Independent Scotland would ban nuclear weapons but join Nato

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Reasonablly credible, yes

There are arguments as to how much Scotland gets a net benefit, or makes a net payment, with the UK as a whole. With most of the North Sea oil coming in through Scotland, it's quite possible Scotland gave money, overall, to the rest of the country over the past couple of decades. However, production from the existing fields is dropping, so that won't continue. It does, however, have a lot of offshore (and onshore) wind potential, and a lot of generation potential from wave power (something England has very little of - the powerful waves come in west from the Atlantic, and that coastline is mostly Ireland and Scotland). As for all economies, really, it's a matter of if unemployment is too much. At the moment, it's fractionally under the UK average.

Yeah, they'd need their own armed forces, but their population is more than some other NATO countries; it wouldn't be unfeasible.