Quote by MidsCouple24
The Independence vote is almost upon us.
But what happens if Scotland does become independent ? many things could change ......
The chances of them retaining the British Pound is certainly in question.
Their desire to open their borders to make immigration easier will not bode well with those in England who are looking to tighten our borders. Will we see a new "wall" dividing the two nations, will there be a need for customs and excise control points between the two nations.
Will Scottish Nationals living in England be required to surrender their UK passports and apply for a Scottish Passport ?
They would no longer be members of the EU, will they still have the right to live and work not only in the UK but will the millions of them living in other EU countries have to go home ?
They can of course apply to the EU for membership but all new member states have to adopt the Euro and any such application could be vetoed by the founding members, the UK being one of the founding states.
What of the armed forces, of course we would have to allow every Scottish National the right to leave the British Armed Forces if they so wish but polls so far indicate that the vast majority would wish to continue serving and that the Scottish Defence Force might struggle to recruit people to serve.
Will Scotland be a member of NATO, it is not automatic especially with their policy on not having nuclear weapons based in Scotland or owned by them.
Our Nuclear Submarine base at Faslane would be re-located of course, we have no choice in that matter, probably to Barrow in Furness where the nuclear submarines are built.
Will Blackpool face closure, the largest percentage of visitors there come from Scotland, if a visit there requires a visa or passport it could put them off coming.
There are so many questions, so many changes that could occur.
I believe they should stay with us, but I also believe that if they choose to leave the Union then independence should be total and we should treat them the same as we treat any other non EU, none United Kingdom nation.
Being 'Scots' and owning property both north and south of the border.
Currency: There's been a Scottish pound for as long as I can remember, so technically we already have our own currency. The question is more how to disentangle it from the English one. When currencies were based on the 'gold standard' it would have been easy the 'Bank of England' (one wonders why it's not the Bank of the United Kingdom - but that's another thread.
) they could just transfer the relevant number of gold bars to a central bank in Scotland. However, the proponents of the 'No' vote sold the gold at a loss and implemented 'Quantitative Easing' instead so it's just paper money now.Immigration: Yep, we should probably limit the number of English coming in! :lol:
Passports: Many people have dual nationality passports. Easy enough to issue a Scottish one to those who want one.
EU: Scotland would probably follow the Swiss here and not join the 'EU' but retain the trading links via EFTA. Never been a problem for the Swiss. The Scots want the Euro even less than the English!
The Armed Forces: They'll probably settle on a 'Defence Force' style and let personnel choose to either transfer or remain in the reducing British Forces organisation.
NATO: With the strategic position of Scotland, NATO would be loathed to loose the ability to use Scotlands bases and the usual art of compromise will prevail and 'nuclear' armed vessels will use Northern English / Northern Irish ports and airfields. And the NATO ground forces will still be able to take skiing lessons in the Cairngorms.
Submarine Bases: Barrow in Furness is a no go - it's on the wrong side of the UK. My guess is that the MoD would use Northern Ireland it'll be easier to get planning permission than building a new base in the North West. :lol:
Blackpool Closure: We can only hope so for everyone's sake.
It's funny how giving 'independence' to countries of the old 'Empire' was never a problem and was positively 'encouraged' by UK Governments in the 40's, 50's and 60's. Even to the Irish back in 1916, yet Scotland seems to be this huge issue of irrelevant 'details'.
Either way they vote, there will be changes that have to be implemented either in 'devolved powers' or Independance, some will be good, some not so good.
The only thing that will remain constant is Death & Taxes. Death comes to us all regardless of where we reside, so my vote goes to paying less tax every time.
:thumbup:
