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turbulentfurball
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Québec
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2007-01-13, 08:52

UK Chancellor defends the Union

Gordon Brown, UK Chancellor and likely successor to Tony Blair this year, defends the existence of the UK.


This year marks the United Kingdom's tercentenary, and right now, the UK is closest to breaking up than at any other time in its past. I'll give some background to the history and current state of the United Kingdom.

Prior to 1603, Scotland and England were independent nations, with their own governments and separate monarchies. England had annexed Wales several years earlier. However, upon the death of Elizabeth I of England, who died having no children, her closest living relative was James VI the reigning King of Scotland. This was a precursor to Great Britain being formed; England and Scotland, while being independent nations, they shared the same monarch.

Almost 100 years later, the English and Scottish governments differed on their views as to who should become the next monarch following the death of the incumbent, Queen Anne. The Scottish Parliament passed The Act of Security, 1704 which stated that the Parliament of Scotland would choose the successor to Queen Anne based on a descendent of previous Scottish Kings, since Anne had produced no heirs. The English Parliament had already decided on a successor without consulting the Scottish Parliament. The result of the Act of Security would most likely result in England and Scotland again having a different monarch. Following this, the English Parliament passed the Alien Act, which essentially treated Scottish citizens as legal Aliens in England, and barred Scotland from trading with England or any of England's colonies, which a the time included the colonies of New England in the present day US. This would have severely damaged the economy of Scotland. This Act was arguably and attempt by the English Parliament to force the Scottish Parliament to forge a political union with England to create a new nation-state; The Kingdom of Great Britain. Following in depth discussions in both nations, a treaty was decided upon, and the Acts of Union were passed in both respective Parliaments which led to their own dissolution; a new Parliament of Great Britain was formed in the former English Parliament in Westminster, which exists to this day. At the time, it is alleged that the Act of Union was only passed in Scotland due to bribes from English politicians, leading to the saying 'Bought and sold for English gold'.

Scotland was given several concessions in the Acts of Union, including a guarantee of a continuation of an independent legal system, an independent education system, and a separate church. Scotland was also given a higher ratio of Members of Parliament than England to compensate for Scotland's loss of statehood, combined with the physical distance from Scotland to the Parliament of Great Britain which sits in England.

I'll now skip over 150 years to the 1970s.

In Scotland, there had been a substantial desire for an element of home rule. In fact, every main political party in the UK has at some point advocated home-rule for Scotland. Following the election of several Scottish National Party (A political party which advocates Scotland again becoming and independent nation) members in the October 1974 UK general election, the Labour government passed the Scotland Act, 1978 which would create a legislature for Scotland giving legislative competence over a list of matters following a the passing of a referendum. However, the referendum failed, despite a majority voting for the creation of the assembly, since the required 40% of the electorate did not vote 'yes'. Shortly after the failure of the Scotland Act, 1978, the Labour Party lost the general election in 1979 to Margaret Thatcher's pro-union Conservatives, and the issue was more or less buried for twenty years.

Every main political party which operated in Scotland other than in the incumbent Conservatives backed the creation of a Scottish Parliament in the run up to the 1997 general election, in which Tony Blair's Labour Party won a landmark landslide. One of the manifesto commitments was to create a Scottish Parliament following the passing of a referendum. The referendum did indeed pass, and the current Scottish Parliament was created. The Scottish Parliament has more powers than were specified for the intended Scottish Assembly which failed in the 1970s. However, the Parliamentary Sovereignty of the UK parliament in Westminster means that Westminster retains the power to legislate for Scotland for all matters, including devolved matters, and could at any time vote for it to be dissolved.

However, since the creation of the Parliament, and in particular in the past year or so, the idea of real independence for Scotland has seen much increased support for several reason.
  • The West Lothian Question. While Scotland has it's own parliament, Scotland also sends members to the UK parliament in Westminster, and can vote on matters which do not apply to Scotland. The incumbent Labour Party has very strong support in Scotland, and without their Scottish members of the UK parliament, some of their legislation, which would only affect England and Wales would have failed. Many people in England, and indeed Scotland think that this is wrong.
  • The UK cabinet; i.e. the most important members of the UK government has a disproportionate number of Scottish members. This so called Scottish Mafia often are in posts which effect England and Wales only. The Chancellor of the Exchequor, Gordon Brown who will most likely become Prime Minister this year, is Scottish.
  • Scotland receives a certain amount of the UK budget from the Barnet Formula. According to this formula, Scotland receives more taxpayers money per capita than England, almost to the sum of £2000 annually, and this obviously leads to some animosity.
    • To link in with this, In Scotland, University education is normally free at point of use, which students paying £2000 after graduation. In England, Student pay fees at least £1200, to £3070 per year.[citation] Additionally, students from England are charged more than Students from Scotland for fees.
    • Eye tests are free in Scotland, they are not in England.
    • Personal care for the elderly is free in Scotland, it is not in England.
    • Travel by bus is free for the elderly in Scotland, it is not universal in England.
    • This was all due to Acts of the Scottish Parliament.
  • As a result of the above, there has been increasing opinion in England that Scotland receives more than its fair share of the 'union dividend'
  • Many in Scotland do not believe that the Scottish Parliament has enough powers to change Scotland for the better.
As a result of all of this, several polls have seen support for Scotland's independence reach heights unseen for decades, in both Scotland and England; the results of the most recent of these are shown below:
Would you approve of Scotland becoming an independent country?
Scottish Views
Approve: 51%
Disapprove: 36%
Don't Know: 14%

English Views
Approve: 48%
Disapprove: 39%
Don't Know: 12%

The next Scottish general election is on May the 3rd this year; two days after the tercentenary of the United Kingdom, the results of which may end the UK as the world knows it; it remains to be seen. The Scottish National Party currently lead the polls, but not with enough support to form government.

I'm not 100% sure of my own views on the subject; my current leaning would perhaps be to completely rewrite the UK constitution to create a federation on US lines; with England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland having their own legislature enshrined in law, with a federal UK government to cover the most important of issues. Sometimes I think independence would work, but sometimes I have my doubts.

I considered starting a new thread for this, but it's political, so I'm not sure how long it would last. However, it's not partisan, and hopefully the discussion should go well. I may start a thread about it nearer to the election.

Note to Mods/Admins: If you think this deserves its own thread despite it's political content, please split it; if not, feel free to delete my post (Although I did just spend 2 hours researching and writing it)
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