I am neither Scottish nor English so I am watching this from the sidelines, but I reckon Scotland would have a better chance of making a productive transition if they make it clear that they intend to join the Euro zone from day one after the independence. Both more practical for business etc, but just as importantly as a symbolic move that hopefully would position Scotland closer to Ireland than England in the mind of the impartial observer. It would take a few years of preparations to make all sides get around to the idea but it could be the detail that really pushes the agenda forward.
I lost a lot of sympathy with Alex Salmond when he claimed that Scotland could keep the British Pound after independence. Makes me think he’s not great at realpolitik.
Well IIRC the plans the for the last independence referendum were about as thin and magical thinky as a lot of whats running around Brexit. Even if the base idea was not insane and the motivations were less mean and evil. Like they were gonna just keep the pound, but not exactly cause they’d print their own pounds they would just be tokens for the actual pound. And the basis of the ecconomy was gonna be oil fields that are technically Northern Irish territory that they were just gonna get some how.
There didn’t seem to be much thought EU wise, just the assumption they’d automatically be in with the same setup they operate under as part of the UK.
Brexit does a lot to better focus independence, because it gives you a pretty specific group of problems you need to deal with just to maintain the status quo. And where as last time Scotland would have gone to the back of the line on EU membership, and taken a lot of time to get back in. The risks to the EU from Brexit mean they’ve got a pretty good incentive to find a faster pathway for Scotland. And even nations who’ve been spooling through the process already probably aren’t gonna be pissed about Scotland jumping the line.
So there’s good reasons for thinking that post Brexit Scotland has an easier time than 2014 Scotland.
Like Irish Reunification, it doesn’t have to be perfect it just needs to be better than Brexit. And that’s a pretty low bar.
Is the Queen not a citizen? Is she not entitled to express her opinion? Or is the issue that the former PM asked her to express an opinion that is not her own?
Exactly. The only thing is is that when she or her local pony does anything executive in Australia or Canada or wherever, the fact that she’s in a palace in London makes for a de facto constitutional crisis.
Scotland, however, wouldn’t really be a problem in that respect, as she spends half her time there anyway and the Windsors are lineal Scottish monarchs from before the U.K. existed.
She’s not even entitled to a passport. On the other hand, she’s the Duke of Lancaster.
Of course. But then other people get to express theirs. And expressing her government’s opinion is another matter entirely.
Both, really. Her own opinion, fine, her problem. But his opinion? Very compromising. Boris went to school with David Cameron and was in his government at the time. So Boris might have had a unique insight into how pliable she can be behind closed doors, giving him the confidence to tell her to shut down parliament.
The old given wisdom about the British monarchy’s political power is that it’s a gun with one bullet. Best not miss.
The Queen directly involving her self in a live political issue is not normal or not generally supposed to happen because it brushes up on that whole democracy vs monarchy thing. Potentially undermining the legitimacy of Parliament. So that’s one thing.
But there’s also the issue of her doing so at the bidding of a PM, and even more for Cameron. Its the figurehead acting as a political prop for a specific politician, and one who is mostly concerned with how things reflect on himself personally.
The first is a bad look. The second is pretty disturbing.
Her take is for one thing expected. But also its not a bad one, for all its vagueness. A lot of pro-independence Scots were functionally saying the same thing.
The scandal at the time was that she spoke at all. And now because of why she spoke. Not of her own volition, or to express a pragmatic opinion. But for the political gain of one particular guy. The guy who created this whole Brexit problem for the sake of political expediency, and then peaced the fuck out so he wouldn’t feel the consequences.
At least that’s my read. I’m not British so grain of salt.
The Queen isn’t even entirely human. When we speak of the Queen we are speaking both of the human being and of the Crown which is the source of the law of the UK. The monarch is the law in flesh. It’s pretty much mystical like the holy trinity.
Obviously the Queen is actually a human, but the crown is a privilege and a prison. If the Queen has something really burning to say about politics, the door to the prison isn’t locked. Abdication is an option.
(That said, as I said above, I think the Queen speaking up in an independence referendum with language that might have appeared in a Christmas address is a reasonable action for the Crown)
Huh? I thought the Windsors were a re-branded branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, itself derived from the House of Wettin, which succeeded the House of Hanover?
Benda’s mum was a daughter of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, and this family goes back ages and ages, but was probably of French origin.
Maybe I’m not looking hard enough for the connection to Scottish monarchs?
Ah! The union of crowns! I was just talking about that in class this week!
But at which point do the Windsors (or their predecessors) enter into this?
That’s where I’m confused.
But she died just before Queen Anne did, so the throne passed to her son, George I
That’s a very tabloid statement: sort-of true but rather inaccurate.
The Queen didn’t exactly address the nation; she made a private comment to “a well-wisher” outside church in Balmoral village.
Yes, the comment was then reported by the media, and embarrassment ensued, but let’s not get too excited. 
Ah! Thanks!
That makes things clearer.
Hush. Canada already has a Queen.
If elected Prime Minister I will begin amending the constitution to disentangle ourselves from the English monarchy and replace it with Scott Thompson (in drag or no).
I think we have our new candidate for Canadian PM!
Why would Freddie Mercury care if Scotland left the UK?
I think it’s that she physically is a passport, embodied. As in, her moving human body is the evidence that the Crown requests whatever’s coming out of her mouth, because of all her Midi-chlorians or whatever.
Brian May cares.
