Gwynne Dyer: What happens if Scotland votes yes to independence?

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      If the Scots vote “yes” to independence on September 18, as one opinion poll now suggests they will, three things are likely to happen in the following week.

      First, David Cameron may cease to be the leader of the Conservative Party and the prime minister of the United Kingdom. He would be removed by his own Conservative members of parliament, who would hold him responsible for allowing the break-up of a very successful union that has lasted 307 years.

      Secondly, the British pound would start to fall against other currencies, not because Scottish independence would necessarily be an economic disaster for the rest of the United Kingdom, but because the markets hate uncertainly. 

      To prevent a serious decline of the pound, the British government would have to act on its pre-referendum warnings that a post-independence Scottish government could not have any say in managing the currency.

      Nobody can stop the Scots from using the pound if they want (and the “Yes” campaigners say they will), but they would be using it the same way that Panama and Liberia use the U.S. dollar. No control over interest rates or anything else.

      And thirdly, Spain would block automatic membership in the European Union for an independent Scotland (perhaps with support from some other EU members). Maybe Scotland could become a member eventually, but at least it would have to join the end of the queue for membership and go through years of convoluted negotiations. And it would have to accept the euro as its currency.

      The Spanish government has already said it would insist on this, because the Spanish province of Catalonia is holding its own (unauthorized) referendum on independence in November. Madrid has veto power, and it is determined to show that breaking up an existing EU country is not easy or painless.

      On the other hand, it would not be like South Sudan or East Timor: there would be no bloodshed and no refugees. Some businesses, particularly banks, would move their head offices from Scotland to England, but in five or 10 years the Scots would stop blaming England for all their problems and start blaming their own politicians. And the English would simply have forgotten Scotland.

      The right question in this situation, therefore, is not “What will happen if...?” Nothing very extreme would happen, although Scotland is unlikely to enjoy the economic and cultural boom that First Minister Alex Salmond, who called the referendum on independence, frequently predicts.

      The better question is “How did it end up like this?”

      How did a country that has shared a monarch with England since the early 1600s, and freely joined a union with the rest of the “United Kingdom” in 1707 (although there was a lot of political jiggery-pokery involved, as was normal at that time), end up on the brink of leaving the Union in 2014?

      Scotland shared in Britain’s wars, and Scottish emigrants settled in all of Britain’s colonies. The Scots had their industrial revolution almost as early as England and far ahead of the rest of Europe. They played a large part in managing the British empire, and profited immensely from it.

      Post-industrial Scotland has its deprived inner-city areas, just as England does, but the two countries have pretty much the same standard of living. Scotland always kept its own legal and educational systems, and for the past 16 years it has had its own elected parliament and government, with powers comparable to those of a U.S., Indian, or Australian state.

      So what’s wrong with this picture?

      The real grievance that fuels Scotland’s independence movement is the fact that Britain keeps electing governments that are either explicitly Conservative or (like Tony Blair’s three terms in office) conservative in all but name. They take Britain into stupid foreign wars, and they impose austerity on ordinary British people while looking after the rich.

      Scots see themselves as being more socially conscious and more egalitarian, and there is some truth in that view. (Only one of Scotland’s 59 members of the British Parliament is a Conservative.)

      So the “Yes” campaign argues that the only way to avoid perpetual rule by Margaret Thatcher clones in London is to break away and build a separate Scottish state.

      That argument is getting a lot of traction in Scotland at the moment, and voting intentions have swung from 61 percent for No and 39 percent for Yes in early August to a knife-edge (49 percent No, 51 percent Yes) in one of this week’s polls.

      The other recent polls still show a small advantage for the Noes, but it could go either way.

      If it goes Yes, then the change is forever, and everybody will just have to live with it. But since Scotland’s current dissatisfaction with the Union is mainly about the political colour of recent British governments, a No to independence might also be permanent.

      A couple of genuinely left-wing British governments and a strong economic recovery (which is actually happening), and the whole thing might blow over.

      Comments

      18 Comments

      Boris Moris

      Sep 12, 2014 at 11:25am

      A true Scot is repulsed by the revving up the the old war mongering empire. A true Scot is disgusted by British enabling of the even more vile and corrupt war mongering US empire.

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      James

      Sep 12, 2014 at 11:26am

      What becomes of the Duke of Edinburgh in the event of a yes

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      Alexander McLennan

      Sep 12, 2014 at 11:49am

      @Boris: A "true" Scot shudders at using national identity as a weapon to define proper human characteristics and beliefs, whatever the purpose may be. Win your argument on the merits, not on appeals to blood and soil.

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      Boris Moris

      Sep 12, 2014 at 12:03pm

      @ James

      Nothing. The British crown owns their estates and titles in Scotland. The titles are symbolic but try telling that to an ardent Scot nationalist.

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      Boris Moris

      Sep 12, 2014 at 12:36pm

      @ James

      A clarification. I was referring to estates like Balmoral in Scotland, which is held directly by the House of Windsor, not to the Crown Estates Corp. which holds, among other things, all the foreshore leases in Scotland and throughout the UK.

      @ Alexander McLennan

      One of the prime motivators for Scots nationalists is to extricate Scotland from the war criminals in Westminster. Reality sucks for Unionists. I feel your pain...even as I snicker.

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      Surprise Surprise

      Sep 12, 2014 at 1:36pm

      If you make decisions based on opinion polls, you are likely to be led astray. Few people I know have the time of day for pollsters, let alone the time to answer a short survey. According to polls, the Wild Rose Party should have won in Alberta last election. I suspect it is going to be a continuing extortion system similar to Quebec. Some diehards who will never give up and many "I can see the advantage of scaring the Rest Of Them" voters, until the actual vote. Good luck from an Scot Of Edinburgh heritage.

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      I Chandler

      Sep 12, 2014 at 3:59pm

      "Maybe Scotland could become an EU member eventually, but at least it would have to join the end of the queue for membership and go through years of convoluted negotiations."

      Will the Scotts beat Turkey?

      "Scotland freely joined a union with the rest of the “United Kingdom” in 1707"

      Scotland's colony failure of was one of the motivations for the 1707 Acts of Union - Scotland's nobles were almost bankrupted by the fiasco:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darien_scheme#Consequences_of_failure

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      I Chandler

      Sep 12, 2014 at 5:20pm

      "Spain would block EU membership EU for Scotland"

      Forget Spain. The IMF may tell the UK that an independent Scotland is an non starter - just like it told
      Ukraine that they must keep the East.The IMF said a change to eastern Ukraine's borders could force it to adjust its bailout billion dollar bailout:

      http://www.cnbc.com/id/101631226

      http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TC3tINgWfQE

      anonymous

      Sep 12, 2014 at 7:19pm

      STAY IN THE UK

      Memories of Culloden and the Massacre of Glencoe when King William of Orange slaughtered the MACDONALDS to gain power over Scotland …!

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      RUK

      Sep 12, 2014 at 8:19pm

      Great column Dyer, I assumed it was about nationalistic fervour rather than principled opposition to war - after all, England's wars have often been fought, and won, by Scots.

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