Should the UK break up?
Article by Christopher Hyde
In this century of managed decline, the British Isles feel even more divided than ever. From Scotland demanding another independence referendum fourteen years after their last one, to Welsh nationalism increasing, and of course, we can't ignore the orange elephant in the room: Trump floating the idea of Irish unification. Never in the island's history has there been so much talk of a breakup.
But how did we get here? What would independence and unification look like, and is this the future of Britain?
Let's dive in and answer these questions.
How did we get here?
Following the Second World War, Britain found itself virtually bankrupt. Its industries and manufacturing sector had gone from a commercial entity into a wartime machine. Producing everything from Spitfires to shells (not the ones you find on a beach). Britain needed a bailout. And like the beggar, Britain grovelled to its closest ally to give it a handout, America. America loaned us the money; we devalued the Pound, and the Dollar became the new international reserve currency. Its empire slowly shrank. Countries took back their sovereignty, and one by one the dominoes fell. Then came the Thatcher years.
A tirade of selling off national assets made short-term gains for long-term pain. Only now are we seeing the error of her wicked ways. Waterways and beaches filled with sewage, no reservoirs built since privatisation, the housing crisis reaching a staggering stalemate of NIMBYs vs people who just want what their parents benefitted from. Energy bills are at record highs with no investment in renewables (even though Norway uses 98% renewable energy and is doing better than us economically), while shareholders stuff their pockets with dividends.
The nine prime ministers since Thatcher have been managing the decline further to the point we’re at now.
Brown bailed out the banks when they caused the worst economic crisis we’re still recovering from nearly 20 years later. Cameron began the austerity train cutting everything, like destroying healthcare and social care. Widening inequality between the rich and the poor. Stagnant wages not keeping up with inflation, councils with barely enough money to function, resulting in bankruptcies. A dysfunctional justice system that’s bursting at the seams. Crumbling infrastructure, cuts to the armed forces. Reliance on food banks. I could go on and on and on.
The social contract is broken. Labour, Conservatives, even the Lib-Dems are to blame for the mess we’re in. Yet there seems to be no cure. We lose £100 billion in trade every year since we officially left the EU. No one seems to care or bat an eyelid.
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What would independence look like?
There’s no concrete plan put forward as of today. The leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland met in Cardiff (on Monday 14th September 2026) to sign the “memorandum of understanding” stating that the parliament in Westminster had no right to block democracy. John Swinney of the SNP and Michelle O’Neill of Sinn Féin have called for independence referendums in their respective countries as soon as possible, while Rhun ap Iorwerth of Plaid Cymru has not yet put forward a timetable for holding a referendum.
But what is clear is that this could mean the beginning of the end for the United Kingdom. What comes next should be decided by the people of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, respectively. Or risk exposing the undemocratic reality that the UK has always been.
Is this the future of Britain?
The UK can't continue like this. Far-right parties like Reform and Restore have sown division and are continuing to disrupt the archaic system, pushing it to breaking point.
Labour and Conservatives drove the country into the ground. Making the country poorer and weaker through corrupt leadership and a systematic management of decline.
The unification of the United Kingdom is at its end. Like Rome, all empires fall eventually, and it was bound to happen to us.
England may cling to the archaic legacy of monarchy like a hostage with Stockholm syndrome, but Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland must forge their own path and take back control of their own sovereignty. This is bound to upset the snowflake Brexiters (who ironically kept banging the "sovereignty" and independence drum throughout the Brexit years) but unfortunately they were partly to blame for this epic downfall from grace.
What is clear is that independence would give the people and the representatives of each country a better chance to forge a brighter path than continuing to be shackled to a country that has fallen into absolute shambles.
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