Ever since the Scottish National Party became the majority in the Scottish Parliament several years ago, there’s been talk of holding a national referendum to vote on becoming fully independent from the United Kingdom, and this past May the government’s Secretary of State for Scotland said that the government would not block such a referendum, even though both the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrat Party that make up the current government officially oppose Scottish independence (Labour does too, for that matter). It was more a public admission that the national government could not stop the Scottish Parliament than any sign of support.
Polling suggests that independence is not a lock: not quite one-third of the population supports it, with just about as many supporting remaining within the U.K. if more autonomy were granted. This recent article from The Awl by British journalist Jennifer O’Mahony explains some of the issues that Scotland and the rest of the U.K. would face should they actually part ways. Not surprisingly, the biggest one is finances: the U.K. government spends more per capita on the people in Scotland than in England. The U.K. might like to save that money, while the new leaders in Edinburgh would have to find a way to generate the revenue needed to continue programs and services.
Oh, and yes, they do have oil. So don’t be surprised when OUR government decides that wearing a kilt is a sure sign of being a terrorist and that we will have to invade Scotland AT ONCE to preserve our freedom.
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