NO Scottish Referendum Till 2055 - Boris Johnson

Table of Contents

After the recently concluded Brexit deal between UK and the EU, there have been fresh calls for Scotland’s independence.
In a recent interview, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, referendums should only happen once in a generation.
UK recently agreed a Brexit deal with the EU (finally!)
Scotland, dissatisfied with the deal, and with Brexit overall, has seen renewed calls for independence.

A brief background

2000 BC – First farmer settlements in Scotland region.
77 AD to 400 AD – Roman rule in Britain.
5^th Century AD – The Scots (a Celtic tribe from Ireland) settle on the north west coast of Britain.

Celtic tribes were pagan, and many of their gods resembled the Vedic gods.
The recent excavation of a Celtic seal portraying their god Cernunnos, led to parallels being drawn with IVC’s Pashupati seal.
This led to some historians even claiming that this is evidence of Aryans migrating out of India.

**Note that the English are Anglo-Saxon people, while Scots are Celts.

– England’s king intervenes to take over Scotland, and this begins the centuries long England–Scotland rivalry.

1603 – Union of Crowns, England and Scotland (though separate kingdoms) have the same king (King James VI of Scotland).
1707 – Acts of Union.

– Parliaments of England and Scotland passed acts to unite the two kingdoms into one, under the name of Great Britain.

– Single united Parliament formed at Westminster.

– Demands for home rule within the UK, after similar movements in Ireland (Sinn Fein).

1970 – Discovery of oil in the North Sea, led to calls of “It’s Scotland’s oil!”
1979 – First Scottish referendum held, for devolution of powers.

– Vote was on forming a separate assembly for Scotland, which would have control over most domestic affairs.

– Most votes in favour of Home Rule.

– However, inadequate turnout (according to a clause in the referendum act) in the polls, meant that Home Rule was not to be granted.

– Majority votes in favour of Home Rule.

– Created an elected (unicameral) Scottish Parliament with control over most domestic policy.

– Scottish National Party led by Nicola Sturgeon push for independence.

– 55% Scots vote “No”.

– Scotland remains a part of the UK.

– 62% of Scotland vote to remain with EU.

On 24^th December, 2020, after years of fruitless negotiations, UK and the EU agreed on a Brexit trade deal.
Scottish leaders say, Brexit has been forced upon the people of Scotland by the Westminster Parliament.
Most Scots had voted to remain in EU, but were outnumbered by the sheer weight of English voters.
In the wake of Brexit, the Scottish National Party has renewed calls for independence from UK.
They have asked, if the people of Britain could choose to leave EU, why can the people of Scotland not get the choice to leave UK.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon led calls for independence.
Sturgeon suggested that a fresh referendum for Scotland’s independence must be held, because now things have changed with Brexit.

On being asked about the Scottish independence question, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that referendums are ‘once in a generation’ event.
He has made it clear that, like there was a big gap between the first two referendums (1979 to 2014), now Scotland should forget about a fresh independence referendum till 2055.
SNP leaders have accused the Prime Minister of denying democracy, and denying people their choice.
Scottish media houses like The Edinburgh Times, have drawn parallels between Trump and Johnson, and them both trying to deny democracy and hide from people’s views.
English critics have, however, questioned the stance of SNP.
They have pointed out that SNP has always been against Brexit, saying that Scottish firms will miss out on trading opportunities with continental Europe.
Therefore, SNP now has no ground to complain, after the free trade deal signed with EU.

PM Boris Johnson is likely to use his Westminster majority to block a second Scottish independence referendum.
However, the issue is likely to become a dominant factor of political debate if the SNP win another majority in the next Scotland elections.
Brexit has caused strife in other parts of the UK.
Northern Ireland remains under some EU rules and EU Customs Codes, as a part of the deal to keep an open land border with the Republic of Ireland (EU member).
Though calls for Irish reunification are growing, Northern Ireland First Minister, Arlene Foster remains pro-UK.