Scotland's Dream of Separation

...Although independence is far from becoming a reality in Scotland, and is barely budding elsewhere in this land, the next major chapter in the annals of the nation may be waiting in the wings...

...Playing a role in politics, though, has not been high on his crowded agenda...

...They produced the world’s first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep...

...Scotland last enjoyed independence in 1707 when, after an often adversarial relationship, the English and Scottish kingdoms agreed to unite...

...Salmond’s contention that such a breakaway could be achieved within a decade may be a political tactic...

...Since taking charge in the Scottish Parliament, however, the undeterred nationalists have introduced a series of highly seductive policies that could generate much more popular support and gain them greater trustworthiness than they have enjoyed until now...

...But a viable, independent Scotland is not beyond the bounds of credibility...

...The United Kingdom would be deprived of one of its crucial tax-producing regions...

...A fundamental facet of the independence issue, of course, is how Scotland would support itself...

...Norman Gelb reports regularly for The New Leader on British affairs...

...Trump’s project, he indicated, would be approved because it “raises issues of importance that require consideration at a national level...

...It would include a luxurious hotel and hundreds of timeshare apartments...

...The plan of the new administration in Edinburgh calls for programs that would tighten the link between Scotland’s research base and business innovation...

...What would happen to Britain’s Trident nuclear submarines based in the Firth of Clyde as part of NATO’s nuclear capacity...

...For further underpinning of the local economy, the SNP is focusing attention on fossil fuels extracted from beneath the waters off the coast of Scotland...

...The violent “troubles” of past years are mercifully history, but breakaway talk is kept at bay by continuing mutual suspicion between the passionately British Protestants and the Catholics, many of whom favor absorption into neighboring Ireland...

...Salmond’s forecast that Scotland will be transformed into an independent nation within a decade still seems mostly wishful thinking...

...By the Act of Union, they formed Great Britain, with its Parliament in London and a single monarch...

...Since the discovery of these North Sea oil and gas fields in the 1960s, the substantial financial benefits derived from them have accrued to the British Treasury and to the UK economy as a whole...

...On the international front, Scotland has already established a separate office at European Union headquarters in Brussels and presumably would seek discrete admission to the EU as well as to the United Nations...

...Such questions do not obtain for the two other parts of Britain granted increased local authority...

...The breakaway movement in Wales has not been effective in winning popular support...

...Indeed, he predicted it will be independent within 10 years...

...It wouldalso put to rest English complaints that Scotland receives a greater allocation of funds per capita than it deserves from the British Treasury in return for the taxes its people and businesses pay the central government...

...As I write, Scottish troops are about to join hard-pressed NATO forces deployed against the Taliban in Afghanistan...

...INTERESTINGLY, the Scottish pursuit of independence has stirred latent rebellious sentiments in London...

...it continues to be governed by the Parliament in London...

...But the proud Scots should never be taken for granted...

...Autonomy for Scotland though, would not be completely without a plus for the English...

...British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is a Scot, as is Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling...

...There was no apparent reason to have such concerns...

...That may not be what Tony Blair had in mind when, at the expense of unitary government, he promoted the democratic devolution of local power to Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast...

...The rejection outraged Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), especially after Trump threatened to shift his wealth-generating project to Northern Ireland...

...He is a real estate developer, business executive, casino operator, television personality, and author...

...If Scotland were to become an independent nation, the consequences for Britain would be both palpable and symbolic...

...In addition to making the most of local skills, it would draw on the experiences of the socalled Arc of Prosperity, the successful small independent economies of Norway, Finland Iceland Ireland and Denmark, “which are similar to Scotland in scale and geographically close...

...In their quest for broader public backing, they have removed the reviled toll charges on major Scottish bridges...

...On major national issues like defense, international relations, basic economic policy, and immigration control, so do the other three entities...

...The nationalists’ strategy is clear...

...The enterprise was expected to create badly needed new jobs in the region and pump much money into the economy...

...He promoted, and guided through Parliament, fundamental changes in how three of the four lands that constitute the United Kingdom are governed...

...In a region of Britain already known for its higher educational standards, they are reducing class sizes as part of a detailed program designed to make Scotland a “smarter” country, capable of raising the living standards of its citizens to new levels...

...Neither did the Scots, whose politics were then dominated by the unifying instrument of the long-entrenched British Labor Party...

...Would an independent Scotland become a full-fledged member of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance, where Britain plays a key role...

...Ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging scanners, the first working television system, the world’s first 3-D computer game, and radar are Scottish inventions...

...To quote Cameron, it would be designed to provide “English votes for English laws...

...Last year, the tireless Trump chose the land of the Scots as the site for a new billion-dollar project: He proposed building “the best golf course in the world” near Aberdeen, “The Silver City by the Golden Sands” on Scotland’s east coast...

...Yet the Scots have long demonstrated their considerable talent for scientific and technological pioneering...

...What impact would Scotland’s independence have on the overstretched British Army...

...At the moment they are largely confined to the denial of benefits like free medical prescriptions, secured by Scotland and Wales...

...But its once robust heavy industry, shipbuildI ing and manufacturing sectors have suffered massive declines during the past three decades...

