But her number would change!
Since Elizabeth I was not a Queen of Scotland (they had James VI, who became James I in England), the current Elizabeth II of the UK would be Elizabeth I in Scotland.
No, aside from a few outlying nationalists. Wales is a small, largely rural country with little industry and is heavily reliant on both cash and public sector jobs that come direct from Westminster. Ask even the most rabid anti-English welshman (like my in-laws) and they’ll tell you they don’t want to leave the Union. Wales would be screwed.
Well, now I have to go lie down for a while with a damp cloth on my head. Thanks very much for that.
Scotland would still be in Britain if it seceded from the Union wouldn’t it? In that the British Isles are made up of Great Britain (England + Scotland + Wales, regardless of politics) and Ireland and many smaller islands
I’m particularly interested in this point, as I am just such a Scot. Will I have to move back to vote? Will I have to apply for citizenship on behalf of my Anglo-Scots kids?
I’m not particularly pro-Independence. I don’t see what benefits we get out of it other than sticking two fingers up at the English. Devo-max would give tax powers, which are the one big missing piece of the jigsaw. But as for oil - I don’t think Scotland could fail to get at least all the oil that gets piped into it, and really any fields within territorial waters. It depends somewhat on the discussion about how to draw the border, but there’s surelly not much that England can offer/threaten that would lead to any big concessions on this.
It would still be part of the British Isles, and Great Britain, both of which are geographical descriptions. It wouldn’t be part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which is a nation.
In fact if Scotland leaves the union won’t that mean the title of the country would need to change? It wouldn’t be the United Kingdom of Great Britain any more as a big piece of it would be missing. Or could we keep on using that description under poetic licence? Hmmmm…
They could threaten to veto Scottish entry into the EU.
Fair point. But how long would that fly for? It wouldn’t be too hard to drum up diplomatic support from the rest of the EU, especially given the UK (England’s) current friendly status with the other big players. The desire to have a big oil region within the EU would be quite strong, I imagine.
And of course, is it better to have the income from the oil or the trade benefits of the EU? Given the volume of Scotland’s trade, I’d imagine that the oil would be worth more.
Surely it would still be called the United Kingdom, though. Unless anyone can come up with a snappier name.
The Area Formerly Known As The United Kingdom, or TAFKATUK?
Britain, Less All Those Hills And Men In Skirts, or BLATHAMIS?
Even Greater Britain?
This whole thing sounds like a bit of a farce. Since the power of the Scottish parliament is still devolved from Westminster, it doesn’t really matter if they vote for independence.
Meh. The United States of America don’t cover all of even North America.
Spain, Belgium could well support the British veto, they have their own secessionist regions. Also, Scotland is too small to really add much to Europe, I can assure you that the EU has very little desire to add new smaller and in need of financial support countries.
Furthermore, in this divorce, Scotland is the weaker partner and will end up worse. About the only thing that Scotland has as an advantage is any negotiation is North Sea oil and the UK’s nuclear deterrent.
Pretty much all of Europe has a secessionist region to deal with. The Italians have the mythical land of Padania. I don’t think anybody is going to be too thrilled at the prospect of a newly independent Scotland firing up their own secessionist regions.
The amusing side of that is that most of England would be thinking “thank fuck they’ve gone”.
Awesome Britain.
England has a 6 week emergency supply of haggis and deepfried Mars bars for such a contingency.
This saddens me. My country, which I consider to be Britain I think of myself as British, is being broken up for no good reason as far as I can see. I’d like a world with more co-operation between ‘tribes’ not less.
Your (and my, at least according to my passport) country didn’t always include Scotland, and until quite recently included all of Ireland. Hell, it once included most of France.
Don’t confuse self-determination with lack of cooperation. Sometimes, you have to get rid of the trappings of imperialism and so on before people are entirely comfortable cooperating with you.
Imperialism??? Scotland came cap in hand to England after losing a lot of money.
But still, I agree with your point however I can still be sad no? I’m British not English.
ETA: what self determination do the Scots lack by the way? The previous government was dominated by Scottish MPs for 10 years!
I didn’t say imperialism. I said the trappings of imperialism.
Yeah, claiming they are victims of imperialism is not exactly something anyone can take seriously. The Irish at least had something on this score, and they were pretty egar imperialists too.
Culloden does not count. Longshanks has been dead 800 years. ;).