Scotland would have little global reach. It would for instance immediately lose its representative power on the UN Security Council. The remaining rump, presumably now called the 'United Kingdom of England, Wales and Northern Ireland', would have its position on that same panel weakened. There is no coherent vision for a Scottish military - or a 'Defense Force' or whatever the hell Salmond desires to call it; what for instance would happen to the Scottish regiments in the British army, some of which are on active duty in parts of the world right now - and for a considerable time to come. A hole in the British army, occurring through the removal of Scottish regiments, would hinder Britain's military obligations (e.g. Nato) and imperil, British s
ecurity. Would these regiments then form a nucleus of a
Scottish army? Well that would be administratively and
logistically difficult to engineer since the majority of
Scottish regiments were raised after 1707. Presumably,
because the SNP are socialists, this army would be
minuscule. Would that entail job lay offs? I have never
seen any member of the SNP, able to remotely grasp the
complex issue let alone, solve the issue of, the Scottish
regiments.
Probably they will just scrap these ancient and proud regiments and create a new, socialist, army.
Scotland will need to enter the UN, the EU, the Commonwealth and other supranational organisations. There is no adequate proposals on the citizenship of the
many Scots in England, and the many English, in
Scotland. I have not even mentioned people of mixed
nationality - it is probably rare, especially on the border
regions, to find someone with, purely English, or, purely
Scottish, blood. And somebody has already alluded to, the
unfairness of the vote in this, regard.
The Royal Family have been completely ignored in all of this (probably because, most of the SNP are closet republicans). The two countries will presumably return to
the dual monarchy of 1603-1707, but then, 'Great Britain'
and the Union Jack actually comes from this period - not,
1707. It is a knotty puzzle to unravel. Also, understand
that the Royal Family have developed into a 'British'
monarchy, post 1707, becoming colonels of Scottish
regiments for instance, utilising Scottish regiments (e.g.
the Scots Guards) for ceremonial functions and guard
duty. No one has formed a coherent plan to deal with all
of this. Nobody seems to have consulted the
Commonwealth on this either.
Sport is a tricky problem also. Will Scottish sport starts who have represented Britain (e.g. Andy Murray), have to suddenly switch to Scotland? They may, after all, have
been Unionists and rather proud to have represented 'Britain' all of this time. Will they therefore be given a
method to somehow, represent the United Kingdom of
England, Wales and Northern Ireland? Will archival records and statistics of British sporting teams, going
back hundreds of years, be divided in two? In other
words, will England suddenly have to look back to Fred
Perry, once, again, for our last Wimbledon champ?
I mentioned England there, and I could also mention Wales and Northern Ireland, as, the other three constituent nations have been completely ignored in all of
this. 1707 was not an English takeover, but a joint
sovereign union, established by the merging of
representative bodies of the two countries. Presumably
then, the dissolving of this act - if it is to be fair and carry
with it, the continuity of 1707 - should also be decided by
some degree of representation of the two countries.
Scotland desires a democratic mandate: it stands to reason that the English should produce at least 50% of
this democratic mandate. The vote is thoroughly unfair to
begin with!
Salmond has produced nothing but waffle about currency - and this has, indeed, been the weakest part of the SNP campaign (even some of his supporters admit this). This is
why he lost the television debates against Darling. The No
camp has attacked him on this, and justifiably so. The
man can literally not say whether or not Scotland will have
the pound! The man wanted to join the Eurozone just a
few years ago (before that went tits up). Now he wants
the Pound. He wants his economy to be, somehow,
'Scandinavian' (the SNP are obsessed, with Scandinavia).
Does he really know what he wants? He will probably be
your first leader by the way. The guy is an imbecile. Let's
not forget his cheap stunt with the saltire at Wimbledon?
And do not even get me started about the Shipyards and Trident - which will see, thousands of jobs vanish.
The breaking up of the Union would be the worst disaster to have happened to these two countries, since, the British Wars of the 17th century. Basically, Britain's military power would be splintered in two, significantly
weakening England and Scotland's global reach. If we go
back in history, imagining, no Union at various times, we
see dangerous alternative historical narratives which act as a warning sign upon, the decision reached in this vote.
What if Scotland had remained neutral during the two World Wars? Lacking the Clyde dockyards, England
would have certainly lost the U-Boat war in 1917. England
would also have not possessed an adequate North Sea
naval base in which to position her fleet. Imperial
Germany would have therefore complete control of the
Atlantic and the North Sea, threatening the Channel (and
the supply routes to the armies on the Western Front).
America's entry, in 1917, would have been fatefully
compromised. Similarly, imagine World War Two without
the Arctic Convoys (do not forget, carrying American Lend Lease aid also). Without these vital supplies, carried from
the east coast of Scotland, Soviet resistance to Adolph
Hitler would have been seriously imperiled. Leningrad may
have fallen. The results are almost too unbearable to
contemplate. Yet none of this happened of course,
because, the two countries were united.
History acts as a warning for the present. With the menace of Putin and widespread instability in the middle east, there seems to be enough threats to world peace to justify the retention of the Union. The Union provides us
with a global reach and a military which is respected,
worldwide. It seems as bad a time as any to break apart,
that Union and surrender, that global reach, as any.