I had just finished writing this for a non-Scottish friend...
Most people outside of Scotland misunderstand why a country like Scotland wouldn't want to be 'free'. It's because a vote for independence is also a vote to break a 300-year-old union in which we are a major partner. The separatists say we are dominated by England, but I often wonder who dominates who? The separatists want to replace this working Union with the EU, a failing 40-year old experiment in which we would only play a minor part, and be dominated by Germany.
An equivalent would be like California wanting to leave the USA because it has, in recent years, voted Democrat. While some are agitating for that, the citizens know that the federal government for all its faults, still gives many benefits, and any such proposal will never get serious traction. People can be californians AND be Americans in the same way that I can be Scottish AND British. Imagine then, how frustrated Californians would be if those agitators put governance to the side, while pushing for "once-in-a-generation" referenda every few years.
The reality is that every poll shows that the Scottish people don't want another referendum. They already voted, and want to get on with their lives. Today's vote was pushed by the SNP (scottish National Party), who will use any pretext to have another try at independence, despite 30% of their own followers voting for Brexit, and increasing anger at their lack of action on policies that actually matter to people's daily lives. The SNP have overplayed their hand to the extent that lifelong Labour supporters I know are going to vote Tory just to stop the SNP.
> The separatists say we are dominated by England, but I often wonder who dominates who? The separatists want to replace this working Union with the EU, a failing 40-year old experiment in which we would only play a minor part, and be dominated by Germany.
The UK is far more lopsided than the EU. England has a majority of the population (~83%) and a majority of seats in both the House of Commons (~82%) and the House of Lords. By contrast, while Germany is the biggest country in the EU, it still contains a minority of the EU population (~16%), and a minority of the votes in the EU institutions. The EU also has much better institutional mechanisms to protect the rights of its smaller/weaker constituents than the UK does – e.g. unanimity for many major decisions, double majority voting in the Council of the European Union (55%–72% majority of member states representing 65% of the EU population) – by contrast, the House of Commons and the House of Lords both have a decisive English majority and 50%+1 in each chamber is enough votes to pass anything at all.
In fact it's a lot more complex than that even. The fact that Scotland has a devolved govt. where England does not means that Scottish MPs can vote on English only issues but English MPs cannot vote on devolved Scottish matters [1].
The lopsided nature is in part because Scotland has a population of less than London (alone) and other areas of England such as Yorkshire would probably qualify for devolution based on their population (pretty much the same as Scotland).
The whole issue is highly politicized by all sides.
The truth is that the Union between Scotland and England centralizes power away from the Scottish people, in the same way the EU does. An independent Scotland would at least have more power and freedom to - for better or worse - shape its future. It Scotland gains independence and joins the EU it will at least be rid of a layer of bureaucracy and power that is the Union.
> An equivalent would be...California wanting to leave...because it always votes Democrat
Between 1/3 and 2/5 of Californians voted for the Republican Presidential candidate the the elections since 2000 [1]. (California's electoral votes went to the Republican candidate as recently as 1980, 1984 and 1988.)
California also has a deep history of racism, xenophobia and conservative policy, both through its legislature and referendums [2]
I appreciate that Scotland is an obvious major partner in the UK. But doesn't it seem ultimately unfair that in a case like this, where there is a massive constitutional question, that two out of four constituent countries have their views essentially ignored?
I appreciate that, and it's a valid point it one considers all votes to fungible. However, the constitutional settlement of the UK clearly shows that devolved administrations have some level of autonomy. There is no question as to the legitimacy of the vote, but it's certainly not the case that "one person, one vote" is the only way to evaluate constitutional referenda.
Most people outside of Scotland misunderstand why a country like Scotland wouldn't want to be 'free'. It's because a vote for independence is also a vote to break a 300-year-old union in which we are a major partner. The separatists say we are dominated by England, but I often wonder who dominates who? The separatists want to replace this working Union with the EU, a failing 40-year old experiment in which we would only play a minor part, and be dominated by Germany.
An equivalent would be like California wanting to leave the USA because it has, in recent years, voted Democrat. While some are agitating for that, the citizens know that the federal government for all its faults, still gives many benefits, and any such proposal will never get serious traction. People can be californians AND be Americans in the same way that I can be Scottish AND British. Imagine then, how frustrated Californians would be if those agitators put governance to the side, while pushing for "once-in-a-generation" referenda every few years.
The reality is that every poll shows that the Scottish people don't want another referendum. They already voted, and want to get on with their lives. Today's vote was pushed by the SNP (scottish National Party), who will use any pretext to have another try at independence, despite 30% of their own followers voting for Brexit, and increasing anger at their lack of action on policies that actually matter to people's daily lives. The SNP have overplayed their hand to the extent that lifelong Labour supporters I know are going to vote Tory just to stop the SNP.