Scottish Independence

January 12, 2012 By Malcolm Blair-Robinson

This proposition has moved from the fringe of British politics to centre stage. That is good. Scotland is now and always has been, a separate country. Its tribal origin is different to England. It was never conquered by the Romans, nor the Normans. It has its own legal and educational systems. It issues its own banknotes. All of this was the case before devolution.

It is therefore reasonable that its people should be given the opportunity of the return of their independence as a sovereign country. A referendum is the right course. The date is a detail. There must be a clear outcome to a straight question. The vote must settle the matter. At present it looks, from opinion polls, as if the Scots will vote to stay in the United Kingdom. What if they don’t?

Fractious though some of the talks may be, negotiations can organise a clean separation in areas where presently we share. What is more to the point is the strategic outcome and here we need to look at the Eurosceptics. An independent Scotland would join the EU. If the euro is still functional and out of crisis, it will join that too. If England whipped itself up to leave the EU, as most Eurosceptics want and most of them are in the Tory party, the economic position of Scotland would be hugely strengthened and that of England much weakened.

No wonder Cameron wants to keep the United Kingdom intact. As for Ed, he knows that without his party’s Scottish seats and with its Welsh seats severely reduced by boundary changes to create larger constituencies, the chances of a Labour government without a coalition partner, become a much less likely prospect. It could mean that even a handful of surviving Lib Dem MPs would find they were still close to the levers of power after all.

Food for thought, Nick.