Friday 5 September 2014

Scottish Independence: A Naive Dream:

I cannot help but weigh in on the debate going on in the United Kingdom following the impending referendum on whether Scotland should become an independent nation which would of course put an end to the entity we now know as the United Kingdom and change the political face of Britain and Europe for years to come (assuming of course that the yes vote is passed), however after taking a look at some of the issues put forward by these Scottish nationalist, I’m convinced that the campaign is more of a scare tactic than anything else filled mostly with Anti-English sentiment and does not represents at all the facts. I’m by no means blaming the Scottish National Party (SNP) for all the misconceptions out there but one thing is clear is that the Scots will be by no means better off should the vote go in SNP’s favour. 

                 

                                                                                                                                                             Many Anglophobes not only in Scotland but all over the world will no doubt be keen to support the ambitions of the SNP to be an independent country for no other reason than the fact that they still view English control of Scotland as a symbol of national subordination, but those who do take this view do not truly understand the nature of the relationship between the two Kingdoms, in truth England does not dominate Scotland any more than Scotland rules England, the union between the two entities is not a forced one but one of mutual corporation. Contrary to popular myths told to stir up anti-British sentiments England has never annexed Scotland instead the union between them is one that was approved by the parliaments of both countries to end hostilities and make the Realm a much stronger union than they would have had they remained separate. The 1707 act of union is every bit Scotland’s doing as it is England’s, in fact  Scotland was so keen to have the union of the two Kingdoms just to ensure that the English Parliament  didn't change the rules concerning the royal line of succession which was in dispute of the time.
        
                                                                                                                      
And while on the topic of the monarchy, it is no secret that Anti-royalists would love nothing better than to  see  the split-up of England and Scotland because for them the monarchy is a key symbol of English control over Scottish life and so it would be better for Scotland should it be gotten rid, even now in Scotland, members of the SNP continue to debate on what role the Queen would have in the new constitution, some members favour retaining the Queen and installing a Sottish Governor-General to represent the Queen (similar to what we have here in Jamaica),  others however speak openly about having a Scottish Republic as the Queen of England should have no place in the Scotland they wish to build, this argument while it looks appealing to those of a liberal mind-set is flawed to more reasons than one, first of all  There has not been a “Queen of England” since 1707 the concept of both the English and Scottish monarchies has been retired to the history books for over 300 years, Elizabeth II is Queen of the United Kingdom and not Queen of England which she has been erroneously styled over the years and secondly The current British royal family is every bit as Scottish as a matter of fact some might say they’re even more Scottish than English as the current line started when James VI of Scotland was crowned King of England in 1603 after the House of Tudor died with Elizabeth I, any notion that the union came about as a result of English royalty holding control of Scotland is totally false in truth it is a Scottish royal family that reigns in England and thus over the entire United Kingdom, a fact I’m sure many SNP supporters would rather forget as it would not help their cause to break up the union.  

                                                                Whether the Scot nationalists will admit it or not, the union has served them as well as it has served the English both in terms of security  as well as financially, the British Isles went through its greatest period of prosperity as a united entity not a divided one, it’s quite hypocritical for  them  to go criticizing England for being a colonial power when it was every bit as complicit in this old colonial policy,  nobody has ever hard an English Empire before but the British Empire was world famous during  its heyday, for them to now disavow any ties to make and make it look as though it’s all England’s fault is truly disingenuous.  Even now in this post-colonial age, Scotland would still be far better off within the union than outside it for this so for several reasons:                                                                                         
 a. Record low interest rates and the fastest growing economy in the G7  and the EU means  the United Kingdom would have a stronger economic power than either England or Scotland can ever hope to be on its own,                                                                                                                           

b. The UK has a stable currency in the pound and also a stable tax regulatory system,                                

c. They have access to larger job and product markets  by remaining in the union,                                                                        
 d. Many public services in the UK are subsidised by the Westminster led government, to end the union would mean Sottish people would have to pay more to access the same services                                          
e. Regardless of no longer being a world empire, the UK still has major influence on the world stage having a major voice in entities like the G8, G20, NATO and not to mention a permanent seat on the UN security council                                                                                                                                                       
f. Having a united Britain would mean that the capacity of the British Isles to defend themselves  would much greater than it would be should the kingdoms decide to go their separate ways.

There is no way I could end this article without talking about the effect that the Scottish independence will have on the EU, The story told by the SNP is that Scotland will finally have its own independent voice in the European Union in truth Scotland will have no voice in the EU as several  countries have already threatened to veto Scotland’s entry into the EU should it secede so as not to encourage secessionist movements in their own countries, what the SNP tries to portray as the ultimate goal of Scotland will turn out to be their worst nightmare instead as no entry to the EU will mean that Scots will not enjoy the privileges of EU citizenship such as market access and freedom of movement all of which are privileges they now enjoy as part of the UK, it’s little wonder that the business community in Scotland is pushing for a “no vote”  as they have already seen the writing on the wall.       

                                                                                                                                                               
  The Question that the SNP and their collaborators must ask themselves, apart from bragging rights, what will be the real benefit to the Scottish people? Are they really willing to risk all on the altar of political expediency in a world which such an uncertain future?, is not the UK a much stronger and more stable option for everyone not only in Scotland, but also in England, Wales and Northern Ireland?. Independence as an ideal sounds good on paper as it tells the story of struggle and freedom, the story liberation from domination and the chance to decide one’s own destiny, all good sounding ideals but anyone who’s been following the SNP campaign will see that their dream is rather idealistic with little practical thought process going involved as they have yet to come up any concrete benefit that this will have on the Scottish people as opposed to remaining in the union. So on September 18, 2014 the people of the Kingdom of Scotland have a decision to make when a referendum is called, one can only hope that they judge carefully and weigh the facts instead of being swayed by sentiment and by doing so will end up making the right call.