Starkey: Scotland's not important

Controversial historian Dr David Starkey was accused today of “stupid English prejudice” after claiming that Scotland was not important.

Leading Scottish historian Neal Ascherson dismissed the allegation and insisted his fellow academic “should know better”.

The war of words broke out as Channel 4 prepares to screen a major new series about the British monarchy, presented by Starkey.

The historian rubbished Scotland’s role in the United Kingdom and accused it of basking in England’s reflected glory.

He cited the Darien scheme – the disastrous 17th century attempt to create a Scottish colony in Central America – as an example of Scotland’s limitations.

He told the Sunday Times: “It is a statement of fact. Scotland matters for a single reason, which is its involvement with England from the 17th century onwards.”

He added: “Then it becomes important. Could Scotland have had an empire of its own? The Darien scheme suggests not.

“Let’s get a sense of proportion – five million people against 45 million.

“I love Scotland but it is not an important country.

“Your own political elite don’t want independence because they love swanning around as Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer.

“Given the choice of being First Minister of Scotland or Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown would always choose the latter.”

But Ascherson, an award-winning historian whose books include Stone Voices: The Search for Scotland, rejected the claims.

He said: “This is a basket of cheerfully stupid English prejudice.

“Of course it is true that Scotland is not important to England.

“As a matter of fact there are quite a lot of countries in the world that are not important to England but they still have a right to exist and are interesting to their own inhabitants and to human history in general. This is true of Scotland.

“It is a fact that England failed to reduce it to Scot-shire and maybe that’s a source of annoyance to some people in England.

“But David Starkey, who is a wonderfully upbeat historian, should know better than to see everything from a Westminster village perspective.”

Starkey is one of Britain best-known and highest-paid historians.

He has presented a number of popular television historical series, including one about Elizabeth I and another about the wives of Henry VIII.

His latest work is a 25-hour series on the history of the British monarchy.