Calls for secession rise in Scotland .. Will Britain become a heir?

مجدي مصطفى Free Membership

Five years after Scotland's referendum on independence from the United Kingdom and rejected by a relative majority, voices are rising these days demanding a "handy" separation in the words of Scottish Prime Minister Nicolas Sturgen before thousands of protesters gathered in Glasgow to demand a new referendum on Independence.

On 18 September 2014, the independence referendum was held in accordance with the agreement signed by the Scottish government and the central government in London on 15 October 2012. The question was: "Should Scotland be an independent state?"

The referendum saw a huge turnout of voters in Scotland, who were crowded in more than 2,000 polling stations to vote, and for the first time in the history of Britain allowed those aged 16 to participate in the vote.

When the result of the referendum was announced, with 55.45% vetoing 44.58%, then British Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed the result, saying it would resolve Scotland for at least one generation.

Cameron pledged to give Scotland broad powers over taxes, spending and social welfare.

On the other hand, the result shocked Scottish Prime Minister at the time Sammond - who was leading the direction of independence - admitted his defeat and thanked his supporters for voting for independence despite their defeat.

Sturgen, then deputy leader of the Scottish National Party, which led the call for independence, seemed frustrated at the defeat and found nothing to say about that outcome except to say that she was "disappointed".

Hope is renewed
But Sturgen, who was disappointed in the five-year-old referendum, is back on the cusp of Brexit, and thousands of supporters of Scotland's independence gathered in Glasgow yesterday for the first time since the 2014 referendum campaign.

Sturgen wants to hold a referendum on Scotland's independence in 2020, saying the Brexit deal has changed the situation in Britain and hopes to remain in the European Union after Britain's exit.

In front of thousands of demonstrators calling for a new referendum on independence, she said that the legislative elections to be held on December 12 next "is the most important for Scotland, and the future of our country at stake, stressing that the possibility of" an independent Scotland is within reach ", calling on voters To mobilize and vote for her party in the next election.

Sturgen announced at a party conference last month that the referendum "should be organized next year, and we are preparing for it," and intends to request the approval of the British government before the end of this year.

In April, she told MPs in Edinburgh that "62% of Scots voted to remain in the EU in vain," referring to a 2016 referendum on leaving the EU, in which 52% of Britons voted to leave the EU. 62% of Scots voted to stay.

Sturgen said her government's efforts to reach a compromise on exit from the EU - which could mitigate the damage to the economy - were "met with deaf ears" and that it was still impossible to predict what would happen on exit.

She said the government would work to ensure that people had the right to choose independence from the UK during the current parliament's term ending in May 2021.

The Prime Minister of Scotland has promised to submit a draft law to set the rules for any referendum on independence, expressing the hope that this draft will be adopted before the end of the year.

The British prime minister objects to the organization of a new referendum, saying that the Scottish referendum was five years ago, and that it is a "one-time event for each generation."

As British parliamentary elections approach, Sturgen is seeking to rally supporters, and has flirted with opposition Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbin.He said her party would support him if he promised to support her project to organize a new referendum, but the latter disappointed by stating that a new referendum in Scotland was "not necessary and undesirable."

Therefore, the next step remains on the map of alliances and the nature of the British government that will emerge from the upcoming elections.

Facts and concerns
Self-governing Scotland is the fourth component of the United Kingdom, which also includes England, Wales and Ireland. It is one-third the size of the United Kingdom and is home to more than five million people.

It contributes about 10% to the country's economy by virtue of its North Sea oil wealth, on which the Scottish National Party built its first campaign for independence in 2014, as well as the largest nuclear military base on the British island.

Given the UK's unprecedented constitutional dilemma over Brexit and its regional and domestic implications, a question arises: What if Britain emerges from the EU and Scotland is already independent of the UK after 312 years of union with it?

The first consequence is to raise the issue of Irish unity between Ireland and Northern Ireland, whose prime minister, Leo Vardcar, said in late July that the reunification of Ireland and Northern Ireland, under British rule, would inevitably be raised if Britain leaves the EU without agreement.

He also warned that Britain's difficult exit from the bloc could undermine Scotland's position in the UK. "If Britain removes Northern Ireland from the EU, contrary to the wishes of the majority of the population there, it would take away their European dependence and undermine the Good Friday Agreement of 1998," he said. He put an end to the violence in which 3,600 people have been killed in 30 years, and when they do, these issues will be raised, whether we like it or not. "

The heiress
Ahead of the Scottish referendum in 2014, former British Prime Minister John Major warned that the UK might be forced to leave its seat on the UN Security Council if the result of the referendum is in favor of Scotland's independence. "We will lose our seat at the top of the UN," Major said. .

A report by the BBC quoted the opinion that the Security Council had granted veto power to states that had arisen from the division and disintegration of other countries such as Russia, which inherited the Soviet Union.

According to those who hold this view, Britain will be a successor state, any country that emerged after the disintegration of a larger state or entity to which it belongs, and will continue to veto Security Council resolutions "shared" with the United States, France, Russia and China, even if the name plate appears on The table on which the United Kingdom is written is deceptive or metaphorical.

According to the report, which was prepared five years ago, Scotland will not face any obstacles in joining the United Nations once independence from the United Kingdom, and independent Scotland will not get a vote in the Security Council only if it wins the elections for the ten temporary members, which are held for two years and does not grant those States veto right.