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Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is seeking another vote on Scottish independence, coming possibly as soon as late 2018:
In a bombshell announcement Monday, Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon told reporters in Edinburgh that she will seek the authority to hold a second independence referendum for Scotland. Citing a "brick wall of intransigence" from British Prime Minister Theresa May, Sturgeon asserted that the only way to preserve Scottish interests in the midst of the U.K. exit from the European Union is to put matters directly in the hands of Scottish voters.
"What Scotland deserves, in the light of the material change of circumstances brought about by the Brexit vote, is the chance to decide our future in a fair, free and democratic way — and at a time when we are equipped with the facts we need," the Scottish first minister and head of the Scottish National Party said in prepared remarks. "Whatever path we take, it should be one decided by us, not for us."
Next week, she will seek a section 30 order from the Scottish Parliament to begin the referendum process — which the U.K. Parliament in Westminster ultimately must approve. If all goes as planned, Sturgeon expects that a vote would be held in the fall of 2018 or spring of 2019, after terms of a Brexit deal worked out by the U.K. and the EU become clear.
(Score: 2) by Spook brat on Tuesday March 14 2017, @05:38PM (2 children)
Actually, it does not have to approve the Referendum, but refusing it would not be a wise thing to do.
That was a massive understatement. When we colonists decided to announce our independence we didn't bother asking for ratification by Westminster, either. It took some time (and a bunch of ammunition) to convince King George we were serious, but we didn't ask - we told.
If it comes to that, the English will have a serious problem on their hands. My interactions with the British army lead me to believe that the cream of their fighting force comes from Scotland. Good luck keeping the Kingdom united by force of arms once all the Scots strip the Union Jack from their uniforms and replace it with St Andrew's Cross; there won't be enough of a fighting force left to march North.
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(Score: 2) by janrinok on Tuesday March 14 2017, @06:45PM (1 child)
Is your experience dated? There are far fewer Scottish Infantry Regts than there once were. Whether they are operationally better than any other is very much open to debate. I have the greatest respect for the Scottish regts however they contribute to, but do not provide, the 'cream' of the UK's forces. If your experience is based on working alongside any of the Scottish regiments, what would you expect them to say - that they were not as good as any other regiment?
The remainder of the army is not geographically associated but consists of Corps [army.mod.uk], e.g. Royal Armoured Corps, Corps of Royal Engineers, Royal Logistic Corp.
(Score: 2) by Spook brat on Tuesday March 14 2017, @07:44PM
Is your experience dated? There are far fewer Scottish Infantry Regts than there once were.
Not that dated; during Operation Enuring Freedom things were already as you describe with corps broken out by function instead of by geography.
Even so, it seemed to me that there was an oddly large percentage of Northern troops in their ranks. It's probably something like the high fraction of minorities in the U.S. military, where there is a self-selection process involved. It's not the recruiters' fault if more volunteers drop by the Glasgow offices than the ones in London.
I will admit that my perception of the quality of the Scots I met on deployment may be a case of confirmation bias ;)
On the other hand, I have a really funny story from that deployment about an English officer, some beer he shouldn't have been sharing with U.S. enlisted personnel, and a friendly-fire incident ("negligent discharge") whose official report bore little resemblance to the story told in the chow line. (short version: drunk US enlisted soldier shoots himself in the leg with an English officer's Hi Power pistol, reported as a totally sober U.S. soldier catching stray round from a gun cleaning mistake) Not a great showing for England.
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