4 Apr 2014

Scotland: please don’t go – Eddie Izzard’s plea to Scots

Comedian Eddie Izzard says he wants Scotland to remain part of the UK but admits he is expecting foul-mouthed abuse at a comedy fundraiser in Edinburgh.

The cross-party unionist campaign will launch its new slogan “Scotland, please don’t go” with a gig in Edinburgh, featuring the popular English comic and Scottish comedian Andy Todd.

The campaign invites people living elsewhere in the UK to have their say on the referendum.

It wasn’t me, an Englishman, saying look there’s a Scotsman. It was just that we are British Eddie Izzard speaking about Andy Murray

Better Together said that although people living in England, Wales and Northern Ireland did not have a vote in September, they did have a voice.

Mr Izzard was subjected to online abuse when he announced he would stage a fundraiser in Edinburgh.

Speaking ahead of the show, he said he is expecting more foul-mouthed abuse than when cutting his comedy teeth on the streets of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

‘Quite intimidating’

“It’s quite a tricky thing because you guys are quite intimidating,” he said. “Obviously if there are people who are politically against it, that is quite intimidating.

“I am going into politics. I’m running for office in 2020 so I am more up to speed on this, but it’s a tricky old thing.”

He said he remains “positive” about the Scottish people and its parliament, which he thinks should have as many powers as Scots want it to have.

He contrasted the “blood and death” of the border wars of history with the united spirit of Team GB, recalling Scottish tennis ace Andy Murray’s Olympic gold winning victory which he watched in the back of an Edinburgh taxi.

Braveheart

“It wasn’t me, an Englishman, saying look there’s a Scotsman,” he said. “It was just that we are British, and he was winning, and it was us, and I think that is beautiful.

“If you look back at the history of what used to happen between the Scots and the English, the war and the blood and the death, I think it is beautiful that we have got to this position of being together.”

Above: please don’t go was a famous hit in the 1990s by KWS

“I am an Englishman called Edward, and there are a few Edwards that have had a history at Bannockburn and in the Braveheart film.

“But I am an Edward who ran eight marathons with a Scottish flag. I ran to the top of Arthur’s Seat here in Edinburgh, and I’ve also played nearly every major town and city in Scotland up to and including Shetland,” he added.

‘Stay with us’

Mr Izzard joins a number of famous Brits who have urged Scots to stay in the UK.

In February David Bowie used his acceptance speech at the Brits to make a plea for Scotland to remain a part of the UK.

Supermodel Kate Moss, who went up to collect the award for Bowie, read out a message from the singer. He said: “Scotland, stay with us.”

On the other side, legendary singer Annie Lennox is one of the artists backing The National Collective – a cultural organisation supporting independence.

“There is an opportunity for something innovative and visionary,” she says. “Scotland could have some kind of new, ethical stance and it could take on some fresh ideas. That could be amazing, really amazing.”

Other backers include the Proclaimers, Billy Bragg, Mogwai, indie rockers the View, and Scottish 80s icons Deacon Blue and Hue and Cry.