INTRODUCTION
A referendum on Scottish independence will be held on Thursday 18 September
2014. Just over 4m voters will be asked a simple yes or no question: Should
Scotland be an independent country?
HISTORY
The Kingdom of Scotland was a sovereign state in north of the Great Britain
founded over 843. With the union of the crows in the early 17th century and the
Act of Union in 1706, the two entirely independent kingdoms joined to form The
United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 and by agreeing to the Union the
Scottish Parliament had also voted for its own extinction. Along the 18th century
there will be rebellions until the expansion of the British Empire all over the
world, when tensions in the relationship between England and Scotland were
overshadowed by differences with other parts of the empire. Since the
establishment of the National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights
in 1853 the demands for political changes, autonomy at first and openly for
independence, have been increasing especially during the Second World War.
This progressive increase of demands it will lead in the Scotland act of 1978
that would have devolved a set list of powers from the Parliament of the United
Kingdom. Although Scottish voted in favour of the Act in a referendum the result
was not accepted because the YES needed to be at least 40% of the total
electorate and it was not. With the 1997 Devolution Referendum and the 1998
Scotland Act, the actual Scottish Parliament was created. The parliament is
located in Edinburgh and the Scottish National Party (SNP) has a majority
government since 2011 bringing in its election manifesto the commitment of
celebrate an independence referendum. The Scottish Government and the
United Kingdom Government signed an agreement to celebrate the referendum
on Thursday 18 September 2014.
ARGUMENTS
It is striking for us, especially for our political context, how much the debate is
based on economics rather than history. The fact of 90% of the UK's oil
resources were under Scottish waters is very important to understand this point.
WHO IS IN FAVOUR?
The campaign, organized around the Yes Scotland campaign, is supported
especially by the SNP, the Scottish Green Party and the Scottish Socialist Party.
WHY?
WHO IS AGAINS THE INDEPENDENCE?
