Seven Kingdoms - Free Mercia !
Thought-provoking article, but ends up unwittingly making a stronger case for an independent Scotland than against it.
My own view is that smaller nations have less influence on global events and are more influenced by them. Britain is a stronger world power as a single United kingdom - better to be a mere cog in a significant machine than an merely an insignificant machine. The article barely touches on this, but I think it's one of the most important points. Breaking up the UK into seven kindgoms might make seven small, progressive, happy kingdoms, but they'd also be seven small, unimportant kingdoms.
Even though an independent Scotland (or more personally, Wales) would be able to escape the clutches of the Tory party, it would also rapidly cease to matter to the rest of the world. Britain isn't a global superpower any more, but its voice still carries real weight. And no matter how much I may dislike the current Westminster government, they are hardly an oppressive regime that goes around burning Scottish villages and villagers.
There are differences in English and Scottish and Welsh identities, yes, but we're not talking about diametrically-opposed viewpoints (e.g. Republicans vs Democrats). I'd rather maintain the current, politically diverse landscape, even if I don't agree with the Tories about 90% of the time. Having some clout of the world stage is more important than avoiding the petty squabbling of British politics (see USA if you want to see real political debates, those guys know how to throw a properly ugly argument).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-27731725
The counter-argument to this would be that Scotland currently has essentially zero clout within the UK (particularly when the Tories are in power), so although it makes the UK's clout greater it does nothing for Scotland (not sure I buy this, but Scottish independence advocates certainly claim that Scotland has very little influence on the UK government).
ReplyDeleteAs an independent country, Scotland would still have essentially zero clout, so doesn't gained or lost anything on the world stage but does get out of being ruled by either the Tories or by a national Labour party that is to the right of Scottish Labour.
Scottish MPs are still allowed to vote in Westminster, whereas English MPs can't vote in Holyrood. So in that sense they've got some influence, albeit not much because of the lower number of constituencies.
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly, "not being under the sway of the Tory government" has been the most persuasive argument for independence I've yet heard... on the other hand, that would mean more Tory governments in England. And that would be bad for everyone.
That's why I hope they don't leave the UK, while at the same time if I were Scottish I'd probably vote for independence!
ReplyDelete