The ruling Scottish National Party announced Thursday that it would like to organize a referendum on the independence of Scotland between now and the end of 2023. If the majority of the population votes to “leave,” it will lead to internal collapse after 314 years of unity between England and Scotland.
In the face of a pandemic and Brexit, the United Kingdom may soon face another crisis: the independence of Scotland, nearly a century after Ireland’s independence.
In 2014, the Scots voted against independence 55 percent to 45 percent. Since then, Brexit has wreaked havoc on British politics and the economy. So nationalists in the Scottish National Party have repeatedly called for a new referendum. If the party lives up to expectations during the May 6 parliamentary elections, a second public referendum could become a reality, despite steadfast opposition to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
“Should Scotland be an independent country?”
“We believe that once the Covid crisis is over, the Scottish people should be given the opportunity to decide in a referendum whether Scotland should be an independent country,” the SNP said in a statement released on Thursday.
The National Party added that “the Scottish National Party intends to hold the referendum in the first half of the five-year period,” adding that the exact date “will be determined by our democratically elected parliament.”
If that happened, the ballot would raise the following question: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”
The Scottish National Party maintains that “there can be no moral or democratic justification for Boris Johnson or the Westminster government to impede the Scottish people’s right to determine their own future.”
1707
The Scottish National Party currently holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament. In a similar constellation after the election, an alliance with five Greens MPs would give the party a majority.
Was the last hour of the union between England and Scotland that allowed for the formation of the “Kingdom of Great Britain” from 1707? We’ll find out more on May 6.
(A.m)
