On July 4th, a general election was held in the United Kingdom (UK). The results speak volumes about what has happened in the UK in recent years.

Of the 650 constituencies, the centre-left Labour Party won 411 seats, compared to 209 seats in the 2019 election. The party added 202 seats to its tally. The centre-right Conservative Party (also known as the Tories) won 121 seats, compared to 365 seats in the 2019 election. The party lost 244 seats. The Liberal Democrat Party won 72 seats, compared to 11 seats in the 2019 election. The party added 61 seats to its tally. The Scottish National Party (SNP) won just 9 seats, compared to 48 in the 2019 election. The party lost 39 seats in Scotland.

The Labour Party has a majority of 174 seats in parliament, making the opposition insignificant. A landslide victory for the Labour Party ended 14 years of Conservative rule since 2010. Conservatism and populism were defeated.

The result shows two important developments: the electoral gain of the Labour Party and the electoral loss of the SNP. During the era of Prime Minister Tony Blair (1997-2007), who represented the Labour Party, relations between London (England, in the south) and Edinburgh (Scotland, in the north) had soured. Differences in the distribution of financial resources became apparent. After the end of the Cold War (1949-1991), Scotland saw a sharp decline in its two main industries, shipbuilding and coal mining, which closed in 2001. The remaining industries are seafood processing and packaging and whisky production. To their horror, the Scots discovered that they were illiterate and thus lagging behind in the modern age of information technology. Their over-reliance on manual labour had made them redundant. This led to a wave of unemployment in Scotland, which led to a revival of right-wing conservatism, the so-called Scottish nationalism. This encouraged the SNP to shout slogans for Scottish independence by holding a referendum.

After 2001, four factors deteriorated the UK economy. First, the UK eagerly entered the war against Iraq in 2003. War expenditures caused a drain on financial resources. Second, the ongoing war on terror (2001-2021) drained the UK’s financial resources, although George W. Bush, President of the United States (US), promised to compensate the UK by offering contracts to make money from the American economy. Third, the US allowed China to join the World Trade Organization in December 2001. The policy was political, advised by Henry Kissinger to appeal to China, as the US did on his advice during the Cold War, but the consequences this time were economic. As a result, while both the US and the UK were busy waging the war on terror in the Greater Middle East (including Afghanistan), Chinese manufacturers rampaged through their economies, driving indigenous manufacturers out of business. Fourth, after 2001, Canada accelerated the rate of immigration of educated and skilled workers from all over the world, regardless of an immigrant’s race, color, ethnicity, or religion. Furthermore, Canada presented itself as a peaceful and safe destination for investment. Consequently, funds from both the U.S. and the U.K. flowed into Canada to help it expand cities and establish mega-industrial hubs. As a smaller country, the U.K. suffered more financially than the U.S.

In the UK, after 2001, the English found themselves deprived of the financial means to govern the country, while the Scots felt incongruous with new ways of earning money. As a result, unemployment hit both sides of the UK, straining the already shaky London-Edinburgh relationship.

During the Conservatives’ rule (2010-2024) over the UK, the centre-right SNP remained an exciting figure in Scotland. While the Conservative Party in London wanted the UK to leave the European Union (EU), the SNP in Edinburgh opposed Brexit. The SNP did this to secure its reach to the EU in the event that Scotland became independent. Nevertheless, the SNP lost the referendum held in September 2014 on the issue of independence. Interestingly, the UK, by invoking Article 50 of the EU, under the influence of English nationalism, left the EU in January 2020, only to discover immediately afterwards that it was a wrong democratic decision, mainly driven by the youth, who had little understanding of the connection between economics and politics. While Scottish nationalism was damaging Scotland, English nationalism was damaging the whole of the UK.

After losing 39 seats to the Labour Party, the SNP has now been reduced to just 9 seats to fear that it has wasted almost two decades in spreading Scottish nationalism. The nationalist Scots continued to find ways to extort money from the only foreigners, who happened to be overseas (non-EU national) students seeking admission to Scottish universities. Ironically, the Scottish government announced that overseas students undertaking postgraduate degrees at Scottish universities would be given a two-year work permit, under a scheme, The Fresh Talent, introduced in 2005. As a result, Scottish universities were flooded with overseas students, including Pakistani students. At this point, Scottish universities committed unworthy acts: they ran bogus courses (with attractive titles but discreditable and misleading content), just to make money, in the name of supporting the Scottish economy. The University of Glasgow was the driving force behind the campaign: in the middle of postgraduate research courses, the university told foreign students to change their subject and research project. If a foreign student complained, the complaints procedure was delayed for four to six months to discourage the student. If someone persisted, the university hired the services of shady Glasgow lawyers to embroil the case. Dozens of foreign students (including Pakistani students) were unable to complete their postgraduate research courses because of the university’s cunning strategy, which failed to realise that the foreign student had never been to Scotland to fight a legal case, but to obtain a degree. The Scottish government and media remained silent about the malpractice.

In short, while the Labour Party initiated the financial collapse of the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party hastened its collapse. The dice are back in the Labour Party’s favour with a chance to build the London-Edinburgh Bridge.

Dr. Qaisar Rashid
The writer is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]