St Andrew's Day: The new battleground?

ST ANDREW'S Day became the new battleground yesterday in the debate over Scotland's identity, as the First Minister unveiled how the event was to be marked for the first time under an SNP government.

In a flurry of Saltire-waving and patriotic songs, Alex Salmond said Scotland would celebrate its patron saint on 30 November with events around the country, heralding the start of a new, two-month winter festival.

The First Minister insisted it would be a celebration of Scottishness and denied he was using it as "SNP propaganda".

But opposition MSPs accused the Scottish Government of hijacking St Andrew's Day for its own political purposes and warned against attempting to use events to further calls for independence.

George Foulkes, a Labour MSP for the Lothians, said: "What the SNP is wanting to do is to try to link the flag and Flower of Scotland and St Andrew's Day with their political philosophy of separation and narrow nationalism.

"I think the Saltire, the anthem and St Andrew's Day are the possession of all Scots, not just in Scotland but overseas. It is part of our history and international, and should not be to do with one political party."

The winter festival will take in three uniquely Scottish events - St Andrew's Day on 30 November, Hogmanay on 31 December and Burns Night on 25 January.

Information packs, which include Saltire flags, have been sent to nurseries and universities, while leaflets have gone out to schools suggesting ways to celebrate St Andrew. The exercise is costing just under £6,000.

A website lists events around the country, including ceilidhs, concerts and a "living history" demonstration to recreate elements of the Battle of Culloden, where the Jacobites fought government forces.

It is not only in Scotland that St Andrew is celebrated on 30 November. Around the world, from Abu Dhabi to Washington DC, there will be balls, dinners, lectures and concerts.

Mr Salmond said: "St Andrew's Day is a celebration of Scotland at home and abroad. It is a chance to enjoy the multicultural Scotland we have become. But it's more than an excuse for a party - it's an opportunity to celebrate our history and our talents.

"You would have to have the most enormous Scottish cringe to believe there is anything wrong with celebrating your own nationality while respecting others.

"People in Scotland and across the world celebrate their nationality while respecting other people's identity. It is part of being a self confident country."

The First Minister said St Andrew's Day was for all political parties. "This is not SNP propaganda; this is Scottish promotion," he said. "The Saltire does not belong to the SNP - it belongs to Scotland."

Tourism bosses welcomed the new winter festival as an opportunity to increase the number of visitors over the winter months and boost the economy.

Gavin Ellis, the chairman of the British Hospitality Association Scotland, said: "Any efforts to promote Scotland as a must-do destination in the perceived off-season is to be viewed as a positive move."

He said it was up to tourism operators to make the most of the opportunity.

"It is not just the parties - Scotland is a fantastic place to visit in the winter. If it helps focus business as to what it can do to make itself more appealing when there is spare capacity, then people will come, and it is up to the industry to create additional attractions for our guests to visit," he said.

However, Josh McAllister, the president of Edinburgh University Students Association, said he was concerned that the use of flags, which were also sent to schools by the last administration, could be seen as propaganda. "If the Westminster government sent Union flags to every school, college and university in Scotland, would the SNP support it? Most students know that any national identity is about a lot more than a piece of cloth," he said.

"The general point here is whether sending out flags is the best use of civil servant time and public money."

Jackie Baillie, the Labour MSP for Dumbarton, said the government should not be telling people how to celebrate St Andrew's Day. "Anyone who has seen the success Ireland has had with St Patrick's Day would want that same celebration for St Andrew's Day," she said.

"However, the real secret of a great St Andrew's Day won't be about government orders. It will be about local people and local activities. Rather than telling people what to do on St Andrew's Day, the SNP government would do better to listen to the Scottish people."

The Scottish Government's plans come at a time when the Conservatives at Westminster are questioning the devolution settlement as unfair to the English, and commentators such as Kelvin MacKenzie of the Sun have criticised the Scots for spending money rather than earning it.

Peter Lynch, a senior lecturer in politics at the University of Stirling, said the SNP was trying to "build a nation" in a similar way as Westminster was promoting a sense of "British values and citizenship". He went on: "I suppose what the SNP are trying to do is to make Scotland look like a nation state rather than a region of the UK."

Professor Tom Devine, professor of Scottish History at Edinburgh University, welcomed a celebration of St Andrew's Day by unionists and nationalists.

However, he said education had to improve so people had a "balanced" sense of Scottish nationalism.

"Symbolic tokenism [like St Andrew's Day] is not unimportant but insignificant to the need for a full scale re-engineering of teaching not just Scottish history but also the Scottish present and future," he said.

"We would have a more relaxed relationship with England if we knew about our national history and relationship over the years. The danger is, because of educational difficulties, people have grown up with a number of myths and beliefs, most of which are insignificant but some of which can be difficult.

"The most important single thing is to ensure that future generations have a proper understanding of where they come from and also Scotland's position in the world."

This year, only public servants have the option of a half-day St Andrew's Day holiday, but in 2008 all civil servants will get the day off and it is hoped businesses will follow suit.