A England-Scotland Union divorce?

[Cascadian]

I am not sure how many people will post any comments on this but being of considerable Scottish descent as well as Irish, I thought this was fascinating. Many people are raising the specter of a possible separation of Scotland from the United Kingdom. All as the 300th anniversary of the England-Scotland Union approaches on January 16th.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070114/wl_uk_afp/britainscotland

I for one would not mind seeing an independent Scotland. I would even vouch for a Scottish Republic personally but that's just my opinion. Of course if Scotland goes it's own way then the Welsh will want to as well. Not too mention the Isle of Man and those in Cornwall who would want more autonomy if not independence. I am not sure what impact it would have with the people in Northern Ireland.

All and all, the last decade has been an interesting one in the United Kingdom.






John

[KT2000]

1. It would make watching

Craig Ferguson even more entertaining.

[Kutjara]

2. There have been several attempts to engineer a separation...

...during the past 20 years or so. Scotland now has virtual autonomy under the terms of the devolution agreement that came into force in the 90s. They periodically hold referenda on full devolution, but never quite get enough votes to mandate the full split. There's also the question of who gets all the oil revenues from the North Sea. Most of the rigs sit in what would become Scottish waters, which would deny the rest of the formerly United Kingdom significant revenues if normal international law was applied. On the other hand, Scotland's small population gives it a fairly low tax base, so there is a large net influx of tax money from England to Scotland, something Scotland would be loathe to lose.

It's a pretty tangled matter, given the length of time the two countries have been together, but they'll probably work it out one of these years. Wales won't be far behind.

As the European Union gains importance at the expense of individual alliances, the logic of a "United Kingdom" becomes less compelling every year.

[krispos42]

3. No more Union Jack

Just St. Andrew's Cross for Scotland, and a giant red asterick-type thing on a white background for England&Northern Ireland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_jack

[intaglio]

4. The usual "UK to split up rubbish"

There is only 1 major group interested in a break-up of the UK and that is the French faction in the EU. The Scottish Nationalists are a minor group with at most 10% of the Scots truly interested in their agenda of a federal UK. eom

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. Your 10% figure is wrong

and your "French faction" claim is bizarre. As the article says, polls show that support for Scottish independence can be up around the 50% mark in Scotland; and the latest poll, on Sunday, predicts the SNP will get 44 out of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament - making them the largest party.

I suspect that, if faced with a real decision to break up the UK, the support would decrease - but that's a suspicion. Your claim of '10% at most' seems based on wishful thinking on your part, and not much more.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. The last line of the article says it all...

"However, he said he believes that opinion polls reflected various political frustrations in both Scotland and England rather than a majority push for independence on both sides of the border."

Kinda like all the pissing and moaning going on in Quebec, but when it comes down to it, being your own country is not a trivial thing, and it's doubtful most Scots would really want to deal with all the costs and problems London takes care of.

Just setting up all those embassies around the world...

Slovakia split from the Czechs mainly because a few Slovaks wanted to make Milton's deal-- rule in hell rather than serve in heaven, and the Czechs were perfectly happy to see their poor relations go. Doesn't look the same way here.