...He was talking about the Scottish nation the SNP is determined to lead to independence from Britain...

...The Aberdeenshire Council turned down Trump’s proposal, citing environmental considerations...

...In Northern Ireland’s Assembly in Belfast, “independence” is not a word often heard...

...For the opportunity Salmond has now seized to mount a campaign to re-create a separate Scottish nation, he can thank former British Prime Minister Tony Blair...

...Salmond, after all, has committed himself to a non-nuclear Scotland...

...The Scots are an energetic people with a deserved reputation for economic expertise and a long history of producing political movers and shakers...

...Would it want to...

...To curb violent crimes, on the rise throughout Britain of late, they are recruiting many more police to patrol the streets of Glasgow, Edinburgh and other Scottish cities...

...Today some 80 per cent of Scottish employees work in service industries, including tourism...

...It would be composed of the members of Parliament in London who represent English constituencies—not Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish MPs...

...Responding to press exposure of the shortcomings and high costs of British government agencies, they have begun to streamline the Scottish Civil Service to improve its efficiency and economy...

...By “national level” Salmond was not referring to the United Kingdom, of which Scotland is part...

...Its units are an important component of the military, with a proud history...

...But Tory leader David Cameron has called for the establishment of a separate English Assembly...

...At least not until he recently became embroiled in rough-and-tumble political infighting in Scotland...

...He proposes discussions with London “on options for the transfer of responsibility for our oil and gas resources to the Scottish Parliament...

...Nevertheless, they were quick to declare their intention to end Scottish subservience to the British Parliament and the British crown...

...WHEN HE devolved a large measure of governmental authority to the Scots, Northern Irish and Welsh, Blair could not have imagined he might be paving the way for the breakup of once glorious Britannia...

...What is more, although he is now the first minister, his party gained only a plurality of the votes in the local elections...

...The people of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales were empowered to elect assemblies to rule on matters pertaining exclusively to their own territories, such as health care, education, and law and order...

...An articulate figure with Center-Left leanings, his past prognostications of Scottish autonomy all proved to be pipe dreams...

...Few of the people of Wales and Northern Ireland showed signs of wanting to go off on their own...

...Salmond wants to change that...

...Thus, upon becoming the first minister of Scotland a few months ago, he invoked rarely used powers of the office to overrule the Aberdeenshire Council...

...To stimulate the local economy, they intend to reduce business taxes and abolish them altogether for a range of small businesses...

...Would the British monarch abandon the crown’s Balmoral Castle near Abderdeen, long a favorite summer retreat for the royal family...

...For example: • They plan to abolish the property tax, which takes no account of sharply increased home values in recent years, and replace it with a local income tax based exclusively on the ability to pay...

...The British intention to install more nuclear power generators there and elsewhere in the UK has drawn his firm opposition...

...But last year, for the first time, Scottish nationalists, previously dismissible as political fantasists, came out on top in local elections and won executive authority in the newly Blair-empowered Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh...

...Within three years, they expect the approval of their voter-pleasing administration to make it possible to hold and win a referendum in Scotland calling for the opening of negotiations on independence with London...

...One reason is that the Welsh economy is not as strong as Scotland’s...

...It currently has the second highest per capita gross domestic product in Britain, topped only by the Greater London area...

...It would solve a question that has plagued the British Parliament: Should Parliamentary members who represent Scottish constituencies be able to vote on English matters in London while English Parliamentarians are not able to vote on Scottish matters...

...But to English envy, its influence did help get medical prescription charges abolished for the people of Wales...

...With Scotland gone, Queen Elizabeth, or whoever succeeds her at Buckingham Palace, would also lose part of the very center of the realm that once made sense of the concept “Great Britain...

...The fact that of the four countries constituting the United Kingdom only England has not been awarded a separate legislative body is drawing complaints from the English...

...We could very well see Britain transformed into a Confederacy, with the allembracing United Kingdom consigned to the dustbin of history beside the once far-flung British Empire, upon which the sun never set...

...That would have grave consequences for the United Kingdom and be of significance elsewhere as well...

...While in office, Blair—who is now the European Union’s representative charged with seeking a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian stalemate— launched a democratic revolution in Britain...

...Another is that the Plaid Cymru, the “Party of Wales,” has had to be content with the role of junior partner to the British Labor Party in the coalition ruling the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff...

...Britain shed its empire over the past half century...

...The nationalists have yet to prove their staying power in government, and opinion polls currently show that most Scots are not anxious to terminate their connection with the United Kingdom...

...It was therefore assumed he would be warmly supported by the local authorities...

...Conservative Party leader David Cameron is also of Scottish descent...

...In both organizations, to London s embarrassment, it might oppose British policies...

...Despite their repeatedly expressed determination to break free of rule from London, they did not suggest rebuilding Hadrian’s Wall, put up almost 2,000 years ago to protect Roman occupied England from the fierce Pictish tribes of ancient Scotland...

...They are scrapping all medical prescription charges and canceling university tuition fees...

...England, with a population roughly five times that of the other three combined, has no equivalent separate administrative body...