Scottish independence

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The independence of Scotland from the United Kingdom is the goal of various political parties in Scotland . A first referendum on Scottish independence took place on September 18, 2014. On June 25, 2016, in response to the result of the UK EU referendum , the Scottish government decided to prepare another independence referendum. A request to hold a second referendum was rejected by Boris Johnson on January 14, 2020 .

history

Founded 843 UK Scotland , which in since 1603 personal union with the Kingdom of England was ruled, was up to the adoption of the Law on Associations with the Kingdom of England in 1707 a separate state. Even after unification with England, many Scottish institutions continued to exist, for example the Bank of Scotland or the Church of Scotland . The Scots also retained a pronounced regional self-confidence.

The Shetland and Orkney Islands form a certain special case , which only came to Scotland in the 15th century (before they belonged to Norway) and thus belonged to the United Kingdom longer than before to an independent Scotland.

The call for home rule , a separate government for Scotland, grew louder in the 1920s. The British government then appointed a Secretary of State for Scotland with the rank of cabinet member in 1928. In the course of this first step in the direction of devolution , the administrative detachment from London, he was made head of health, agriculture and education in Scotland. This minister had his seat at St. Andrew's House in Edinburgh.

In the general election in February 1974 and October 1974 , the autonomist Scottish National Party , which was formed in 1934, won 22 and 30% of the Scottish vote, respectively, making it the second largest party. Under pressure from the SNP, the British Labor government approved a referendum on limited self-determination.

First referendum on decentralization in 1979

This referendum on decentralization was held on March 1, 1979 and a slim majority of 51.6% of the voters voted for it. However, this was less than 40% of the eligible voters; therefore the law did not come into force.

Second decentralization referendum in 1997

In September 1997 in a second referendum, 74% of the electorate voted for partial autonomy for Scotland ( devolution ). For this reason, on May 6, 1999, after 300 years, a Scottish parliament was re- elected with legislative powers in the areas of health care, education, local law, social affairs, housing, economic development, justice, the environment, agriculture, fisheries and forestry, sport, the arts and Culture and different areas of transportation extend. Parliament elects a First Minister ( First Minister ) as head of the Scottish Executive that the former Scottish Office replaced and is responsible for Parliament.

Independence referendum 2014

Result of the referendum according to Council Areas :
“Should Scotland be an independent state?” 55.0–57.5% Yes 52.5–55.0% Yes 50.0–52.5% Yes 50.0–52.5 % No 52.5–55.0% No 55.0–57.5% No 57.5–60.0% No 60.0–62.5% No 62.5–65.0% No 65.0 -67.5% no











In 2010 the Scottish National Party (SNP), which ruled a minority government supported by the Scottish Green Party, wanted the citizens to decide on independence through a referendum . But this did not happen because there was no majority in the Scottish Parliament for such a proposal. After the success of the SNP in the elections in May 2011, in which the party won an absolute majority of the seats, Prime Minister Alex Salmond announced that he would put the referendum back on the agenda. An agreement between Prime Minister David Cameron and First Minister of the Scottish Regional Government Alex Salmond was signed in Edinburgh on October 15, 2012 , according to which a referendum on independence would be held in Scotland in autumn 2014.

On March 21, 2013, the Scottish Government set the independence referendum to be September 18, 2014. In the referendum, the majority of Scots with 55.3% voted against secession from the United Kingdom, the turnout was 84.59%. Only in four of the 32 districts did supporters of independence win a majority.

Discussions during the independence campaign 2014

The SNP had announced the creation of its own Scottish army, which should be comparable to the Danish and should only be used for humanitarian missions and national defense. The new Scottish state should have embassies. An unanswered question was what form of government Scotland would receive after independence. While the SNP advocated joining the Commonwealth under Elizabeth II and thus a status similar to Canada or Australia, preferred z. B. the Scottish Socialist Party a Scottish Republic.

The question of the official currency after independence was also debated. Maintaining the British pound (SNP), joining the euro area or creating an independent Scottish currency were discussed. In February 2014, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne joined the discussion directly. He rejected any plans that would allow an independent Scotland to use the British pound. In the event of detachment, he announced a veto on such a monetary union. The question of Scotland's possible EU accession was also unanswered, with many Scots advocating such membership, especially without being forced to adopt the euro, such as in the case of Denmark, which has retained its national currency despite EU membership. Whether EU membership would have come automatically with independence or whether formal accession negotiations to the EU of Scotland or even Scotland and the remaining United Kingdom would have been necessary was controversial. After independence, there should be a Scottish citizenship and therefore a Scottish passport. It was unclear whether the British government would have allowed dual citizenship . Equally unclear whether on accession of Scotland to the Schengen area , border controls were imported between Scotland and the UK and Ireland, both of which are not Schengen States.

