Scotland Becoming Independent Analysis

The talk going around is that the 300-year old union is no longer fit for purpose. Some people say that it shouldn’t be around in the 21st century and that it is well past its time in the UK and is holding Scotland back from success in the world. Some of the Scottish people voted to move past the UK, with a brand new, more ‘Scottish like’ approach from the SNP government. However many disagree with these views saying that Scotland should remain in the UK, united together and that the social problems caused by independence would be a huge disaster to the relationships between the rest of the UK and Scotland. In any case the UK government has released a white paper making it clear the issues and responsibilities that independence has in the current
world we live in today. But is going independent really a good idea for Scotland?
Is Scotland even ready to go solo in the big wide world?
Are the people of Scotland ready for the months and years of struggles that will come with being independent?
During this essay I will explore the benefits and problems that independence will cause Scotland. Both sides of the argument have strong arguments to swing it both ways so hopefully by the end you will be able to decide for yourself what way you should vote.
For the arguments about both sides of going independent or not will be shown in the next few paragraphs. The SNP wants Scotland to have the freedom that other countries have, freedom to choose the type of county they want to be in and how they want to interact with other countries across the world. People in Scotland want to be able to spend the money they earn how they want and to take their own responsibility for the lives of the Scottish people and not by someone who doesn’t even live in the same country as them. However the people of England have been said to be quite annoyed at the fact SNP want to separate Scotland from the UK but new evidence shows that close to 60% of people living in England now support the idea of an independent Scotland. For the Scottish percentage 52% want to be independent according to a study taken by ICM according to Sunday Telegraph. The cell phone poll, taken on 22nd and the 23rd of November, interviewed 1,003 people in Scotland and 869 people from England, so the poll doesn’t have a great amount of people voting in it but the results that came out it are quite a shock, given that
the way English people voted for this issue in the past. Also in the report it showed that 48% of people living in England wanting complete English independence which means it looks like England aren’t too bothered about losing Scotland as part of the UK.
However, independence for Scotland would allow more success in their country. Countries like Scotland in Europe have higher living and economical standards than Scotland. Giving the independence to those countries has helped them to be much better off than they used to be. This could also work for Scotland. For countries like Norway, the most prosperous country in the world according to The Telegraph. Also for Denmark, the third most prosperous country in the world. And for New Zealand which is the fourth most successful country in the world. What do they have in common? They are all independent countries. Scotland can have the exact same chance to be just as successful as them. Scotland has endless amounts of natural resources like North Sea oil and gas, an intelligent working community, an identity known across the world and a reputation for amazing quality products to sell to the world. With Scotland going independent, they can design policies to suit their needs for their country to give them a better economy and public services like health care and public services.
SNPs biggest drive for independence is the oil. This oil refers to the oil in the North Sea and it is said that almost 90% of that oil sits in Scottish section of the sea. Although it would benefit Scotland if they were to go independent, it makes no difference to them as they are still in the UK. The Continental Shelf Act in 1964 and the Continental Shelf Order in 1968 shows that the 90% of the oil in the North Sea belongs to Scotland and therefor proving that the SNP are right in saying that the oil belongs to Scotland. Although this information shows that Scotland will have an income from the oil, in recent figures the price for oil has gone down. This is show by the price of a barrel at $115 in 2014 when the first independence vote was carried out and it’s now at approximately $50 a barrel.
There has been many claims that Scotland couldn’t go alone out into the world. One of these claims have been by the Labour Party. They say that leaving the UK will cause them monumental damage to their country. One of these problems that will occur are that citizens of the UK will have to apply for a Scottish pass port to stay in Scotland if they were to go independent.
Leading on from this it is argued that the English and the Scottish economy would both suffer from Scotland leaving the UK.
Furthermore, embassies across the world would have to be changed to British and Scottish embassies. This would cost the countries time money to fix and cause a huge problem to the rest of the world.
Thirdly, in terms of the defence the country, parting from the UK means the army will get split apart from the Scottish troops and the rest of the UKs force. This means that if either side goes into war with another country neither army would be as strong as if it was together and therefor may not win the war. If Scotland were to go independent problems would pop up left right and centre if a war broke out, let’s say between England and Germany, these problems would include the decision on the loyalty between the scots and the British.
Moreover, in Scotland the money spent per head is higher than it is in England and therefore those who live in England may want independence to increase their standards of living as the money going to Scotland would no longer be happening, making the people living in the rest of the UK have more money spent on them. Another reason that England wants Scotland to be independent is that at right now Scottish MP's are allowed to vote on problems that only affect England but on the other hand English MPs are not allowed to vote on their issues due to the establishment of the Scottish Parliament. This was brought up in The House of Parliament by Tam Dalyell and this is another reason England wants to separate with the Scottish so only English MP's vote on English matters.
In conclusion, for both sides of the argument there are strong cases for and against Scotland gaining its independence, both sides have pros and cons but the most important thing is that both sides of the argument have massive support at the end of the day.
That is what it will all come down to when Scotland gets its second vote to an independent Scotland. For Scotland it has its own parliament so for this why can't they be an independent country. The north seas oil belongs to Scotland so it really needs independence to bring out the benefits of using the oil for themselves. So with this information I have provided to you, you can make your own decision. Scottish independence. Is it Yes Or
No?