Scotland's Political Future?

Question

I've been reading lots of references to current political discussion concerning Scottish devolvement and representation in Parliament. Could a smart UK citizen enlighten an ignorant American on this issue?

Answer 1

It is debatable whether or not I am smart and I'm an American but this I know:

The legal system of Scotland has been different then that of the rest of GB

The Kingdoms became united when the Stuarts came to the thrown but many would say, once deposed, that hereditary right was deposed with them

The trend since the demise of empires has been to smaller and more homogenous populations

If split, the two countries would have so much in common that it might very well give them an extra vote in EU politics

It may come about since the only real negative is a loss of pride (in the south) but historically, it has been the cause of a lot of fighting and, if the USA is a model at all, the CSA had the Constitutional right to secede but a long and costly war happened anyway.

My take is that separation won't happen.

Answer 2

You are probably best addressing this question to someone uniquely from Scotland. IMHO some of the comments of my southern neighbours can sometimes border on the racist, certainly they are extremely prejudicial. Besides which devolution is a matter concerning the Scottish people, not the English. If they want devolution for England they will have to vote for it like we did.

Scots (myself included) voted to have our own devolved parliament within the UK back in 1997. Devolved parliament means we have power over some day to day areas affecting life in Scotland such as education etc. Matters such as defence etc are still dealt with at Westminster in London & are referred to as reserved matters.

This year is the 300th anniversary of Great Britain, which includeds Scotland, England & Wales. Great Britain came into being when the Scottish & English parliaments merged in 1707, against the will of the common population both sides of the border (we were denied the vote back then).

Not sure exactly what else you want to know. I will finish by saying that I am a republican & although devolution is a small step forward, we will only thrive with independence.