On September the 18th, Scottish people voted no to independence. The outcome was close but decisive. It brought relief to the no voters, but to the one’s in favor of independency, it brought despair. What would happen if the Scots voted yes?
Storified by JolienVDC ·
Sat, Nov 22 2014 17:15:39
White paper of independence
The Scottish National Party published a blueprint for independence in 2013, to persuade the Scots that Scotland could indeed become an independent state. They enclosed the blueprint in a book. It is made for the Scots, to give them more information about what would happen if Scotland became independent. The book emphasizes the strengths of the Scots and Scotland. The book gives an answer to the mainly asked questions but there are still many questions left unanswered.
The end of the Queen?
The main question that comes to my mind is, what about the Queen? Will she still be the Queen of Scotland?
Some say that the Queen will stay the Scots’ Head of State, but only for a short period of time. She would have to appoint a Governor-Generallike in Australia, New-Zealand or Canada to reign over Scotland. Should we choose to believe, First Minister of Scotland and leader of the SNP, Alex Salmond, the Queen would stay as Head of the State and would be proud to be the Queen of independent Scotland.
Some Scots want a republic, they would rather have an independent country without a monarch as head of the state. It is said that after Scotland becomes independent, these revolutionist would hold another referendum to decide whether they would split from the monarchy or not.
Pound, Euro, own currency?
Scotland would still be able to use the Pound as its currency, according to Alex Salmond.
The rest of the UK, doesn’t agree on this matter.The British Labour Party, the Conservatives and the Liberals agree on the fact that should Scotland choose to become an independent state, they would no longer be able to use the Pound as their currency. The rest of the UK doesn’t want a currency union.
There are two other options left. First, they can use the Euro as their currency. To do so, they would have to become a member of the EuropeanUnion. This could take months if not years, because every member of the European Union has to agree on the fact that Scotland would become a new member of the EU. The second option, is to make their own currency, but this would be very expensive and would cause even more depts. It is possible, other countries have done it as well, like Norway and Iceland.
Scots remain British?
It seems obvious that the citizens of Britain lose their British citizenship. Citizens of an independent country should not be able to keep their original identity. Still, there are some exceptions. Scots with British parents and Scots born in England, Wales or Northern Ireland will be able to apply for a British citizenship. It is also the other way around. Britons with Scottish parents and Britons born in Scotland will be able to qualify for the Scottish Nationality.
Many families will be separated when Scotland becomes independent. The border that will be built, will devide the two countries. Families will have to go to another country to visit each other.
Domino effect?
The Scottish referendum sets a precedent to individualists in other countries. An example is the community of Catalonia. They also want to hold a referendum about becoming an independent country, but this will not be allowed by the Spanish Prime Minster Mariano Rajoy.
An independent Scotland could destabilize Northern-Ireland where previous protests have already taken place about whether they would stay in Great Britain or become a part of Ireland. Also Flemish nationalists could use independent Scotland as an example to become an independent state.
Personally, I think it's good that the Scots voted no to independency. If we have a look at all the consequences of Scots voting yes, mentioned above, I think becoming an independent state would do more harm than good. All these things would take years to perform and maybe cause great depts. If we have an objective look on the matter, we can see that Scotland’s independency would cause economic and financial problems.
