The very fact of being in Parliament Hall on Tuesday night, 300 years after the last debate of the Scottish Parliament will send a shiver up my spine.
I lived 300m down the Royal Mile in the Canongate in an 18th century building for several years and I always felt a sense of history when I walked down the turnpike stair out onto my doorstep.
Parliament Hall, the Courts, the Signet library and the Heart of Midlothian make up the most atmospheric area and on Tuesday night it is there we shall debate and argue about the cultural impact of the Union.
Spark of creativity
How important was the Scottish Enlightenment to modern "British" thought - the philosophy of David Hume, the revolutionary economic ideas of Adam Smith?
Did Scotland embrace the tolerance that was a hallmark of English society?
Would Robert Adam have enjoyed such success in England (and given England some of its finest architecture) had it not been for the Union?
Would Robert Burns have written in English as well as Scots without the Union - and if not would he be as popular around the world as he is today?
In The Act of Union Scotland retained its laws, education system and church - thereby keeping much of the tenets of nationhood. So why, for much of the twentieth century, did so many Scottish writers and dramatists rail against their larger neighbour - did it provide a convenient spark for their creativity?
Alchemy of Englishness
It seems it is only in the past decade that English writers (Jeremy included!) have sought to understand the alchemy of Englishness. Is there a jealousy in England that the Scots have promoted a sense of identity where the English have been more reticent?
And yet there is one area in particular where there is a joyous celebration of difference - and that is music. From the Bay City Rollers to Franz Ferdinand - from the Sex Pistols to Artic Monkeys - surely no one would suggest these are British bands. They are English and Scottish - just as there is an English football team (quite successful) and a Scottish football team (less successful).
Bring the debate on!
By Kirsty Wark, Newsnight Presenter
Tuesday, 16 January 2007, 11:45 GMT 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/6266797.stm
