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Jun 30, 2009 11:12 EDT

Should Scotland become independent?

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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?

COMMENT

I think it should because the english are ruining us. They are not rescuing us they are making the country worse! If we are independent it cant get any worse than it already is! You are all pathetic. I would love to see you spending a year in scotland with taxes going up and us getting ruined. The only person we can count on is alex salmond. Definetly not you english people

Posted by Kaybiff | Report as abusive
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