It sounds like you’re saying it’s a bad idea. And it may well be, I’m not qualified to judge. But if I understand correctly, one of the strong arguments from the “No” side in the 2014 referendum was that an independent Scotland would lose the benefits of EU membership, at least until the nation was admitted, a process that would take years and might not happen, given Spanish opposition. Had I been a Scottish citizen then, that would have swayed me. Evidently, it did sway a lot of Scots, since 55% of you voted to remain in union with England and Wales; every county save Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, and West Dunbartonshire.
Brexit cut the knees out from under that argument. So I can see how a Scot could think the country might be better off going it alone, if they can rejoin the EU. Whether or not it’s a good idea, I don’t know. But it doesn’t seem an unreasonable one, nor one based on sentimental romanticism.
I’d complain that this was just nitpicking, but, well, it’s the SDMB – nitpicking’s what we do.
In my opinion, Spain would not veto Scottish membership of the EU, however much they dislike the precedent for Catalonia. There are basically four possible strategic alignments for a free Scotland:
with the West, through membership of the EU and Nato
with Russia
with China
unaligned
Scotland will strongly favour the first, as will every other Nato and EU member, and every Western ally, even though Spain will dislike the local implications for them. It’s a no-brainer, even for the Spanish. No one will want to leave Scotland isolated, to be courted by Russia and China as a new ally in a dominant position in the eastern North Atlantic, which conveniently already has two bases suitable for nuclear armed submarines. Just writing it down shows how impossible that would be.
I don’t have a dog in this flight and am here just trying to understand the situation better. But why would it be ludicrous? If Scotland is an independent nation, then an immigrant from London would be treated like an immigrant from Lagos, and either could be deported for, say, committing a crime or working without authorization, I would think.
They might or they might not, but it would be odd not to follow the Irish precedent for a common travel area. The SNP explicitly committed to retaining a CTA at the time of the independence referendum.
I see another possible alignment: union with another country. For example, Ireland. That would give Scotland a backdoor into the EU. I don’t think it’s very likely at all, but it’s more likely than alignment with Russia (slowly dying with no capability for helping itself or others) or China (terrible record of handling client states).
The SNP might have committed, but it doesn’t mean that Westminster would have agreed. No more than Quebec could leave Canada or Texas leave America while just assuming that the country they just left would give them everything they wanted to effectively keep the status quo ante.
Scotland emphatically is not free. That’s exactly why the Scottish Parliament can’t hold another referendum without getting permission from the sovereign English Parliament. Freedom to do as you’re told isn’t freedom at all.
Only practical way to avoid an unnecessary problem, as it was in 1922 - and Westminster, as the party wanting to keep us together, would want it no less.
