Jayand,
This is exactly the point Neil Kinnock was prone to bang on about. Much more recently it is essentially what the SNP said repeatedly in the referendum campaign.
Rightly or wrongly (I make no judgement, and I'll hold my opinion) it is a view that is rapidly getting traction with many voters and it is an extremely popular view up north in jockland.
And we live in a democracy, in case anyone forgot.