Independence
200 No to Yes voters tell us why they now believe in Scotland
Author / Creator: Believe in Scotland
Media type: Opinion poll
Date published:
A survey of 200 people who changed from "no" to "yes" showed multiple reasons. The main ones were:
- The effect of Brexit
- UK government incompetence
- Better Together lied
- Had come to have more belief in Scotland
- Felt NHS was not safe as part of the Union
What are the cost implications of setting up an independent Scotland?
Author / Creator: Common Weal
Media type: Briefing paper
Date published: 2021
Initial debts will be a matter of negotiation with the UK government. The set up costs are estimated at £25 billion of which £15 billion will be offset as a share of assets being transferred.
How would Scotland become independent
Author / Creator: Common Weal
Media type: Briefing paper
Date published: 2021
Scotland needs a "legal personality". It is usually accepted that membership of the United Nations is the best indicator of Nationhood. The key is a recognition agreement with the UK.
Scottish independence: could wind power Scotland back into the EU?
Author / Creator: Piotr Marek Jaworski
Media type: News Media
Date published:
Scotland’s competitive advantage in green energy ought to be an important part of the economic case for independence when the second referendum takes place.
Strength in Union: The Case for the United Kingdom
Author / Creator: Alister Jack
Media type: Collection of essays by a Conservative Think Tank
Date published: September 2021
Is Scotland a Nation or a Region. MP David Cameron called Scotland a Nation in September 2014 in the run up to the Referendum. In 2021, Alister Jack, Secretary of State for Scotland, refers to Scotland as a region.
Must Scots settle for cronyism and incompetence? Open Minds on Independence #21
Author / Creator: Believe in Scotland
Media type: News Media
Date published:
Scotland's ambition does not end with winning independence. That is just the start. It offers us the freedom to create the country we want to live in. The issues we should prioritise include:
Busting the last of the myths around independence. Open Minds on Independence #20
Author / Creator: Believe in Scotland
Media type: News Media
Date published:
This article looks at myths about Scottish independence.
MYTH 7: Nationalism is by its very nature a bad thing
MYTH 8: An independent Scotland would be last in the queue to join the EU
Myth 9: You can’t hold a referendum without Westminster’s “permission”
Myth 10: Independence for Scotland would abandon the rest of the UK to permanent Tory rule
Busting the old Unionist anti-indy myths. Open minds on Scottish independence #19
Author / Creator: Believe in Scotland
Media type: News Media
Date published:
This article looks at three myths about Scottish independence:
Myth 4: Business leaders are worried about the effects of independence.
Myth 5: A new Scottish currency would be difficult to establish
Myth 6: independence would threaten pensions
This is why the Westminster myths about independence are wrong. Open minds on independence #18
Author / Creator: Believe in Scotland
Media type: News Media
Date published:
This looks at three myths about Scottish independence:
MYTH 1: You'll have had your referendum.
MYTH 2: Scotland has a huge deficit because we spend too much on public services.
MYTH 3: The costs of establishing Scotland as an independent country will be huge.
Scottish independence: what would it mean for the rest of the UK?
Author / Creator: Philip Rycroft
Media type: Article
Date published:
What sort of country would England be without Scotland and Northern Ireland be? That is perhaps the biggest question of them all and one worth asking before indifference south of the border becomes the handmaiden to nationalist seduction to its north.
Getting ahead of the curve What next for Scotland and the Union?
Author / Creator: ALUN EVANS
Media type: Lecture
Date published:
Alun Evans (formerly at the Scottish Office making the case for the Union) focuses on the hurly-burly of the 2014 referendum campaign, and his own suggestions for securing a long-term future for the Union. His solutions - full tax devolution, spending, domestic policy, and energy policy. Agreement on shared responsibilities, continuation of the monarchy, monetary policy set by UK, defence and foreign policy set by UK. [The expanded devolution that was promised but neve delivered]
Scotland, Brexit and Broken Promise of Democracy
Author / Creator: Klaus Stolz
Date published:
The perception of a democratic deficit began in the Thatcher premiership, long before Brexit. Scottish self government came to be positively linked with European intergation.
Brexit and Territorial Preferences: Evidence from Scotland and Northern Ireland
Author / Creator: Lesley-Ann Daniels
Media type: Academic Paper
Date published:
The harder the border with EU, the more popular support in Scotland's independence is indicated. It follows the sentiment toward the EU closely. In Northern Ireland the support for unification follows religious lines.
Brexit and the Scottish Question
Author / Creator: Sionaidh Douglas-Scott
Media type: Academic Paper
Date published:
The 2016 Scottish vote for remaining in the EU received no consideration by the UK government for possible special arrangements. The prospect of a new independence referendum gains credibility as the constitutional convention on consultation was considered irrelevant by the UK government.
Scottish independence would be 2-3 times more costly than Brexit, and rejoining the EU won’t make up the difference
Author / Creator: Hanwei Huang
Media type: Blog
Date published:
Scottish independence would be 2-3 times more costly than Brexit over 15 years. Rejoining the EU wwll make up part of the difference in trade value. This made headline news for a time. The methodology for this prediction has been questioned.
Brexit, Scotland, and the Continuing Divergence of Politics.
Author / Creator: M K Thompson
Media type: Academic Paper
Date published: 2019
Differences of politics in Scotland and England leads to claims that the Scottish people are being governed against their will. This creates a constitutional crisis which has manifested in desires for self-government. Brexit contradicts the 2014 referendum assurances that only by rejecting independence could Scotland stay in the EU.
Brexit and the inevitability of Scottish Independence
Author / Creator: Paul Cairney
Media type: Assessment report
Date published:
Only independence can remove the democratic deficit. Scottish independence is the cosmopolitan choice. There will be some economic damage, uncertainty, and a new currency. No has, in some ways, a stronger case in the second referendum but a far lower chance of success: it will lose because there will be no-one out there able to tell the No story.
Brexit has reinvigorated Scottish nationalism
Author / Creator: The Economist
Media type: News Media
Date published:
Scottish independence is a constitutional project, not an economic one. Fixing who governs you takes precedence over an easy life for supermarkets or civil servants. Brexit has shown that a committed government, with the mandate of a referendum and an appetite for dislocation, can go a long way.
How Brexit shapes people's views on Scottish independence
Author / Creator: John Curtice
Media type: web page
Date published:
A review of polls at January 2021 shows increasing support for independence, possibly due to Brexit.
The Union of 1707: the Historical Context
Author / Creator: The Scottish History Society
Media type: Article
Date published:
A Scottish historical view of the passing of the Act of Union.