Is it too early to start an election thread on Scotland’s upcoming referendum?
I’m particularly interested to gauge the weather on feelings in Scotland at the moment. We have, so far, had little open discussion on this in England beyond the odd news report (this will change, no doubt) but I’m sure it’s already boring the Scots to death. My only recent conversation on the subject was with my Scottish sister-in-law who lives near Dundee. She’s very anti-independence, as are her friends, but she’s comfortably middle-class, married to a Welshman and was educated at an English University, so I think she’s pretty pro-British from an emotional as well as in her opinion practical standpoint.
So Scottish dopers, what’s the talk on the ground? I know polls have historically swung against, but is that changing?
In general I think Scots like the idea of independence but not necessarily the actual effects of it should it occur.
I’m inclined to say that a referendum would result in a “No” vote except for one thing: June 2014 marks the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn, and pro-Scotland/anti-England sentiment is likely to be running very high indeed. This could well skew the vote, although whether it will do so to a signficant degree is hard to tell given the irrational nature of the effect.
Speaking as an Englishman I think it’s Scotland’s right to decide whether it wants to remain in the UK and if it chooses independence I hope the Union can dissolve amicably; but I don’t think independence is a good idea. I have read a fair amount of the SNP’s literature about the split and a lot of it seems to be wishful thinking and appealing to an emotional attachment to Scottishness rather than practical benefits.
But then, when it comes to nations, has it ever been different?
If Scotland were to separate from the Union… I have to wonder about what the ripple effects of that would be on Northern Ireland. I can’t imagine it would be pretty.
Anecdotal, but outside of media/online activists on both sides, I don’t hear much talk about it at all. That might pick up as the date approaches, but I had expected a bit more when the SNP published their big paper, but that was a bit of a damp squib.
I’ve been following a by now massive thread on another board on and off for a few years. It is mostly populated with Yes voters but there’s a pretty healthy debate going. By what I can see, those who care already have an opinion set in stone. The results of polling over the past couple of years has not changed all that much. Maybe the SNP can convince the undecideds as the date draws near.
Well, they’ve still got Wales and Northern Ireland. So I imagine they can get away with calling it The United Kingdom, though “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” will need to be switched to something. “The United Kingdom of slightly less Great Britain and Northern Ireland” perhaps.
Breaking off the majority of Ireland didn’t stop it from being a united kingdom, so why would breaking off less than half of Great Britain change things?
A strictly correct name would probably be the United Kingdom of England and Northern Ireland, but I’m thinking that wouldn’t go over so well. UK of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland? There are all kinds of advantages. Pedants can fight over how many commas it deserves, and the people who call Americans nonsense words like “USians” can teach all you Ukewnians how things work.
IME. Ask a Scot if s/he wants independence the answer will be Yes. Ask them if they want to see the end of the UK the answer is no. Many Scots have not yet figured out that independence means the end of the UK and Salmond is doing a damn fine job of keeping it that way.