63
votes
Accepted
Why does the Scottish National Party object to being called nationalist?
Nationalism today is mostly associated with ethnic nationalism, which the SNP as a center-left party does not wish to be associated with.
Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the SNP, has expressed ...
- 36.1k
61
votes
Would the rest of the UK lose anything more than honor if Scotland exits the UK?
The Scottish government's 2013 white paper on independence - Scotland's Future - sets out a number of tangible assets that, the paper argues, Scotland would be entitled to a proportion of based on ...
CDJB♦
- 105k
47
votes
What can Scotland legally do to get independence?
There is no formalised way for Scotland to leave the UK so for that to happen Parliament would have to agree because that is the supreme legislative body of the UK (Scotland has its own devolved ...
- 2,717
32
votes
Accepted
What jurisdiction do Scottish courts have over the Westminster parliament?
The United Kingdom has 3 legal jurisdictions: England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.
Citizens are entitled to bring cases in their own jurisdiction, or any other by mutual agreement (...
- 1,345
26
votes
Accepted
Can Scotland hold an informal independence opinion-poll without Westminster's consent?
There would be a few issues with this approach. Firstly, back in 2012, the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution looked at this very argument, and concluded that even an 'opinion-poll' ...
CDJB♦
- 105k
24
votes
Accepted
Why is the current Presiding Officer in Scottish Parliament a member of Labour Party, and not the Scottish National Party?
In the UK system, the speaker is politically neutral, and this requirement of neutrality has been taken seriously by generations of speakers. Moreover it is quite common for the speaker not to be from ...
- 115k
20
votes
Accepted
Why is a second Scottish referendum proposed?
The 2014 independence referendum was accepted as being a once in a generation referendum, unless there was a "material change of circumstances". The SNP is arguing that Brexit amounts to a ...
- 944
18
votes
Why is the SNP putting so much emphasis on currency plans?
The SNP's long term goal is independence for Scotland. During the last referendum on the subject, the issue of which currency Scotland would use was an important point of contention. The legal ...
- 17.6k
17
votes
What jurisdiction do Scottish courts have over the Westminster parliament?
The Westminster parliament is the parliament of the United Kingdom. Scotland is part of the United Kingdom. (The parliament of Scotland has authority over certain "devolved" matters only.)
...
- 17.5k
17
votes
Would the rest of the UK lose anything more than honor if Scotland exits the UK?
The answer is yes. E.g. fishing rights in the North Sea would again be something that could be dictated by the EU. (Assuming they joined the EU)
- 2,924
15
votes
Accepted
Could Westminster block the possibility of a referendum on Scottish independence?
To address your questions in order:
It is constitutionally possible for the Westminster parliament to hold any referendum held by the Scottish parliament to be non-binding on itself and thus ...
- 21.1k
15
votes
Accepted
What is the cause of the discrepancy between Scottish and English-Welsh results in the Brexit referendum?
I'm sure many of the factors you mention are relevant, but I think the main reason is much simpler:
Scotland voters are very heavily weighted towards being Labour, SNP, or Liberal Democrat voters (i....
- 469
15
votes
Independent, post-Brexit Scotland - would there be a hard border with England?
The customs considerations would be the same. There would have to be customs controls unless England joined the customs union. (Unless the EU somehow agreed to let Scotland join and remain outside ...
- 17.5k
15
votes
Accepted
What can Scotland legally do to get independence?
Apart from the indirect but legal techniques of obstruction, there don't seem to be legal options.
Obstruction
The Scottish Parliament could pass all sorts of laws in the health, agriculture and ...
- 264
13
votes
Accepted
Can the Scottish Parliament pass a law to stop labeling anything in imperial?
No. Weights and measures is a matter reserved for the UK government.
The Scotland Act, 1998, sets out that "Units and standards of weight and measurement" are a reserved matter (Schedule 5, Party II,...
- 27.8k
12
votes
Is it difficult for Scotland to become a member of the EU if they gain independence from the UK following Brexit
Probably not very hard.
Scotland already does all of the things it needs to in terms of political systems, laws and regulations to be an EU member, since it already is one. It would have to take ...
- 73.9k
12
votes
Accepted
Why does SNP support in Scotland seem disproportionate with actual support for independence?
It is not. The number of seats is disproportionate, but not the level of support. This is a consequence off the First Past the Post system.
2019 General Election:
Party % share ...
- 23.9k
11
votes
Accepted
Are Members of Scottish and Welsh Parliaments called "Honourable"?
No, these titles are not used in either the Scottish Parliament or the Welsh Senedd. The predominant reason for this is that there is no restriction in these chambers about referring to members by ...
CDJB♦
- 105k
11
votes
Accepted
How many pro independence Scottish voters are pro EU membership
YouGov covered this territory at start of 2020.
There isn't as much of an obvious Indy+Remain/UK+Leave split as you might imagine, but it is substantial.
Do note that this poll covered votes in the ...
- 23.9k
10
votes
Accepted
Has a Prime Minister ever been appointed while in Scotland before?
Sort of. Although this is the first time that the current Queen has appointed a Prime Minister away from the capital, it is not the first time that a potential Prime Minister has been charged to form ...
CDJB♦
- 105k
9
votes
Accepted
Why didn't the UK insist that Scotland can only run independence referendums every X years before allowing one?
The Westminster government's opinion is that the ability to organise an independence referendum is not one of the Scottish parliament's devolved powers, and thus far the SNP don't seem to be intending ...
- 21.1k
9
votes
Accepted
Independent, post-Brexit Scotland - would there be a hard border with England?
I'd assume that a hard border between the two would be fairly unpalatable and possibly not even practical.
I’m not sure that that is going to be true and I assume you are making a comparison with the ...
- 13.1k
9
votes
What jurisdiction do Scottish courts have over the Westminster parliament?
Scottish people elect representatives to both Westminster and Holyrood.
There's news about the group who chose to go to a Scottish court, rather than those who went to an English court, as they were ...
- 4,459
8
votes
Accepted
Would the Spanish People's Party have the capacity to veto Scotland's entry to the EU while governing in minority?
A government of the Popular Party could, even if it is in minority.
Once a government is elected, executive power is at its hands. Its executive decisions do not need the support of the MP who gave ...
- 31.2k
8
votes
Why does SNP support in Scotland seem disproportionate with actual support for independence?
In addition to Jontia answer regarding how 45% vote share has translated into so many seats due to FPTP and how the vote share figures links to the vote for independence.
The SNP is not a single ...
- 3,186
8
votes
Accepted
Would the rest of the UK lose anything more than honor if Scotland exits the UK?
From Wikipedia's article on It's Scotland's oil
Jim Sillars, former Deputy Leader of the Scottish National Party, said during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum that “BP, in an independent ...
- 2,193
8
votes
Arguments for Scotland in non-EU United Kingdom?
While the UK was still in the EU, an independent Scotland remaining in the EU would also enjoy unfettered access to the rump UK market through the EU single market framework. In that scenario, it ...
- 30.5k
7
votes
Under EU law, can Scotland remain or be re-admitted to the EU after Brexit while still a part of the UK?
The answer is a bit similar to the answer to Could the UK re-join EU after leaving? Legally, there is nothing in place to grant automatic EU membership or some sort of smooth path to it. Except if all ...
- 30.5k
7
votes
Under EU law, can Scotland remain or be re-admitted to the EU after Brexit while still a part of the UK?
The Greenland example indicates that EU law is quite amenable to fudging situations. It's also important to remember that the EU is a creation of treaties and can be amended by treaties. A unanimous ...
- 22k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible