by Peter Watson
1- Will the Queen remain the head of state?
NO ONE KNOWS
2- Will the pound sterling continue to be used?
NO ONE KNOWS
3- How will assets and liabilities such as North Sea oil and UK debt be divided up?
NO ONE KNOWS
4- Will independent Scotland ratify the treaties signed by the UK?
NO ONE KNOWS
5- Will Scotland apply for EU membership?
NO ONE KNOWS (WILL THE EU WANT SCOTLAND AS A MEMBER?)
6- If Scotland is left out of the EU, will it be necessary to set up border controls and patrols to prevent goods and people from entering the Common Market freely?
YES
7- Wasn’t Scotland heavily subsidised? Who will pick up the bill?
YES – NO ONE KNOWS
8- If unionists lose with a small margin, what are the chances that there will be a civil war? We have seen that happen in Ukraine and even in Northern Ireland.
THERE WILL BE NO CIVIL WAR BUT THERE WILL BE A LOT OF PEOPLE EMIGRATING
9- What about UK citizens of Scottish origin who do not want to change their citizenship?
NO ONE KNOWS – MY SISTER WAS BORN IN SCOTLAND – WILL SHE HAVE TWO PASSPORTS?
10- What happens to the land registry for Scotland?
NO ONE KNOWS
11- Is there a draft constitution for independent Scotland? Is one necessary?
NO – YES
12- Will Scotland’s independent government have access to the government records of the UK during a transition period?
NO ONE KNOWS
13- Suppose it is not possible to reach an agreement on all of the terms of this divorce or devolution or whatever, and therefore London refuses to recognise Scottish independence, but at the same time, a number of unfriendly governments do. What happens then?
NO ONE KNOWS
14- Suppose London and Edinburgh get along fine and use Scottish independence as an excuse for circumventing EU regulation and various other international treaties that Scotland is not a signatory to. Suddenly the UK could become exempt from all EU regulation that is bad for the economy, providing the company headquarters and production facilities are moved across the border.
What kind of a referendum is this? It is a step into the dark.
IT IS INSANE AND IS UNBELIEVABLY DANGEROUS – THE ONLY BENEFICIARIES WILL BE THE LAWYERS – THE QUEEN IS SILENT AS USUAL, THE USELESS COW
I THANK GOD I LEFT.
I expect the Queen has many thoughts on the matter but has been advised by her courtiers and the political masters to keep quite. It would have been better for all if the Queen had been more outspoken, or even spoken out, as many trust her more than the folks in government.
If the Scots vote “yes” (a big “if”) some of these questions can be answered.
For example the answer to question one is YES.
The Union of Crowns was in 1603 (the union of the Kingdoms was in 1707) – the Queen would continue to be Queen of Scotland just as the lady is Queen of Canada, Australia and New Zealand. How long this would remain true I do not know – but it would be true till when (and if) the Scots changes it.
Would the Pound continue to be used? Well sadly it is not the Pound Stirling (no silver involved) – it is just a fiat currency and it would continue to be used (if Mr Osborne thinks he can stop it being used he is mistaken).
Would Scotland be welcomed into the European Union?
Of course it would – the new Scotland would share the social democrat semi (semi – not total) collectivist principles of the European Union.
A better question would be “would the United Kingdom then leave the E.U?”. – and I think the (eventual) answer would be “yes”.
Without Scotland there would be a clear majority in the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.
Still the Scots will (properly) vote “no” – making our discussion moot.