The pre-eminent questions of Brexit (Britain’s exit from the European Union) and the possibility of independence for Scotland are linked, at least in Scotland, for the moment.
The pre-eminent questions of Brexit (Britain’s exit from the European Union) and the possibility of independence for Scotland are linked, at least in Scotland, for the moment.
The U.K. voted June 23 to leave the EU, by a relatively modest but nonetheless decisive margin. Of the U.K.’s four regions, England and Wales voted to leave, Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to stay. David Cameron was booted out as ruling Conservative Party head, and replaced as prime minister by Theresa May, on the basis of his having promoted the referendum on EU membership, campaigned to stay in and then lost. May campaigned to stay in, but nonetheless was selected to occupy 10 Downing St. in order to lead Britain out of the EU, pledging to exit on the best terms possible.
Leaders of EU countries did not want Britain to bail. Following the vote, reactions have ranged from ambivalence over the speed of its departure to the position that it should move on quickly.
The Scottish matter is tangled up with the centuries-old question of Scottish independence. The last time that issue was put to a vote, in 2014, Scots voted against independence 55 percent to 45 percent. The Scottish National Party head, Alex Salmond, leader of its regional government, was turfed out on that basis. The SNP’s current leader, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, reacted to the June 23 vote to exit the EU with a threat that Scotland, based on its vote to stay in, would replay its vote on independence. She is now backing away from that threat, based on the polls’ indication that Scots don’t want another referendum on independence now.
May is trying to waffle on the question of when the U.K. begins the formal two-year process of withdrawal from the EU. Sturgeon in effect is working with her to obtain the best terms possible. The ideal for May would appear to be for the U.K. to stay in the EU single market while putting major limits on EU immigration into the U.K. That was the main issue that apparently caused British voters, at least England (minus London) and Wales, to vote to leave the EU.
The initial threat of Scotland’s voting to separate from Britain after the June 23 referendum seems to be off the table for now. The Scots look primarily to their own economic well-being and do not seem to be drawn to the somewhat xenophobic appeal of stifling immigration.
— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette