Should Scotland Be Independent?

Scottish independence: the debate The campaign for the Scottish independence has come to a halt just a month before the Scottish voted whether to leave the United Kingdom and become an independent country in a referendum. The campaign for independence claims that Scotland, which has its own Parliament but can’t raise taxes, would be a more autonomous, better-governed and richer country.

In 2014 however Scotland showed that there was indeed a large amount of voters who believed that Scotland would benefit from exiting the United Kingdom and since then the debate still continues with the SNP pushing for a second referendum.

In the recent referendum that took place 14th September 2014. The people of Scotland were asked, “Should Scotland become an independent country?” They had the choice of ‘yes’ or ‘no’. The outcome was 2,001,926 (55.30%) no and 1,617,989 (44.70%) yes, which meant

Another reason as to why it can be seen as unsuccessful is that for the Scottish, they are not allowed to interfere with English laws apart from those that concern them, for example agriculture and education. This can be seen as unfair because the British can make amendments to Scottish laws, this may lead to another reason why the Scottish should have their independence.

Although complete sovereignty wasn’t lost over Scotland, the NO vote did cause parliament to devolve some power it held. This is not the first time sovereignty has been lost through Scottish referendums. In 1998 the Scottish parliament was re-established: The Scotland Act established what matters were to be devolved and what matters were to be reserved by Parliament. Devolved matters included health and social care (for example free nursing care for the elderly) and education (for example tuition fees). Reserved matters included defence, foreign policy and the constitution (the UK still controls Scottish independence, as it has the power to over-rule the referendums) Theoretically, Westminster could repeal the Scottish acts. This imbalance of power can cause some policy divergence, for example Scotland passed a law banning smoking in public places before the UK.

This therefore brings power closer to the Scottish people, through the Scottish Parliament, but in hand it takes power away from the English people. This may be because there is no purely English devolved body in comparison to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly. Power is also brought closer to the people as devolved bodies can hold referendums; however, on the other hand, they are limited on what they can hold referendums about.

The process of establishing devolution for Scotland began with the Scotland Act 1978, which made way for a referendum on devolution and attempted to gain more power and legislature abilities for Scotland. The rise of the SNP forced the Labour Government of James Callaghan to react. The terms of this Act stated 40% of the entire electorate had to vote “yes” for devolution and the establishment of a Scottish Assembly, this included those who did not vote which were counted as a “no” vote. The 1979 Referendum, on 1st March, saw a majority of 52% in favour of devolution, to 48% against. At first glance it appears Scotland was successful in its referendum, however only 32.9% of the electorate had joined the majority, meaning the 40% required to achieve devolution was not met. With this failure to achieve devolution, the SNP backed a Tory motion of no confidence in the Labour government which saw the 1979 election being called by just one vote. The 1979 election saw the rise of

The Labour Party was committed to home rule for Scotland in the 1920s, but it slipped down its agenda in the following years. The Scottish National Party (SNP) was formed in 1934, but did not achieve significant electoral success until the 1960s. A document calling for home rule, the Scottish Covenant, was signed by 2 million people, out of a population of 5 million, in the late 1940s (“Devolution’s swings and roundabouts”). Home rule, now known as Scottish devolution, did not become a serious proposal until the late 1970s. A proposal for a devolved Scottish Assembly was put to a referendum in 1979. A narrow majority of votes were cast in favor of change, but this had no effect due to a requirement that the number voting 'Yes ' had to exceed 40% of the total electorate. No further constitutional reform was proposed until the Labor Party returned to power in 1997, when a second Scottish devolution referendum was held. However, the number of people voting ‘Yes’ once again did not exceed 40% of the total electorate so the vote was thus invalid (“The 1979 Referendums”). A

Scottish Politicians and Noblemen had assumed command of Scottish Society for centuries. But the Act of the Union changed this as Scotland’s political base migrated south to Westminster. With the lack of politicians, the need to pick a political side and the ever growing tolerance from the Presbyterian Church, the words spoken amongst intellectuals and scholars were spoken a little freer.

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s formidable first minister is helping Scotland stay apart of the European Union, even though the Scots have voted against being in independence.

JB Ladera/7 The Scottish Independence Movement is a major controversy in Europe as it can lead to good or bad outcomes to those involved with it. Both sides, for independence and against independence, all have their own perspective on the situation, and try to decide the best for the future of Scotland. Scotland wants to become independent from the United Kingdom (UK).

Scotland during the 13th Century was in conflict with England, since England wanted to control Scotland. The Scots were having a tough time recovering from the death of the Maid of Norway, who had been the heir to the throne of Alexander III. The dynasty had traced its roots back through Duncan to Malcolm II had ended, so the Scottish Throne was up for grabs. King Edward I of England saw an opportunity and took it. Therefore, though there was a king (of sorts) on the Scottish throne named John Balliol, King Edward I of England held the real power over Scotland, and he didn’t have Scotland’s best interests at heart.

independence, to determine whether the Scottish independence from Britain. The independence referendum entered the 100-day countdown stage, Nicola Sturgeon (Deputy First Minister) and Alistair Darling (Former chancellor of the exchequer) both had a very convincing speech on this topic. Nicola argues,Scotland’s huge wealth and extraordinary resources mean there is no question Scottish can be independent (Sturgeon,2014).Darling called on people to say “no thanks” to independence (Darling,2014).I thought that Nicola had a stronger speech. They both had prominent points and were persuasive,but I thought Nicola’s speech is easy to understand.

Scottish devolution was defeated in the referendum and the two biggest parties campaigned for “No”. The SNP considered the results as a victory for devolution but was against the referendum as they were campaigning about the complete independence.

The Act of Union of 1707 brought together the two independent nations of Scotland and England to create a new United Kingdom. This new Kingdom in the opinion of the English ensured political and military stability on the Island of Great Britain, neutralizing the Scottish MP’s by absorbing them into the Westminster system.