Scotland to totally devolve from the UK: your thoughts!

[adam99]

This topic has been on the news quite a bit recently. Does anyone actually think that Scotland will go ahead and "leave" the UK? I can't see how this would be a good economic or political decision, and I really don't think the process has been thought about properly, but it seems like its quite possible!

What does anyone else think? Good/bad idea? Do you think it will happen in the near future?

[Cattraknoff]

It's on par in intelligence with Quebec wanting to secede from Canada.

Now, being completely illogical and ridiculous, there must be a high chance of it actually happening.

[expat]

I sincerly hope so. The Scots do nothing but whinge about the English stealing their oil. Lets see how they get on without the handouts from the rest of the UK.

[Horus]

Hi expat, welcome to PoliticsOnFire. We hope you enjoy the rest of your time here!

I would note about the separation from the rest of the UK in that it's only not happened because of the rest of the UK's gain from it.

Scottish Hydro Electric provides electricity to 20 percent of the UK, whereas its 6.5 million population only makes up 10 percent. The money from this is given by Westminster in the form of a subsidy, but it is not the entitlement that they have earned. In addition to this, there are a few more that I can think of (tourism from gradually rising temperatures, and a great amount of water reserves) that would benefit an independent country rather than a cooperative one.

Besides, you can only keep someone from getting what they want for so long before they try to take it back. Scotland have wanted independence for years, which doesn't come as a surprise as the rest of the UK is a mess anyway.

[expat]

It is true that there are signs of a water shortage in England, but isn't that what Wales is for?
Thanks for the welcome by the way.

[Ed Jones]

A few things

I sincerly hope so. The Scots do nothing but whinge about the English stealing their oil. Lets see how they get on without the handouts from the rest of the UK.
:confused: and people wonder why a portion of the country want to separate from the UK. What a completely generalised and frankly insulting reply.

It's on par in intelligence with Quebec wanting to secede from Canada.

Now, being completely illogical and ridiculous, there must be a high chance of it actually happening.
Not necessarily the same thing. Quebec is a province of a nation state, whereas Scotland is a nation, but not a nation state.

The purpose of devolving powers to the new parliaments in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast was to give the people of Scotland, Wales and Ireland a chance to run the country themselves, rather than by a peon from Westminster. The sceptical view of course, is that the purpose of devolving powers is to try and undermine the prospect of independence. Westminster did not devolve defence, abortion and the opportunity to reduce corporation tax as they feared that;
a)the trident submarines would be removed from Scotland in a heartbeat
b)there is a large Roman Catholic population in the West of Scotland, meaning that if abortion was outlawed, there would be a massive flow of Scottish women travelling to England to have abortions
c)Westminster did not want Scotland to become a "Celtic Lion" economy like the Republic of Ireland by reducing corporation tax and creating a vast economy by making it more attractive for companies to set up in Scotland.

Just to clarify my position on the subject of independence, like most Scots I’d love to see Scotland free from the watchful eye of Westminster as much as the next Scot. However, i am not completely convinced that we could survive on our own as an independent country. Furthermore, I absolutely could not live in a socialist Scotland, which would almost certainly be the case.

[octoparrot]

I have no problem with Scotland going independent, as long as they don't ask for one penny from the rest of the UK.

[Coll]

I have no problem with Scotland going independent, as long as they don't ask for one penny from the rest of the UK.

So the Scottish are less worthy of the English penny than a hundred other worthless countries receiving aid from the UK?

[washington]

one can only hope!

[octoparrot]

So the Scottish are less worthy of the English penny than a hundred other worthless countries receiving aid from the UK?

what i mean is, i think it's unfair on us if they run a countory out of our pocket. we should be giving money to 3rd world countories, not countories who dont need it.