference to Gordon Brown and, it might be inferred, implicit support for him. Whilst I am not particularly political I do detect that Scottish intellect, creativity, drive and, yes, passion in Brown that can only be good for Britain. Assuming of course Scotland doesn't end the 300 year old Union and seek full independance. I wonder where Brown would sit then?
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