Hear! Hear!
British Prime Minister David Cameron last night signed off on the
holding of a referendum in the weeks after the Glasgow Games, where
local athletes will compete under a Scottish flag, unlike at the London
Olympics where they were part of "Great Britain" or "Team GB".
The agreement between the Mr Cameron and Alec Salmond, the
pro-independence First Minister of Scotland, is a historic move, as the
5.25 million people living in Scotland will have the chance to undo the
1707 Treaty of Union that merged the kingdoms of England and Scotland.
Lengthy bartering between the two governments over the past eight months
saw Mr Salmond win the right to control the timing of the ballot and he
promptly rejected Mr Cameron's call for the referendum to be held as
soon as possible.
He plans a
series of events to mark the 700th anniversary on June 24, 2014, of the
Scottish victory over England at the Battle of Bannockburn, and from
July 23 to August 3, the Commonwealth Games will have Scots barracking
for their team against England and the other "home nations" Wales and
Northern Ireland as well as Australia and other members of the
Commonwealth.With opinion polls showing as few as 28 per cent of
people now support independence, Mr Salmond wants as much time as
possible to change public opinion, and the second half of 2014 offers
some unique opportunities to heighten Scottish nationalism.
Despite Mr Salmond's victory on the timing of the ballot, Mr Cameron's
negotiating team came out on top over the single most important issue,
the matter of how many questions will appear on the ballot paper.
Knowing most Scots are currently likely to vote no to the question of
full independence, Mr Salmond's Scottish National Party had hoped to put
a fall-back option on the ballot paper by including a second question
asking whether they wanted to see the devolution of more government
powers from Britain to Scotland if it remained within the UK.
Mr Cameron refused to budge on that issue, forcing the SNP to accept
that the ballot paper would include a single "in or out" question about
Scotland's future in the UK.
More @ Independence CYMRU
Dear Scots, I am in the USA. I have ancestors from Scotland. I hope you are able to escape the UK as it is doomed, just like the USA.
ReplyDeleteEscape and immediately pass laws allowing NO immigration except for those white white scottish lineage...provable or you are going to be destroyed by multiculturalism like the rest of us...Do so and I will come there to live...gladly
it is doomed, just like the USA
ReplyDeleteI understand that London looks like the third world and you have to go to the country to really savor England.