Dangerous road to Scottish independence
IT would seem that Scotland has become almost a one-party state under the iron rule of the
SNP, who continually pump out their dislike for England, despite receiving considerable autonomy via devolution but appear to want to sacrifice it by re-joining the EU as a separate country and come under the rule of Brussels.
Our Government have two choices, either to refuse a second referendum, or to put one out to all the UK, both of which would not satisfy militant SNP members (particularly as a UK-wide referendum would almost certainly result in a ‘No’ to independence) even though I sense there is an increasing annoyance among the English population about the continual whingeing of the SNP over this subject leading to a growing feeling that they should push off and be left to sink or swim on their own.
Although this would not be helpful for either country, the result would be unlikely to hurt the rest of the UK as much as it would Scotland, particularly as the SNP appear to think that having gained their independence they will immediately fall into the welcoming arms of the EU who will proceed to give them lots more money. This of course is by no means guaranteed. The EU has a number of countries who are already relying on money from the EU and now that the UK, one of its largest contributors, has left are unlikely to want to take on yet another of what they call a ‘net beneficiary’.
The main question is, could Scotland go it alone if separated from the UK? I feel it would be very difficult, particularly over currency and if there was to be a customs border between the two and because of this there may also be firms wanting to relocate back across the border to England.
Then of course there is the military question, given the attitude of the SNP towards England and their demand for the removal of our naval submarine base in Faslane, the UK would have little choice but to remove all our armed forces, as Scotland would essentially become a foreign country whose Government could be considered as hostile and would undoubtedly result a huge loss of jobs. There are too many other reasons to list... let us hope the people of Scotland soon begin to realise the dangerous road down which the SNP are taking them.
Paul Mercer Tavistock