Support building for Scotland to break from UK

[KamaAina]

http://wonkynewsnerd.com/support-building-scotland-break-uk/

That could change Sept. 18, as Scottish voters decide whether the nation should declare independence and break away from England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

It's a question that evokes a historic rivalry and images from Scotland's rich history, such as William Wallace leading an uprising against English occupation in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.

Proponents of separation, though, say it's a more modern tale. Scotland is a country booming with oil reserves, ready to conduct its own affairs, they contend. There's growing frustration among many in the left-of-center country who say the U.K.'s London-based government began moving to the right with the election of Margaret Thatcher and has not looked back.

"It's not about teary-eyed Scots yearning for ancient soil, it's about hoping to live in a civilized, caring society, and we've given up all hope we can do that with Westminster," said Keith Aitchison, 67, a retired civil servant who volunteers at a busy pro-independence campaign office in Inverness. "Our two nations have moved apart."

Is this good or bad? Discuss.

edit: Kind of reminds me of Quebec's vote that nearly separated it from Canada in the '90s. Only without the language issue.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

1. I'll wager if the proposition passes

the Brits handle it with more grace and aplomb than Putin.

[pampango]

2. "Of the 59 Scottish members of the House of Commons, only one is a Tory. A favorite joke ..."

The process currently underway on the British archipelago is a unique one. Free of violence, amid an atmosphere of amicability, a referendum is to be held that could result in the end of a 307-year-old union with the United Kingdom. The Scottish move toward independence is also reflective of the ongoing erosion of the European nation-state. After years of crisis, many people no longer identify with their countries, preferring instead to be part of smaller, more manageable regions. Separatists across Europe are pushing for independence, including the Catalonians in Spain, the Flemish in Belgium and the South Tyroleans in Italy. But only in Scotland is a nationally recognized referendum in the works.

Of the 59 Scottish members of the House of Commons, only one is a Tory. A favorite joke has it that there are more pandas north of the English-Scottish border than there are Conservative parliamentarians. There are two pandas and they live in the Edinburgh zoo.

With just weeks to go before the referendum, Scotland seems like a land waking up from a winter slumber to celebrate the Caledonian version of the Arab Spring. Blue "Yes" stickers are plastered on lampposts while "Yes" signs are displayed in windows. If it weren't for the opinion polls, one would think that the result of the referendum was a foregone conclusion.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/scotland-divided-ahead-of-approaching-independence-referendum-a-988064.html

An independent Scotland would likely be more liberal than the UK as a whole. That would be good to see.

The downside is that removing all those liberal voters from the rest of the UK would make for an even more conservative House of Commons in London.

[DonCoquixote]

3. if a free scotland would be more liberal

Why Is Galloway fighting against it so hard?

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. He lives and works in England

More power for the moderate left in Scotland isn't of particular interest to him (one side effect of independence would be to make Tory majorities at Westminster more likely, since Labour has many Scottish MPs). He says independence would be a huge gamble for the Scottish.

[KamaAina]

6. Because Galloway.

[davidpdx]

5. Good luck to them

We have a variety of Europeans at my work. No Scotts as far as I know.