English thickheadedness and xenophobia may have passed “Brexit”, but the feeling wasn’t universal. Scottish leaders are already eyeing a second independence vote, and the way they’re talking, they have no intention of asking for London’s permission this time. Scotland never wanted to leave, and it’s a safe bet that the EU knows it and would welcome them back.
The 2014 independence vote may have failed, but only by a 5.4% margin, and being dragged out of the EU against their will may change voter opinion. When (not if) Scotland secedes, it will not be “Scotxit” or any other silly name. They’re not “leaving”, they’re going home.
Scotland will be rEUnited.
Then the question is how England will respond. Will it be as violent with the Scots as it was with the Irish or the Spanish were with the Catalans? Given England’s history of oppression, they’re capable of it. But knowing they’re alone this time may change London’s attitude.
Scottish Leader Says Its Time for Independence
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Friday said she was ready to step up the campaign for Scottish independence, as Brexit has set the country on the “wrong road.”
[…]
“As of 11 p.m. tonight the U.K. that Scotland voted to remain part of, a U.K. inside the EU, the status quo that a majority voted for, will no longer exist,” she said.
“There will be a material change in the circumstances that prevailed in 2014,” she said, referring to the last referendum on Scottish independence.
[…]
Scottish newspapers on Friday marked Brexit with pro-European front pages, reflecting the majority vote north of the border with England to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum.
“Short changed: Isolated, worse off, weaker and divided,” said the Daily Record.
Pro-independence daily The National wrote: “Dear Europe. We didn’t vote for this. Remember to … Leave a light on for Scotland.”
Sturgeon committed to persuade more Scots to back independence, as a new poll suggested a slim majority were now in favor of the country ending its three-centuries union with the United Kingdom.
If any wall needs to be built, it’s Hadrian’s. Seize the land permanently and make it Scottish.
I agree that the disintegration of the UK is a likely result of Brexit. Perhaps, if the new border is too contentious, Northern Ireland might be next? If both leave, England will have to transplant whatever hard border arrangements they originally devised for Ireland to their own northern border.
It should be noted that the only reason Labor has even a chance in British national elections is Scotland. If it leaves, Conservatives may publicly wring their hands, but privately they will be exulting at the prospect of decades of parliamentary dominance. It will be like what would happen in the US if California seceded.
The ones I feel sorry for are the English liberals, who will be stuck in a right-wing hellhole with little hope of rescue. V for Vendetta, perhaps?
England could end up the North Korea of Europe – the land route for Scots going to the continent, a single party dictatorship of toothless and failing power in a long, slow decline. And generates a lot of its income from weapons sales to brutal regimes.
Often claimed, but completely untrue. In fact, there have only been a couple of times when Scotland has swung the balance of a UK election, and both of those were very marginal and only lasted a few months. England is perfectly capable of electing Labour governments when it wants to, and every lasting Labour government has had a majority substantially larger than the total number of seats elected by Scotland.
Thanks for the info, Dunc — that’s good to know! I had heard that factoid even from my British friends.