Happy Tartan Week

"It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom"  

The Declaration of Arbroath (1320)

 

Mike Ogletree sings 'A Man's A Man For A' That'

Do The Scots Want Independence?

This isn't the first time the Scots have been asked this question. Last time the majority voted for independence, but the condition of the referendum was that 40% of the population had to want it and as a proportion of the people who voted only 32.9% said yes. Scotland remained a part of the UK. 

The next referendum (autumn of 2014) will ask again if Scots want independence and implicitly ask them to decide on their system of government. If you are Scottish, you can participate in the consultation.

I'm Giving 'Er All She's Got Captain!

The new vote for independence has restarted the conversation about the viability of Scotland. There are myths and half truths being told. Here are some of my favorite ideas, but which is truth and which is myth?

• The Dorian project (site of the Panama Canal), which financially ruined the Scottish nobles and led to their bailout by England and the Act of Union, isn't an example of English superiority over the Scots. The English, after sabotaging the Suez Canal, eventually purchased it from Egypt under the same circumstances, sold at a discount because of economic necessity. Not exactly their finest hour!
• Scotland has some underdeveloped industry. The Roslin Institute and the Centre for Regenerative Medicine are world leaders in the field of cell research. 
• There is no shortage of water in Scotland, but there is around the world.
• Scottish Whiskey seems to be one of the most profitable exports in the world! Forward-looking Scots worried about opening a new market have started to test distillation in space.
• Andrew Carnegie, once the world's richest man, thought that an alliance with America was better than being a member of Europe. Could Scotland apply to be an America state?

There are large differences in the values and character of the English and Scottish people that mean that the people of England and Scotland have always questioned the Union. Devolution has created a resurgence of English nationalism and the English are asking why they are the only country in the UK that doesn't have its own parliament.