As Scotland prepares to celebrate 10 years of devolution on July 1, the question of whether the nation should gain full independence from the Union refuses to go away.
An opinion poll has found that 58 percent of Scots support the Scottish government’s wish to hold a referendum on independence in 2010.
This does not mean that the people of Scotland actually want to break free, however. The poll, carried out by ICM for the BBC, also showed that only 38 percent of the 1,010 respondents said they were in favour of Scotland becoming an independent country, while 54 percent said they would vote against the idea.
Respondents were also asked if they believed it was likely or unlikely Scotland would become a completely independent nation within 20 years, with 10 percent saying they thought it was likely and 28 percent quite likely. A larger proportion were not as convinced — 34 percent said it was quite unlikely and 24 percent said it was very unlikely.
The issue of Scottish independence is a hot topic south of the border too. Many feel that Scottish MPs should not be allowed to vote on laws that affect only England, while the multi-billion pound annual subsidy Scotland received from the Treasury also gets many people hot under the collar.
What do you think? Should Scotland separate itself from the United Kingdom? Would it be able to manage on its own?
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13 comments so far
Of course scotland should be independent all countries in the world govern themselves why should scotland be any different. Scotland will be able to manage fine on its own the UK government hid a report called the mcrone report which showed this. They would not have hidden this if they didnt know it was true.
- Posted by karinShouldn’t somebody be asking the English if we’d like to be independent of the Scots (and of the Welsh and Northern Irish)? I suspect we all know what the resounding answer to those questions would be.
- Posted by Matthewi’m english and i think scotland should definitely be independent
so they would have to rescue their own banks, keep their chancellors of the exchequer / pm’s to themselves and take back their moody tennis players!! referendum anyone???
- Posted by markAt the time of Union, Scotland kept its own legal system as well as religious, education, and sports systems. Unfortunately the English have controlled these since, with a greater or lesser sense of decency, and it is long past the time when Scots should control their own affairs. The Calman Commission started with the answer and then worked back to the solution. This is not a good approach. The so-called subsidy referred to in the article excludes large chunks of Scots revenues.
- Posted by neilThe thought of doing away with the Midlothian question, the Barnett formula and other injustices visited upon the English is wonderful to contemplate. At present the English also suffer under the Scot Brown’s dictatorship as well, although it is hard to imagine that going on for more than another year. However permanently getting rid of the possibility of the Scottish tail wagging the English dog is another benefit devoutly to be wished for.
- Posted by John LambleEvery country should be independent, should have control of its own borders and should pay its own way in the world. That includes England.
As to whether Scotland can survive on its own - it should be borne in mind that the Act Of Union was largely a result of Scotland’s bankruptcy following the failure of the Darien Scheme. It seems that history is repeating itself with the recent collapse of Scottish financial institutions. The difference this time round is that the Scots exported their unwanted politicians to England so that they could bring both countries down at the same time.
- Posted by PeterI think Scotland can manage on it’s own.
- Posted by irene millarIt will take time but doesn’t everything?
In Scottish schools pupils were not taught Scottish history and I remember being curious once I left.
Well, no wonder pupils are not given lessons. Amazing what the English government did to 500,000 Scottish people back in the 19th Century.
Explains why there are millions of Scottish descendants not in Scotland.
Of course we in Scotland all remember Maggie Thatcher using the Scottish people as an experiment for the Poll Tax before the rest of the UK.
And when North Sea Oil was discovered, she changed the law so that oil found off the coast of Scotland would no longer belong to Scotland. But became the property of the whole UK. Well that was £200 billion Scotland wouldn’t see again.
Then more recently BBC England getting officially told off for bias against Scotland when reporting bad Football fans.
It’s all these small niggles that annoy us.
- Posted by Stuart Halliday“No taxation without representation” should be the sole consideration.
English taxpayers subsidise Scotland through the Barnett formula, but have no representation in Scottish affairs. Scotland should be independent and the decision should be made by a referendum in England, not just in Scotland.
- Posted by MikeI know Scottish people do not like reminding of the fact but England beat Scotland and took over.
That is why the “union” exists and why the oil belongs to us.
- Posted by BillyI am backing Britain, only the ingorant in naive think that seperating an Island would be a good idea.
- Posted by RobertGrow up everyone and stop blaming each other for the nations failing, we are one Nation, one Island and should be proud of that.
The Union happened for a reason and it brought peace to a fractured Island, it is easy to moan when you have never had it so good.
Please, Please, Please can we have independance from Scotland - I am English and all people I have spoken to (non Scottish) in England and Wales would welcome this with open-arm….. No Scottish politicians voting on English and Welsh issues (I live in Bristol), no Bank of Scotland Rescure (Scotland could not have rescued them at all), no handouts for free perscriptions, free university and anything else the UK wants to give them…… good riddence. This will not affect us in going there as we are all part of the EU, however will be good as we will no longer need to support a country where you are expected to be British if English, however Scottish if Scottish (sorry I am English and I loved it when Fedderer beat Murray, who seems to hate being called ‘British’)
- Posted by AnthonyAs other people say look what has happened to the independant part of ireland, it is brilliant in economics, and Scotland is very similar to Ireland, And also the Union was a result on Bankrupcy only because Scotland put all its money into a fleet to go to south America to make a colony, however was the union in 1701 designed for the 21st Century
- Posted by Matt