It was also unclear how pension entitlements and payments into the social security system would have to be regulated and whether institutions such as B. the National Health Service (NHS) would initially have been used jointly. Another unresolved issue was the division of the UK national debt between the UK remainder and the Scottish state.

In addition, the continued operation of the British nuclear submarine port Faslane-on-Clyde in Scotland would have been called into question.

Referendum after the UK exit negotiations

Constituency results in the Brexit referendum pro Brexit pro EU



After the Brexit referendum on June 23, 2016, the First Minister of Scotland , Nicola Sturgeon , said it was unacceptable that Scotland would automatically leave the EU with England , although the majority of Scottish voters would have voted for Scotland to remain in the EU. According to her, another referendum on Scottish independence is an option. On June 25th, the Scottish government decided to prepare another independence referendum.

In an opinion poll published by the Sunday Post on June 26, 2016 , conducted by ScotPulse after the Brexit referendum, 59% of respondents said they would vote for independence in another independence referendum. In contrast, it was only 47% of the pensioners questioned. According to a survey by the polling institute Panelbase commissioned by the Sunday Times , 52 percent of Scots were in favor of Scotland's independence after the Brexit vote.

On October 13, 2016, Sturgeon announced a bill for a second referendum on Scottish independence, which was published on October 20. In March 2017, she brought autumn 2018 into play as the date for the referendum. On March 13, 2017, Sturgeon announced a vote in the Scottish Parliament for the twelfth calendar week of 2017, which should allow a second referendum. In the event that Parliament approves, the referendum should be planned for the period from autumn 2018 to spring 2019. After the terrorist attack in London on March 22, 2017 , the vote was postponed to March 28, 2017. The Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh approved a new referendum. This allowed Sturgeon to negotiate with London with a majority of 69 to 59 votes. The London government under Theresa May described this as "divisive" and rejected the timetable required by the Scottish Parliament for a new referendum.

In the 2017 general election , the Scottish National Party, the biggest proponent of a second independence referendum, suffered significant losses. It lost a quarter of its votes and 21 of its 56 parliamentary seats. This contrasted with the profits of the British political parties, especially the Conservative Party . Nicola Sturgeon then declared that he wanted to reconsider the independence referendum.

Demonstrations and general election

A demonstration for independence in Glasgow 2019
A demonstration for independence in Glasgow 2019

Since 2018 there have been regular independence demonstrations in Scotland. For example, over 100,000 people took to the streets in Edinburgh in October 2018. In 2019 and 2020, rallies took place in the two major cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, each with up to 250,000 people.

In the 2019 general election, the SNP won a landslide in Scotland with 48 out of 59 seats in parliament. Nicola Sturgeon then stated that her voting mandate for a second independence referendum had been renewed and strengthened. On December 19, 2019, a majority in the Scottish Parliament voted to write a motion to Prime Minister Johnson. The submitted application was rejected by Boris Johnson on January 14, 2020, whereupon Sturgeon described the British government's position as "self-destructive".

Majority ratios in surveys

Independence was rejected in the 2014 referendum by a majority of 55.3% of Scots. In the following years, too, polls showed a stable majority opposed to Scotland's independence from the United Kingdom. The majority opinion only changed after the completion of Brexit in early 2020 and with the outbreak of the corona pandemic. Since April 2020, surveys have shown that up to 49% of respondents could imagine independence, while 44% are still against. Around 7% of those surveyed are undecided. These are the highest approval ratings in surveys for independence since at least 2015. Ultimately, the issue of independence is a very controversial one with two opinion camps of almost the same size.

Supporters of an independent Scotland

Proponents of the independence movement include the following parties:

Supporters of independence are celebrated by Sean Connery , Brian Cox , Alan Cumming , Tom Devine , Val McDermid , Irvine Welsh and Vivienne Westwood, among others .

Arguments for independence

The main argument of the supporters of Scottish independence is the self-determination of Scotland. This also results in the independent administration of the income from oil production (slogan 1970: It's Scotland's oil ). So far, the income from the oil business has flowed to London. Another argument is that an independent Scotland could order the withdrawal of British nuclear weapons from Scotland. It could independently decide on its own NATO membership.

The issue of oil revenues would become even more explosive if the less nationally Scottish-minded island populations of Shetland and Orkney campaigned to remain in the United Kingdom.

Another argument is the possible re-entry into the EU after Brexit.

