Much what I was trying to say about going down the courts route. Like you I don’t know enough about things so really I will just have to cast my vote and hope
True. I'm not particularly close to the detail but I don't see there is currently a natural successor to Nicola as she was when Salmond was in charge. Both of those were proficient politicians and together with the force of their personalities have carried independence. I still think there is fallout to come from the Sturgeon/Salmond situation and if that gets messy then I hate to think how it plays out. That together with a degree of complacency that I feel is becoming more apparant as the SNP have had power for so long might affect the outcome if one ever comes to pass. I don't think that worries the core SNP supporter but it may influence those who aren't SNP supporters but who voted for independence. Having said all that, the current PM of the UK and the Conservative party in general are doing their best to make all of this irrelavant and ensure that any independence vote would be a nail on certainity.
There are quite a few good orators, which generally, seems to hold greater importance for leadership contenders in the modern era. I suspect Ian Blackford would fancy a go at it, and I've always been impressed with Joanna Cherry. As Ian says, I think the next test are the upcoming elections and if the level of vote is high for SNP (even if it is lower than now), that will give Scottish mandate for a referendum vote. It's only subjective opinion, but I feel the longer Westminster and English nationalists and commentators say no, you can't, the more the clamour for separation will burgeon.
Either way if an “illegal referendum” (for lack of a better phrase) is held and the result is leave, but the courts rule that Scotland doesn’t have that power under the Scotland Act, it’s going to get very messy. I think for this reason it would be silly for Nicola to call a referendum unless it’s approved by the UK prior. It’s the only way to ensure legitimacy really and for that reason I don’t think Nicola is stupid enough to try that. I think they’ll fight their battles in the court before holding the vote rather than the other way around. As a side note, I was also reading that even if the courts do rule that Scotland has the power, that is not in itself approval and the UK Government would still have to approve it, which they really should do, but with Boris in charge I wouldn’t bet on it.
Ultimately, my view is simple. If that's what the Scottish people want, then good luck to them. I'm not sure they'll be that relevant to the EU and the powerhouses of France and Germany once the wooing, hugging and kissing is over, but it's their call and their right to do so. Albeit they already had a vote on it not so long ago.
If they want independence, they should repay the money it cost Queen Anne’s government, to bail them out after their disaster of The Darien Expedition. In money which today is just short of a Trillion Pounds
I agree that its their call completely. And as I said earlier, if they hadn't voted to remain in the EU, then the grounds for a referendum are nominal. But they are a country. And they voted to remain. And they got dragged out against their will. I think it likely it would be difficult for them initially as they set up and agree to share various services and institutions, but their population is bigger than Malta, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Croatia, Ireland, Slovakia and Finland and are very close to Denmark. They have plenty of natural resources too, so I think once set up, they could do very well.
The UK did. But Scotland didn't. If we'd remained, the UK by a small percentage, and that was because of say, a 95% remain vote in Scotland.... what do you think the mood from English nationalists and the right wing would be?
But do you see the argument that the Tories promised that a vote to remain in the uk would ensure continued membership of the EU. They went back on that deal so what exactly did you expect?
Without Scotland, there wouldn't even be a UK. "The United Kingdom of some of Great Britain oh and Northern Ireland for the time being" doesn't sound like much of United Kingdom to me.
Its not been united for a long time, and gets worse by the year. I fully expect England and Wales to be all that remain in a "Union" within my lifetime.
It's highly unlikely that an independent Scotland would be allowed to join the EU, as it would re-ignite the Catalonia independence movement, and possibly Basque separation movement too. Therefore they would be unable to adopt the Euro, they'd be removed from using £ sterling, and have to create their own currency. Heavily reliant on a lack of revenues from dwindling oil reserves and financial support from the UK, this Scottish currency would soon be hit by a run on it, and becoming something of a basket case. Also regarding their current leadership, there are allegations about alleged conspiracy by Sturgeon supporters against Alex Salmond, over the criminal charges on which he was acquitted. The stench of sleaze gets ever closer to Sturgeon.
Just as an aside, and genuine question..... do you think there is a stench of sleaze around Alexander Boris DePfeffel Johnson?