Sean Connery:Making History in Scotland

[cal04]

This is a historic week for Scotland. The country's new first minister met Queen Elizabeth -- Queen of England and Queen of Scots -- at Holyrood Palace on Thursday. This was the first time Her Majesty has met the leader of a Scottish government who is committed to Scotland rejoining the community of nations as an equal and independent partner.

The meeting was also the culmination of a month of firsts for Scotland. On May 3, the Scottish National Party (SNP) -- a democratic party, committed to independence, that I have proudly supported all of my adult life -- won the largest number of seats in the Scottish Parliament. And last week the Scottish Parliament elected the SNP leader, Alex Salmond, to the country's top job.

The American media have described this election as good news for the SNP and very bad news for the British government of Tony Blair and his successor, Gordon Brown. What was not covered was the momentous significance for Scotland.

This marks the first time in 50 years that the Labor Party has lost an election in Scotland. Fifty years is a long time -- in politics, it is a virtual eternity.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/25/AR2007052501898.html

[azurnoir]

1. So would England

just let go of Scotland, without a "fuss"? The Scots have been very civil about this, and does deserve it's independence.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. A lot of English people would be happy with it

In one poll, Scottish independence had more support in England than Scotland:

Britain wants UK break up, poll shows

By Patrick Hennessy and Melissa Kite, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 1:29am GMT 27/11/2006

A clear majority of people in both England and Scotland are in favour of full independence for Scotland, an ICM opinion poll for The Sunday Telegraph has found. Independence is backed by 52 per cent of Scots while an astonishing 59 per cent of English voters want Scotland to go it alone.

There is also further evidence of rising English nationalism with support for the establishment of an English parliament hitting an historic high of 68 per cent amongst English voters. Almost half – 48 per cent – also want complete independence for England, divorcing itself from Wales and Northern Ireland as well. Scottish voters also back an English breakaway with 58 per cent supporting an English parliament with similar powers to the Scottish one.

...

The ICM poll told a very different story, however, with 60 per cent of English voters complaining that higher levels of public spending per head of the population in Scotland were "unjustified", compared to 28 per cent claiming they were justified. Even among Scots, 36 per cent said the system was unfair, with only 51 per cent supporting it.

Voters also had serious concerns about the so-called West Lothian Question, the ability of Scottish MPs at Westminster to vote on solely English matters while many purely Scottish issues are decided in Edinburgh. Sixty-two per cent of English voters want Scottish MPs stripped of this right and even 46 per cent of Scots agreed. The poll showed that the English are more likely to think of themselves as British than the Scots are. Only 16 per cent of English people said they were "English, not British", compared to 26 per cent of Scots who said they were "Scottish, not British."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/26/nunion26.xml

Whether the British government would be happy is a different matter. The nuclear submarines that New Labour and the Conservatives are both so keen to hang on to would need a new base in England (I'd have thought that would be fairly easy, but I don't know for sure); there could be other defence considerations (that might be solved with an agreement about military access to air space and territorial waters). North Sea oil would once have been a big problem - Westminster wouldn't want to see control of that go - but with the production winding down, it might not be too controversial. The excess government spending in Scotland is roughly paid for by the taxes from the oil, anyway.

[Solo_in_MD]

3. Scotland is a financial sinkhole for the UK

If it were to go independent, it would not be solvent. Also geography is against it. Most voters in Scotland realize this and any real attempt to break away would be voted down. IIRC the SNP is also a minority government.

[Voltaire]

4. Aren't the North Sea oilfields near Aberdeen?

Methinks they would not be a sinkhole for long. Having been lucky enough to live there for a lot of years, I am very happy for them! They are surely in a better place than we are...sinkhole or not!!!

[Solo_in_MD]

5. Not sure if those would be considered Scottish waters or not

But any government would have to abide by prior agreements. Abrogating of agreements and nationalizing assets is frowned upon in civilized nations.

Scotland takes much more than it gives, and is fundementally unviable as an independent nation. The SNP is the Qubecoius with less racism and better beer.

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. It's perfectly viable as an independent nation

The GDP per capita would be slightly less than the UK's (largely because of the money that the financial industry in London makes), but it would still be about the EU average - more than, say, New Zealand.

[Solo_in_MD]

7. Media reports are they consume more in taxes than they genereate

You GDP does not matter if you are running at a loss.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. So does the USA; so does England

Large numbers of countries in the world consume more than they pay in taxes. That doesn't make them unviable. And if it was independent, Scotland would have the ability to vary its taxes much more than it can now.

[fedsron2us]

9. North Sea oil production peaked in the late 1990s

It is now in rapid decline. Output fell 10% in 2004 and 12.5 % in 2005. It is estimated that it will be at a third of its peak level by 2020. The term North Sea oil also covers production from fields that are onshore and nowhere near Scotland such as Wytch farm, Dorset, in the South of England. Many of the largest oil deposits lie around the Shetland Isles whose population have strong historic ties with Scandinavia and who may not necessarily wish to be part of an independent Scotland. Given these facts oil alone would not be enough to sustain the Scottish economy, a fact which even the nationalists in the SNP recognise.

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

[fedsron2us]

8. Unpicking the macinery of government might be tricky

Quite a lot of Scots are actually employed in the Public Sector carrying out some of the administrative tasks of government on the population of England. For example, income tax payers in certain parts of London and the South East of England have historically had their affairs dealt with by offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh. I do not think that situation is going to be survive the dissolution of the Union , particularly if it is acrimonious. There would be a big demand to move the machinery of English government together with the associated jobs south of the border. Indeed, within the UK IT industry there are rumours that at least one UK government department is planning to shut its Scottish data centre and move all the servers to England. I expect to see more decisions of this nature if Scottish independence becomes a runner.