Is there cultural differences between the 4 countries of the UK?

[Lynsey953]

I often see a lot on the news about British Culture and UK culture but I know that Scotland has a different education system to England and Wales as well as higher taxes paid to the government and a lot of "free" things paid for by these taxes i.e. free prescriptions, free university tuition etc ... A lot of people in Scotland also identify as Scottish, not British. Do you think this means Scottish people have a different cultural identity than English or Welsh people?

I would like to see a union of NW Europe- Norway, Uk, Denmark, Sweden, Finland.Probably not Ireland due to past differences but we would need to get the UK financially viable first .

Yes, without the smallest doubt. I've lived in England and Scotland (as well as abroad) and I would say the cultural differences between England and Scotland are about as substantial as between either country and the other nation I've lived in.

You can see it in the way people vote (Scotland consistently votes for more left wing parties than England), the way Scotland polls on issues like immigration and environmental policies, the art and cultural events produced in each country, etc.

I have no doubt it's the same for Wales and Northern Ireland.

I'm Scottish, and well aware of the Scots' involvement in Empire. We do not come out of it with anything much to be proud of!

I agree. It's when they live in England and you can tell they hate us! I love the Welsh and the Scots!

I think that there are some cultural differences that kind of get reinforced by a form of negativity - but there are within England, too. And within the other countries. I'm Scottish, and there's a cultural difference between Highland and Lowland Scots.

Sometimes I think part of it is what you can sell to tourists, that the population then takes up as part of its identity. Whereas the real identity is in the trades that people did/do, the opportunities they took. That's kind of what lasts and makes us proud of past generations. As a Scottish person I'm not really interested in kilts and clans, they are just Victorian stories. I am interested in how people shaped and worked the land and why they emigrated.

No we don't hate the English! Or not all of us. As I said earlier most of us are hybrid anyway. DH is English, and we live in England. He had a hard time as a kid though (long time ago) moving to Scotland with his southern accent.

Oh, dear. The English education system is an extremely awful way to teach and no, ours is absolutely nothing like it. Thank goodness.

Scotland, Wales and Ireland have all been fought over, and oppressed by, the English. So yes, many differences, and we English have finally learned it's more expedient to shut up about it these days. If you listen to Prime Ministers Question Time, the barely suppressed contempt for Scotland and Wales can come as a surprise if you're unaware of the history. Northern Ireland is currently being treated carefully due to its unique EU situation.

Some of the cultural oppression of Wales and Scotland is not ancient history of hundreds of years ago.

The Welsh not (punishment for speaking Cymreag) was in existence until Victorian times and those of my family who started teaching in the 1890s were not allowed to teach in Welsh, having to do remedial English lessons for the local mining families.

The Highland Clearances in Scotland continued until at least 1855, and were not formally outlawed until 1886.

There are things in common, but many cultural differences between the four countries of the United Kingdom.

Correct, I'm amazed the Welsh language has survived. Completely discouraged well into the 1970s.

You and I didn't do any oppressing. Ancestors of the ruling classes did, people living in poverty had a choice to do the bidding of those people or starve like everyone else but they didn't make the decisions

My ancestors came from all over, most were not in positions to make big decisions, just to carry out the grunt work, even the wealthy higher born ones. Some worked on their doorstep for a pittance, some had to buy their food with tokens from the factory shop and lived in a warm bed system, some spent their lives working on the land and had to pay for any help out of their own wages, quite a lot of them died in battles or of the usual military ailments. Those people were English or lived in England, not people who made big decisions and oppressed people off their own back. I get fed up of people labelling all English as one big oppressive mass, most English were just normal people going about their day, raising their families and dying for their country in wars they didn't start in places under different stars.

Well, here in Wales we have got the lowest rankings of all 4 nations in PISA tests, so something's not working.

But let’s face it the ones who were ‘cleared’ or chose to clear (and there were lowland clearances too) went mostly to the US and a better life.

Highland clearances were not the oppression of the Scots by the English.
Many Scottish landlords wanted to depopulate the highlands for their own gain. Yet again the poor people received the shitty end of the stick.

Whilst I do not agree with the brutal highland clearances I imagine the Highlands and Islands of Scotland would look very different today if they had not happened; perhaps not as much nature and biodiversity but better infrastructure and increased population? Who knows. As flower of Scotland says; those days are gone now and in the past they must remain.

There was an interesting article in the critic a few months ago about grooming gangs suggesting that the problem stems from the tribal areas the ethnic minority males come from which have been translated to a micro community here in the U.K. rather than their faith.
It made me ponder if the tribal Scottish clans implemented the same behaviour.
elder men implement their laws, having final say so on many everyday matters;
outwith the clan is seen as not one of us so any atrocities done are not that bad and there are not many repercussions from your clan;
waring clans can have blood feuds for generations;
within the clan any crimes committed need to be dealt with fairly and swiftly as there is strength and success in keeping a harmonious clan together.

Why do you think a single, standardised, written test is an accurate measure of attainment?

And Partition in Ireland in 1921.

The arbutrary removal by Westminster of 6 Irish counties from their 26 fellow counties to make "Northern Ireland".

One new difference: Assisted Dying.

There has to be a way of comparing performance. PISA is an international testing system. But on any public exam measures or percentage of young people going to university Wales is always behind England. You simply cannot have an education system where no comparisons are made of attainment either between students or between different areas/demographics etc.

I’ve moved around England a fair bit. Cultural differences exist between counties, never mind countries.

1. 1% of Scotland speaks Gaelic. 7. Is the same in England.

There are no grammar schools in north east England either. This isn’t a difference between countries, it’s a difference between areas of the UK.

Yes, I think people forget the warrior queen Boudicca was Celtic. From around Norfolk I think. The Celts settled as far east as Russia and all the way down into southern Europe.

Of course. It would be hard not to have differences when we have different languages. Speaking another language changes more than just what you say, but your whole world view is different.
I think it’s great that we have those differences, diversity is a great thing.