Masum Billah :
Scottish voters headed to the polls on 18 September 2014 to answer a simple question whether Scotland be an independent country. Scotland has been under British rule since 1707. If ‘Yes’ vote would win it meant its separation from the United Kingdom countries of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Scottish government refers to the referendum as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” because only one vote for independence was guaranteed by the 2012 Edinburgh Agreement, to take place by the end of 2014. That agreement was signed by British Prime Minister David Cameron and Scottish officials and assured Scotland the ability to hold a referendum on its future. By 55% to 45%, a majority of voters rejected the possibility of Scotland breaking away and becoming an independent nation. Shortly afterward, Alex Salmond, the Scottish first minister and leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party, announced his resignation from both posts, effective in November. Salmond said he was proud of the campaign for independence, and that now was the time to hold the UK leadership to its promises of shifting more autonomy to Scotland.”We now have the opportunity to hold Westminster’s feet to the fire on the ‘vow’ that they have made to devolve further meaningful power to Scotland,” he said in a statement. “This places Scotland in a very strong position.”UK Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed Scotland’s decision in a televised statement outside 10 Downing Street, saying it was a clear result. ‘I’m absolutely delighted the Scottish people have taken this momentous decision to safeguard our family of nations for future generations.’ In a dangerous and uncertain world I have no doubt we are stronger, safer, and more prosperous together than we ever could be apart. U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed the result and praised the Scots “for their full and energetic exercise of democracy.” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen also welcomed the news that the United Kingdom, a key member of the defense bloc, would remain united.
This referendum marks not only a new chapter for Scotland within the UK but also a new chapter of constitutional renewal across the UK.At the same time, this referendum north of the border has led to a demand for constitutional reform across the United Kingdom as people south of the border also want more control and freedom in their own hands rather than power being hoarded in Westminster. Proposals to give Scotland more autonomy has been put forward ever since the 1880s, but it was the election of Salmond and his Scottish National Party in 2011 that set the current independence campaign in motion. The Edinburgh Agreement, which Cameron and Salmond signed, gave Scotland the legal right to hold this referendum on independence. An independent Scotland raises thorny questions on issues from monetary policy to membership in international organizations. It is unclear what currency it would use. Though it’s likely Scotland would keep the British pound for the immediate future, it would no longer have any influence over its value as a sovereign nation. The rest of the U.K. would not be obligated to take Scotland’s financial realities into account when setting policy, says Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Scotland will not be automatically and immediately accepted as a member of the EU and that there will be some admission procedure to be gone through if it could emerge as an independent state. This thought led many Scots to vote for ‘no’. It is said that the primary responsibility of the state is the safety of its citizens. Some people will vote for independence just because it will come with a pledge to clear nuclear weapons from our country. Weapons of mass destruction are an emotive subject; there are deep and fundamental issues about their morality. There surely must be huge doubts about whether Scottish society now would mandate their use in any circumstances, there are questions over their military value given the changing nature of the threats to Scottish security, and there is the far more pragmatic question of their cost for their perceived benefit. There are some major parts of life that will be changed and Scottish people did not know what those changes would be or what impact they will have.
The political Union has helped to provide security and stability. And over the centuries Scots have played a large part in shaping that Union. Many, many Scots have benefited from opportunities it has afforded. Scotland is a prosperous, peaceful, successful country. We are confident in our national identity with our own distinctive society.Cameron, however, opposes Scottish independence and has said it would “break his heart” if the country decides to leave the U.K. He has also expressed concern, amid the growing global threat of the Islamic State group – which beheaded a British aid worker – that an independent Scotland would be vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Cameron said choosing independence would “rip” Scotland from the remainder of the UN to all the black predictions of the ‘No’ campaigners will of course come true, but it is likely that prices, interest rates, business confidence, house prices, job prospects, will all wobble a bit, maybe quite a bit.
The first of the 32 councils to declare all went to the “No” campaign, as did the capital, Edinburgh, which voted overwhelmingly to stay in the union. Fife and Aberdeen shire also voted “No.”Glasgow delivered a solid win for the independence camp but the lead was not big enough to overturn the “No” camp’s overall majority. Dundee, North Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire were the only other councils to vote “Yes.”
Scotland has had a devolved government since 1999, meaning many, but not all, decisions are made at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood, Edinburgh.As opinion polls showed the lead held by the “no” vote shrinking fast in the days leading up to the referendum, the leaders of all three main parties in Westminster responded with the promise to give major new powers over tax, spending and social welfare to Scotland if it stuck with the United Kingdom. Now the party leaders face the challenge of pushing those changes through a possibly rebellious Parliament on a tight timetable.
The People of Scotland voted by a comfortable margin about 10 percent to remain part of the United Kingdom- not least because of the campaigning of three Labour Politicians, Alastair Darling, Gordon Brown and Jim Murhpy. The Scots have been part of the British state for more than 300 years at the heart of the protestant, imperial, adventuring, outward-looking culture that forged Britain’s identify. Still, that identity has been fractured. Conservative held a majority of the seats in Scotland less than 60 years ago. Today, there is one Scottish Conservative MP out of 59 in the UK Parliament, a mark of how the Tories have allowed themselves to be frozen out of some parts of the country. In some respects, this is the biggest challenge of all to the UK’s political culture. Conservatives are losing touch with parts of the country where once they were strong, not just Scotland, but also cities and its north of England- and there is a growing disconnect between the parties and Britain’s increasingly important minority ethnic groups. Some of the same problems affect Labour Party as well . Both big parties will have to address these issues for reforming a UK that has lost some of the glue of affinity and solidarity that has held it together for long.
(Masum Billah is Program Manager: BRAC Education Program and Vice-President: Bangladesh English Language Teachers Association ( BELTA), He regularly writes on various national and international issues, Email: [email protected])
