By Yusuf Taha Ektar
The Scottish Independence movement is a separationist movement aiming to create a Scotland indepedent from the Untited Kingdom.
For a long time, Scotland and England had shared the same monarch and their union goes back to roughly 300 years. But at the moment, bearing in mind the Brexit and the constant situation in the UK, their bonds are in ever increased strain. If Scotland were to leave the union, it could pave the way for other states in the Union (Northern Ireland) to press for independence
and lead to disintegration of the UK.
Background
Scotland attempted and achieved to become more on more sovereign on its own rights. By the 1960s, the SNP (Scottish National Party) started to gain ground in unions’ politics. Later, many incidents have led to a rise in tensions and calls for independence and by the year 1997, the people of Scotland have their devolved parliament. This foundation gave them the right to make decisions in areas such as education, social services and agriculture. While there were still many affairs concerning the UK such as foreign policy and defense. However, since this devolution of union and Scotland encouraged the nationalists, it has led to increasing calls for more devolution and independence. Hence there was a referendum that would fundamentally change Britain's political landscape in 2014 upon the matter: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”. Although Scotland voted to remain by 55 percent in 2014, this is sure to change in the years advance provided that The United Kingdom voted to leave the EU by 52 to 48 percent, but this actually didn’t reflect the Scottish portion of the vote where 62 percent voted to remain. Therefore many Scots were being pulled out of European Union without their will and collective vote. This many distinct wishes within the same
country lead the already debated issue to be heated up. While ideas and opinions about the independence of Scotland and rejoining to EU are becoming more and more popular, Union still has its advantages. It is crucial to note that Scotland's main trade partner is England and there are so many economical arguments and border advantages for Scotland to stay in Union. Initial Situation
The SNP vowed to hold a new referendum on independence after their victory in Scotland's parliamentary elections on the 6th of May. The Scottish National Party's Nicola Sturgeon mentions reopening Scotland and managing the pandemic while getting the economy back on track as their number one priority but in fact, everyone knows that a new referendum is prominently getting closer and closer. Furthermore, the proficient handling of the pandemic by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was a strong display of an answer to the critics directed to the Scottish government that they aren’t capable of effectively operating a crisis. This also helped the Scottish independence movement's popularity given that many consider the management of the pandemic that has been conducted by England as ineffective.
However, there is a bigger obstacle in front of the way to referendum. Although it is legally possible to hold an independence referendum under the jurisdiction of Westminster, there should be the approval of the UK prime minister to create the way. But the current Prime Minister Boris Johnson clearly stated that he would deny any request to hold a referendum. It is up to the Scottish parliament to politically pressure and make the way for their independence by referendum but it could be difficult to overrule the ministers' stance. In view of all this information, many Scots still bear
hope in their hearts as the SNP’s Michael Russell argued at a 2020 CFR event, “no one has the right to hold the march of a nation. If the people of Scotland say they want a referendum... anybody who is democratic has to accept that that is a right.” It is also crucial to mention that even if Scotland gains its independence, it may not be effortless to fulfill their dreams of rejoining the EU bloc. But first, Scots need their independence to act.
It is clear that Brexit has made things more complicated for Scotland and it is not only a question of national identity but also economy and unity. Only time will show that will Scotland be successful in its struggle and if they succeed, it could encourage many other states to claim their own rights of sovereignty such as in Spain’s Catalonia.
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