Will the Union see its 300th birthday?

The Telegraph ^ | 10/25/06 | Alan Cochrane

[Mobile Vulgus]

It would be interesting, wouldn't it?

As an American (and of Scottish ancestry), I am not completely sure how I feel about this!

[marsh_of_mists]

If this happened would Scotland still be under the British monarchs as a seperate kingdom, as under the Stuarts, or would it become an entirely seperate republic?

[bruinbirdman]

"or would it become an entirely seperate republic?"

Good question. Would it choose to remain in the Commonwealth? Is there still a Commonwealth?

yitbos

[marsh_of_mists]

Well, there is still a Commonwealth. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand (I believe) are still part of it, as a matter of fact.

[Starwolf]

It finally time for all of us Scot to rise up and throw off the yoke of British oppresion and restore Bonnie Prince Charlie

[The Duke]

I wonder what kind of laughable socialist nanny-state the Scots would craft for themselves(?) Do they think that "Benny Argyle" will be any funnier than Benny Hill?

After the gene pool ravages of the migration to the New World and and two World Wars, I'm wondering where they found the backbone even to consider such things. Mel Gibson complex(?)

[Mobile Vulgus]

I would expect we'd see Scotland become just a separate nation. I doubt they'd bother to reinstate the Scots Monarchy. It would just be a Constitutional or Parliamentary system.

[bruinbirdman]

Would they still be part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?

Would it still be a United Kingdom?

Would it still be a "Great" Britain?

yitbos

[bruinbirdman]

Would they get a seat at the UN?

yitbos

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

It's increasingly this way around Europe: devolution among the nations, but evolution of the EU. Regionalist Europeans think that they can be more independent of their state by paradoxically becoming more integrated with the EU.

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

So there are Scottish freepers....

[Mobile Vulgus]

I think they mean to erase any "Great Britain" as well as the United Kingdom!

They want to be JUST Scotland! No longer part of the Commonwealth.

[Caipirabob]

Just a thought from across the pond:

""We must all hang together or assuredly we will all hang seperately."

I think the whole of Britain has far greater foes to confront than one another. I can't speak for the internal forces of politics between different entities, but I'm certain that Britain will be stronger in facing the brewing storm together than apart.

[Vanders9]

Ok, its fairly obvious a bit more information is needed here.

England and Scotland became the United Kingdom when Elizabeth 1st (the virgin queen) died childless, and James VI of Scotland, by the laws of succession, also became James I of England, round about 1603? This was not popular in England, but canny James overcame his assorted shortcomings by some astute political maneouvering and some notable achievements, such as commissioning the King James Bible.

For a century the two countries remained separate entities, just with the same head of state. The act of union united the two parliments in 1707. Curiously enough, it was the Scots who pushed for the Union, the English again were fairly ambivalent.

I dont know what the Scots Nationalists are plotting. Certainly a dissolution of the political union. Whether they also plan to dissolve the monarchy, I dont know. I dont know if legally they can actually DO that. I think the only way they can get rid of the monarch is by force. They are all a bunch of rapid leftists so who can tell?

So, to sum up, we could have the Kingdom of England and the Peoples democratic republic of Scotland, or we could have the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with England and Scotland being separate countries, or we could all come to our senses and keep the present arrangement going and get rid of that stupid tier of beauracracy in Holyrood.

Finally "Great" Britain (thanks for the quotes) is not in any way a measure of us all thinking proudly how "great" we are. It is "Great" as in "Greater", i.e. "big". Big Britain, as opposed to "Little" Britain, i.e. Brittany in France.

[bobjam]

I really don't see how a split between Scotland and England would hurt Scottish business at all. In fact, it may open up new opportunities as Scotland could forge the closer relations with the EU that England has long resisted.

[AngloSaxonChristian]

As an Englishman, I can't wait for Scotland to gain it's independence. Scotland is a socialist pseudo-utopia that can't pay it's way and relies on $2000 of taxes from every English tax-payer a year to fund its' socialism.

Personally, I'm saving up bricks so we can rebuild Hadrians Wall and keep the socialists where they belong - in the cold! ;-)

[AngloSaxonChristian]

'It finally time for all of us Scot to rise up and throw off the yoke of British oppresion and restore Bonnie Prince Charlie'

Surely you mean throw off the yoke of English oppression? The scots are British as well as the English and are unlikely to be oppressing themselves. . . . .

[bobjam]

That may be the EU strategy: breakup consolidated nations such as Great Britain, Germany and Italy into their regional principalties (Naples, Bavaria, Wales, Saxony, etc) and then stitch them together under the EU umbrella.

[agere_contra]

A split between Scotland and England would bring down English income tax by 8p in the pound (that's the astounding net cost of Scotland, including all oil receipts).

If it brings English tax down by that much, it would drive Scottish taxes up by (I guess) 24p in the pound to maintain the current level of public services.