Sep 9

So Andy Murray lost the US Open Final to Roger Federer, big whoop. I’ve had more exciting diseases than the Scotsman’s run to the final. That’s not to say he hasn’t done well, because let’s face it, I have as much chance of reaching a Grand Slam final as, well, Tim Henman ever did, and Murray has done well. The lad is obviously talented, and will go further in his career than any of the last mediocre generation of British tennis players, but ultimately we need to ask ourselves why we are supporting him.

He has publicly stated he is not British, he is Scottish. So either his history is terrible, or he is making a point of his ancestry, and it is manifestly the latter. No self-respecting Scottish person would ever claim to be associated with the English, which in declaring yourself British you would very much be doing.

The English press are fantastic at choosing when to be British and when to be English. Note Andy Murray, and Team GB of Olympic fame, but as soon as the English football team do well (do not hold your breath) they will be laughing in the face of the Scottish national team as they drip out of another qualifying campaign.

The greatest example of this patent ambivalence comes in the form of this years Junior Wimbledon champion, the ‘English’, ‘Home-grown’ Laura Robson. My solution is to do away with one of the other, to remove all borders and merge as one United Kingdom with no alternatives, or to eradicate any doubt of identity by obviating the monarchy, killing off any suggestion of United Kingdom, Great Britain, or any other unifying term that might be out there that these days solely acts as a way of tapping in on sporting success for media sales. Clearly define the lines, and we can start to gloat with genuine reason.