To ask England, Wales and NI if they'd care if Scotland left?

[user2010202]

Prior to Brexit, I always believed in the UK. After that vote, I no longer feel I belong to the rest of the UK. Clearly Scotland has different visions and hopes for the future.

I don't feel connected to the rest of the UK. I feel we share an island, but clearly we don't share a future. I am happy being European. I'm happy living in a country that embraces difference, and promotes tolerance. But I no longer feel these are UK values, even though I always would have said they were up until a couple of years ago.

So, a few years ago I said no to leaving. Since 2016 I've been kicking myself. But my question is, would those of you in the rest of the UK really care if we left? It currently seems like our differences are irreconcilable and I don't see a long-term solution.

We have a shared past. But I'm not sure I want us to have a shared future.

I'd care. (Southern England).

Well I doubt there would be a vote if the EU were saying they weren't interested in us joining.

Only if Scotland takes me with them!

I’d be extremely sad if the union broke up, I think we have a lot of shared history and heritage. We also operate well as a group while each country maintains its own identity.

However, as a remainer, I sympathise with the Scots anger at being dragged out so I wouldn’t blame them for being independent. I’d be gutted though.

Ssd - same here! 😩I’m also not getting what I voted for! 🤬

Interesting that so many people view independence as solely an SNP thing.

Its not. Sure, SNP stand on a manifesto of an independent Scotland - but you don't have to support snp to support independence. Independence is a much bigger issue than one political party. And to dismiss it based on the political personalities of that one party is peculiar. Sure, dismiss it because you don't think it's financially viable or you have close ties with England /Wales /NI or you live the Queen so much you can't imagine her living in a different country. But not because you don't like one or two politicians that believe in that policy.

If Scotland voted again for independence and got the result they wished, good for them and a case of sorry to see them go.

They can then apply to join EU and adopt the Euro as their currency, with all the benefits of free trade, no checks etc across borders.

As for trading with England? That would be interesting, assuming we do actually leave

During the Scottish Referendum I could never find one vital bit of information I.e. Who would be the Bank of last resort as it could not be the BOE as they would not wish to tied to England and the associated tax rules etc.

I think if you (Scots) want to you should - but you'd need to be prepared to give up comforts you enjoy like free home care ect as Scotland gets a lot of money from the rest of the UK. There are several articles out there analysing how the oil reserves arent as lucrative as the SNP ect make out.

I lived in Scotland during the first referendum and it was toxic. Really divisive and horrible.

I don’t think that Scotland is more tolerant I just think there are far fewer immigrants, different cultures and people in general.

You cant really compare tolerance in somewhere like Birmingham to somewhere like Glasgow, they have completely different issues.

Considering the sectarianism in Scotland I wouldn’t be so sure I would claim it was a more tolerant place, just had less immigrants to complain about.

Oh and given the SNP's track record on Named Person, Curriculum for Excellence, Police Scotland, the new QEUH in Glasgow and the Sick Kids in Edinburgh you REALLY trust them with the massive task of disentangling Scotland from the UK?

Total amateur hour. But yeah, "freedom".

I wouldn't blame them.

The exact same arguments people make for being in the EU are the same for Scotland being in the Union.

But it's very strange to hear people saying they want to leave the EU to take back control but then criticise Scottish people who want to leave the Union to take back control.

I love Scotland and would like to stay together
Grim how posters from the South don't care but they don't seem to care about the North generally
A split would be an expensive mess for us all, just like brexit
We should be focusing on issues like climate change and poverty before its too late

I'm English living in Scotland and dread another IndyRef due to the abuse aimed at the English. Scotland is NOT a tolerant country at all. The last referendum was based on lies ( arent they all) that oil would be the answer. Subsequent crash in oil prices shows how that would have worked out. Given the Brexit shitshow i can understand Scots voting yes to Indy this time round. But they can never answer the questions as to how it will be funded, what will be the currency, who is the bank of last resort ( The collapsed RBS, already bailed out?). And finally, who will defend this brave new world? Not the British Armed Forces, of which Scotland will be entitled to a percentage of hardware certainly, but personnel dont have to "tupe" over to the Scottish Home guard which will have to be started from scratch in terms of recruitment etc. I understand the tug at the Braveheart heartstrings by the SNP but until there are serious, factual answers to how its all going to work out, I will be voting no next time round again.

I wouldn't have a problem with it. If they want independence, then they should have it.

My attitude has been changed by my most recent visit to Scotland, though. I grew up in NE England, 45 mins from border, and have many happy memories of childhood holidays in Scotland. Have lived in SE for 20 years now, don't have much of a northern accent anymore. Took the DC for a trip over the border when visiting NE England in 2015 and have never felt so uncomfortable in my life. People were openly hostile, including staff when we stopped for food.

If independence stops the anti-English sentiment, then that would be good, but am not sure I'd go back now.

I’m Scottish living in England. I hope they get independence because they’ll deserve everything they get. The country will sink like a stone. Nicola sturgeon is dangerous. They wouldn’t even qualify to get into the EU. I hate what the SNP have done to the country.

I would be incredibly sad, but I'd completely understand it.

We've always wanted to move to Scotland, and independence would probably push us even further in that direction - I'd much rather live in an independent Scotland than a post-Brexit England.

www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2019/08/23/scotlands-huge-deficit-means-numbers-independence-dont-add/

The first paragraphs from this article -

Which country in the developed world has the biggest budget shortfall? A black hole in the public finances larger than the likes of Italy and the rest of southern Europe, bigger than the US under spendthrift Donald Trump and double that of debt-ridden Japan.

That dubious honour would go to Scotland if it were an independent country. Its £13bn shortfall is equivalent to more than half the UK’s total notional fiscal deficit despite having less than a tenth of the population, it was revealed this week.

While the UK’s deficit almost halved to 1.1pc of GDP in 2018/19, the figure for Scotland fell 1.1 percentage points to a still eye-watering 7pc.

.....

Basically Scotland can't afford to be independent unless it fundamentally curbs its public spending, which is currently subsidised by the rest of the UK. Scotland has it very good with the Barnett formula and should probably appreciate a bit more which side its bread is buttered.

Personally I'd have been very happy for Scotland to go when there was a referendum as the rest of the UK would be richer as a result as there would be fewer poorer areas to subsidise.

But I don't think there should be a second referendum, they've had one and they've voted to stay. There's no mandate for one and it is too disruptive for the businesses who have chosen to invest there and people who live there.

My personal opinion is there should be more devolution, Scotland should raise its own taxes and choose how it spends them, which means it will no longer be able to afford things like free university education and prescriptions, which the rest of the UK doesn't have.

We need to address the root of the problem before we collectively self destruct. I believe the majority of pro-indy Scots are not anti-England or anti-UK but anti-Westminister. I also suspect that much of the discontent behind the Brexit leave vote is down to Westminster policies and not EU ones. People are pissed off and desperate enough for change they'll grasp at anything and they've been conned into thinking that Brexit offers the chance of positive change.

It's Westminister politics that is behind all this. Just look at the monumental fuck-up those incompetent, self-serving, corrupt wingnuts have made of the Brexit fiasco. From the lemming-like referendum that started it all (and was all about Tory in-fighting), May's suicidal general election that left her with a minority unless she jumped into bed with the DUP to the embarrassing attempts to negotiate a deal and get it through parliament. The union is not a problem and the EU is not a boogie man. It is all Westminister. It is rotten to the core and will destroy us all unless we rip its black heart out.

I'm Welsh. I'd prefer Scotland to stay, partly because if they go we're likely to have a Tory government inflicted on us even more often than we are already.

And I'd just miss you guys!

I'd be very sad indeed but would completely understand why. Me and dh have also been thinking about where our future be in that situation as we both have family links to Scotland. It looks a more attractive option than England, especially if Scotland could rejoin the EU.

Some of the staunchest Indy supporters I know in Glasgow are English. They certainly didn't feel unwelcome or abused during the referendum.
I'm not English but have a noticeably non-Scottish accent and I've never received any abuse in twenty years.

I really wish Scotland and the UK hadn't had any referendums , by nature they are divisive , and we don't seem to handle the campaigns and aftermath at all well.
I voted No in the Scottish referendum and would vote No again. The atmosphere around the last vote was horrible , I was intimidated in town several times , simply for wearing a no thanks sticker , Most no voters I know were scared to display a banner , or car sticker

I can understand an emotional reason for voting yes , but economically it really does not stack up
With the deficit- the economic cost would be huge in the short and mid term -It would either need to be Austerity max or much higher taxes ,
I run an online business , about 80% of my business is with rest of the UK , It would become uncompetitive, with a different currency and a new mail system , so if yes won I would have move to England to continue to trade - So Scotland would lose the tax I pay.
I would also like to open a physical shop employing people - but won't with another independence vote being likely , -more tax and rates lost
Why would you want to put up barriers to trade (currency change), with the rest of Uk which is by far Scotland's biggest market-its economic suicide
It would take Scotland years to economically recover from a Yes vote

I'd happily see Scotland go if they wanted to go - but not with continuous massive payouts / subsidies from taxpayers living elsewhere - it would need to be true independence. Not sure how the North Sea oil situation would pan out in reality.. be quite nice if the rest of us had any say in the matter of breaking up the UK actually. But then again, given Brexit, maybe not.

I'm constantly being told that voting for independence wasnt anti-English/english people. Yet the arguement for independence is to get away from brexit because everyone who voted for that is racist and dislikes european immigrants?

Both Scottish independence and Brexit arguments are about wether you believe you want to remain in a union and wether you believe that union serves you well. Both should be treated equally with regards to above....you cant tell people they're racist for wanting out of one but not apply that arguement to yourself. (Btw I'm not naive and know how racists and anti-english people did vote in both these referendums).

Also, if people dont believe that the shit show of coming out the EU wont happen with leaving the UK either then you must be naive given how entangled our two countries are and how shit the government has been shown to be so far.

I’m an SNP member, I voted yes for independence and I voted for remain.

I was so disappointed I actually cried when the indyref results were announced. Now I’m just angry that Scotland is being dragged out of the EU against our will.