The West Lothian Question's natural end - Updated

Britain wants UK break up, poll shows



The United Kingdom should be broken up and Scotland and England set free as independent nations, according to a huge number of voters on both sides of the border.

poll results

A clear majority of people in both England and Scotland are in favour of full independence for Scotland, an ICM opinion poll for The Sunday Telegraph has found. Independence is backed by 52 per cent of Scots while an astonishing 59 per cent of English voters want Scotland to go it alone.


It seems the English want the Scots to leave more than the Scots want to go


There is also further evidence of rising English nationalism with support for the establishment of an English parliament hitting an historic high of 68 per cent amongst English voters. Almost half – 48 per cent – also want complete independence for England, divorcing itself from Wales and Northern Ireland as well. Scottish voters also back an English breakaway with 58 per cent supporting an English parliament with similar powers to the Scottish one.

[snip]

Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, said: "In England, people quite rightly resent Scottish Labour MPs bossing them about on English domestic legislation. England has as much right to self government as Scotland does."


So, the people of England and Scotland want to break up the Union. They want to be peer nations on equal footing with less common government. Moreover, the English want the Welsh and Northern Irish as well.

I say now, there is zero chance of the UK disintegrating in that fashion. Rather, they'll grant England a parliment to shut them up. When Ireland was up for EU membership voting for EU expansion, they voted against it not once but twice. The EU gave them one more chance to get the "right" answer. They finally did and then the powers that be decided no more voting was necessary.

Similarly, the Scottish National Party will go to the brink but not over. They, like Bloc Quebecois, know there's a grand difference between leading a region within a nation than actually running a nation-state.


Update: A reader (we have a reader? Really? -Ed.) correctly points out that the vote in question was a vote on EU expansion, not membership. I've made the corrections above but I believe my point still stands. The plebecite decided incorrectly. They were given a second chance and when they got it "right" voting was then concluded.

Comments

Anonymous said…
"When Ireland was up for EU membership, they voted against it not once but twice. The EU gave them one more chance to get the "right" answer."

Not true. The referendum on the Nice Treaty was not about Ireland as they were already EU members. The Nice Treaty was mainly about accession.

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