Opponent of an independent Scotland

The following parties are opponents of the independence movement:

The opponents of independence movements received prominent support from former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown , who is himself a Scot.

Arguments against independence

Opponents of independence argue with the historical similarities between England (and Wales) and Scotland. The common experience of the Reformation and the becoming Empire are mentioned here. Likewise, cultural similarities (including the dominance of English in Scotland) and relationships between Scots and English are cited. Proponents of the union with England see economic disadvantages for an independent Scotland, because the independence would mean that previous support from the British central government would no longer apply and this could not be compensated for with the increasing oil revenues.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Mareike Aden: Scotland on the way to independence? In: Deutsche Welle. May 1, 2007, accessed June 25, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b Scotland prepares second independence referendum. In: FAZ.net. June 25, 2016. Retrieved June 25, 2016 .
  3. ^ "Salmond hails 'historic' victory" theguardian.co.uk, May 6, 2011
  4. ↑ “Timeline: Scotland's road to independence referendum” BBC.co.uk, March 22, 2013
  5. ^ Scotland decides. BBC News, September 19, 2014, accessed September 19, 2014 .
  6. ^ "No currency union with independent Scotland, George Osborne confirms." Theguardian.co.uk, February 13, 2014
  7. ↑ Mario Martini, Matthias Damm: "Succession of States in the EU." Ancilla iuris 2014, 159–181 ( Memento from September 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ Scottish independence: British fear for their nuclear submarine port. July 11, 2013, accessed November 16, 2013 .
  9. ^ Rebecca Flood: Sturgeon plots to RIP BRITAIN APART: SNP demands Scotland independence after EU vote. In: Daily Express . June 24, 2016, accessed June 24, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Andrew Picken: End of the UK? New survey shows 59% support Scottish independence after Brexit vote. In: Sunday Post. June 26, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2016 .
  11. ↑ Second referendum in Scotland: Will the “Scoxit” follow? In: Kölnische Rundschau. June 26, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2016 .
  12. ↑ SNP's Nicola Sturgeon announces new independence referendum bill. BBC News, October 13, 2016, accessed October 13, 2016 .
  13. ↑ New Scottish independence bill published (en) , BBC News. October 20, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016. 
  14. ↑ Scottish head of government sticks to referendum , time. March 9, 2017. 
  15. ^ Scottish independence: Nicola Sturgeon to ask for second referendum (en) , BBC. March 13, 2017. 
  16. ↑ "Scottish Parliament postpones referendum vote." Süddeutsche Zeitung, March 22, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Parliament votes on independence referendum." Tagesspiegel, March 28, 2017
  18. ↑ Scotland: Parliament votes for independence referendum . In: The time . March 28, 2017, ISSN  0044-2070 ( online [accessed March 28, 2017]).
  19. ↑ "nationalist battering takes Scottish independence off the table." Peter Geoghegan, Politico, June 14, 2017
  20. ^ "How the UK election vote was swung." Karen Gilchrist, CNBC, June 9, 2017
  21. ^ Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent, Mattha Busby: Scottish independence supporters rally in Edinburgh . In: The Guardian . October 6, 2018, ISSN  0261-3077 ( theguardian.com [accessed January 14, 2020]).
  22. ↑ Tens of thousands at the independence demonstration in Scotland. Retrieved January 14, 2020 (Swiss Standard German).
  23. ^ Protesters in Glasgow demand independence for Scotland . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . ( nzz.ch [accessed on January 14, 2020]).
  24. ^ Severin Carrell: "Sturgeon demands Scottish independence referendum powers after SNP landslide." The Guardian, December 13, 2019.
  25. ^ "UK general election 2019: Who won and what happens now?" BBC World, December 13, 2019
  26. ↑ Brexit: Johnson rejects a new referendum in Scotland . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed January 14, 2020]).
  27. ^ POLITICO Poll of Polls - British polls, trends and election news for the United Kingdom. Retrieved July 24, 2020 .
  28. ^ “Connery convinced patriot - freedom for Scotland.” N.tv, February 24, 2008
  29. ^ Shetland asks if independence vote is chance to break away from Scotland. Retrieved September 18, 2014 .
  30. ↑ Could Orkney and Shetland leave Scotland but stay in UK? Retrieved September 18, 2014 .
  31. ^ Warning of the secession of Scotland. In: Focus. January 13, 2007, accessed June 25, 2016 .
  32. ↑ Scotland Referendum: Roots of Enmity against England In: spiegel.de, accessed on February 5, 2019.
  33. ↑ “Scotland and England: A Common History.” In: kleinezeitung.at, accessed on February 5, 2019.