Ten reasons why Scotland is simply the best place in the world

Scots have a reputation for being dour and some are afflicted by the dreaded ‘Scottish cultural cringe’, as if, somehow, we’re fated to be inferior to others, which is, of course, nonsense.

So, despite Johnson’s moral failings, we would do well to learn from him. And that should start by recognising that the place where we live is, unquestionably, one of the best places in the world.

No, sorry, what I actually mean to say is that Scotland IS the best place in the world. No doubts, no equivocation, no questions about comprehensive studies of every country on Earth, Scotland is the best. And here are ten reasons why.

Scottish weather

My first may perhaps be the most controversial: Scotland’s much-traduced weather. As far as I’m concerned, our current climate is just about right.

I remember meeting a South African who insisted it “always rained” in Scotland, steadfastly resisting my attempts to dissuade her. And she’s far from alone. The myth of Scotland’s bad weather appears to have spread worldwide.

However, during Covid, my daily morning walks in Edinburgh were almost never interrupted by rain, and this anecdotal evidence is backed by the stats. The Gazetteer for Scotland reports Edinburgh has “high sunshine totals” while rainfall is “low”.

We should be selling temperate summer holidays to people in the Mediterranean – enjoy sunshine with a cooling breeze and weather that’s not so hot that it forces you to have a nap at lunchtime.

Global warming is changing things. However, the late scientist and environmentalist James Lovelock, who came up with the ‘Gaia theory’ of the Earth as a self-regulating system, once told me Scotland would likely be one of the better places to sit it out, partly due to the moderating effect of the sea.

Our ‘golden ticket’

Scotland is also a wealthy country. Not ostentatiously so, but enough to at least think about ending child poverty for good, a goal that has cross-party support. Our economy has been growing, although the 8.4 per cent increase in gross domestic product over the past decade was put in the shade by the UK’s 14.3 per cent.

According to Rain Newton-Smith, director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, Scotland has “the tools at its fingertips to be a global clean energy superpower” and this represents a “golden ticket” for future economic growth.

Despite all the gloom around the oil and gas industry, there are reasons to be optimistic – if our governments can create the right environments for renewable energy businesses to thrive and replace the jobs being lost as the North Sea’s reserves dwindle. This is an exciting chance to build an industry with a tremendously bright future.

So, the weather’s just right and the economy has a golden ticket, but what are the people like?

Tartan Army charmigans

Well, in recent decades, the friendliness of the Tartan Army has fundamentally challenged misconceptions about football fans being synonymous with ‘hooligans’. In fact, they’re so different that I’d argue we need a new word – ‘charmigans’ – to describe them. They’ve even started tidying up after themselves in places like London’s Leicester Square.

Scotland is also a lot cooler than it used to be. Our films and TV shows can now be watched all over the world. The screen sector was worth more than £617 million to the Scottish economy in 2021 and employed over 10,860 people, according to the most recent report. Screen Scotland hopes to increase this to £1 billion by 2030. We are telling stories that other people want to hear.

This should be no surprise, given the success of Edinburgh Festival, in all its various forms. It is truly a marvel, an example of humanity at its finest and friendliest. There is no better place in the world to be than Edinburgh in August.

In my youth, when the festival was smaller, Scotland felt decidedly more parochial than it does today. I suspect being part of the European Union helped expand our horizons and, hopefully, we won’t see a long retreat on that score as a result of Brexit – The Return to Brigadoon is one film no one wants to see.

And that brings me to another wonderful thing about Scotland: its neighbours. The rest of the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and the European Union could hardly be more pleasant, particularly when you consider the possible alternatives. Tyrannical, warlike regimes hold power only in distant lands.

Iconic castles, epic scenery

Scotland is also remarkably good looking. No list extolling its virtues would be complete without mentioning its world-famous scenery and places like Glen Coe, Loch Lomond, Skye... the list goes on. We even have the “most outstanding example” in the world of, ahem, “an actively accumulating blanket bog landscape” – the Flow Country – according to Unesco.

Over the generations, humans have done some pretty terrible things to the landscape, but we have also put up iconic structures like the castles at Dunnottar, Edinburgh and Eilean Donan, the towering Wallace Monument and, more recently, the fantastic Kelpies at Falkirk.

But perhaps the most important thing about Scotland is that it is a democracy and we get to choose our governments, rather than having them forced upon us. No country run by a dictator will ever be the best place in the world.

And the most fundamental right necessary for a democracy is, of course, freedom of speech, which Scotland enjoys to a substantial degree. If I wanted to write about ten reasons why Scotland should be ashamed of itself, I could (and already have done).

I realise I’m channelling Johnson here, somewhat against my better instincts, but a spot of boosterism is sometimes just what’s needed. And if Scotland isn’t actually the best, it’s not all that far off.