Why I'm Not In Favour Of Scottish Independence

With the impending vote for Scottish independence almost upon us, those of us in favour of keeping the unity are becoming slightly concerned with what seems to be a final push for separation. Three weeks before the referendum and support for Scottish independence has grown 4% to a very worrying 47% (see stats here).

While Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling battle it out with a selection of various politicians and celebrities publicly supporting both of them respectively, the rest of us with much less influence can only watch on.

Personally, despite being a big advocate of liberality, freedom of speech and independence to be given wherever its wanted, I am against the bill. Of course there are serious economic advantages to union and resounding complications that can ensue from such as exclusion from the EU and the loss of various trading advantages. Yet my reasoning for opposing independence is simply the age old one of convenience and habit.

Scotland has been unified with England and Wales for centuries, despite temporary blips and altercations, and so it should remain. Firstly, any previous attempts at independence have not gone particularly well, in fact they have not lasted at all and we should learn from that. Secondly, Scotland is physically joined with England. Of course it is true that continental Europe unifies many individual European countries with no dire hindrance, yet their boundaries have often been defined just as long as Scotland has been united with England politically. What I am saying here is that we are used to being connected with Scotland and them with us, and changes to this that could heighten hostilities at the borders are unavoidable if we head down the independence route.

Although this can be considered a selfish view, and perhaps closed-minded, I like being connected to Scotland and sharing some of its cultural tendencies whilst appreciating its different ones. Having been to Glasgow and Edinburgh it is clear that these are just two vibrant cities that are great to be associated with. Yes their economy may do well independently from the union, but why work alone when you can work together?

Of course there is the argument of the wealth of Scotland’s resources, such as natural gas and oil, that are obviously advantageous to England so long as we are united with them. More than this however, is the rest of the Scottish economy that has flourished since the industrial revolution just like our own. Traditional elements such as agriculture have blossomed in Scotland perhaps more so than in England in some situations. While more innovative industries have also succeeded, technical developments such as internet communications have greatly improved too.

As we have seen in England, due to the saturation of some industries in many of our main cities, sectors such as web development has been pushed outside of the main cities in England thanks to the internet. You will see flourishing web design in Hamilton, Inverness and Aberdeen to name a few because, thanks to the internet, we can now afford to work further apart but with more efficiency and reliability than if we were together.

It is also thanks to such technology that I feel we should be able to stay united with Scotland. The opportunities that can arise from technical developments like this are only going to reach their full potential if we put all of our resources behind them, not work alongside another country doing exactly the same thing.

By being geographically and politically connected, not only do we have the same laws and regulations at the moment, but this has affected our standards and outlooks. So even if we become separated politically, due to the way our two nations have been entwined for so long we will still function the same, initially at least. My point is that by separating two nations who have been so close for so long, you will not achieve anything positive.  Apart from perhaps agitating those who are not pleased with the change of arrangements, we will be dividing our economy and assets while also restricting our achievements across numerous sectors such as agriculture, technology and heavy industry.

Thanks for reading, if you needed any more convincing that Scotland should stay with the rest of the UK, here are the best jokes from the Edinburgh Fringe festival.