I have no problem with Scotland becoming independent; I would rather that they didn’t because I believe in the Union as something that I have grown up with, but if they want to go then fair enough.
What needs to be clear though is the basis of their going. The end of any influence over the government of the rest of the UK and no more money from the rest of the UK being the starting point. Nothing that I have seen from La Sturgeon gives any indication of how Scotland could survive alone and perhaps that is why around half of her constituents seem to be against a split.
The EU have made it clear that they would not admit Scotland as a member so I cannot understand how she seems to cling to that idea. In general she seems to me to be one of those people making a lot of noise about something that she will never have to deliver whilst having enough shreds of populist ideal to keep the votes coming her way.
One of the criticisms of the UK leaving the EU was that those of us who voted to leave did not know what we were voting for and I have never denied that. I knew what I was voting for and was very clear about it, but the obvious dismay of some fellow leave voters when the truth dawned clearly showed that they did not understand (not that the Remain camp ever explained exactly what staying in would mean either). I think that many supporters of Scottish independence do believe that they will get some form of support from the UK after any divorce and that we would not sit by and watch them go bankrupt.
There are those in England who are getting heartily sick of the whingeing from the other UK nations and would happily see Ulster become part of a united Ireland, would recreate Offa’s Dyke and Hadrian’s Wall, possibly with some boundary adjustments, and let them all bugger off. England has its now problems so why keep baling out these troublesome bailiwicks? It should be no surprise that many of those Scots who oppose independence fully understand that they have it good right now because of the handouts from South of the border. Perhaps we should cut off those funds and give La Sturgeon a bit of a hand here?
Personally I believe in the Union and would like to see genuine unity, but time will tell. The Scots have had their generational shot at a referendum and could not get enough support for independence. They should now get on with life.
The Voice of the Bloke at the Back 