Tomorrow (Thursday) Scotland (but not all Scots) goes to the polls in a referendum which poses the question “Should Scotland be an independent country?” Scots who live elsewhere within the UK or abroad are disenfranchised, but the Scottish parliament determined that children, oh, I’m sorry, young adults of 16, should have a vote (the age for suffrage in the rest of the UK is 18 – and Scots youngsters between 16 and 18 will not have a vote in next year’s general election). The rest of the British population has no say in the matter; despite the fact that the outcome could have a profound effect on the UK economy and the value of Sterling.
The answer as to what the Scots have decided will emerge within hours of the polls closing, but opinion polls show a slender lead of 52 to 48%, if the 8% of Scots who remain undecided are excluded. Polsters are stating that the race remains too close to call.
Political leaders in Westminster are promising that should the Scots elect to stay within the union, they will enjoy greater devolved powers, the so-called “devo max” solution – a move that has caused a slight backlash in other regions of the UK (notably England) where people are demanding devolved powers for them, too. Wales and Northern Ireland (and Scotland, of course) have their own administrations, but the concerns of the majority English are supposedly handled by the national (British) government in Westminster. Many within the UK feel that government is too Westminster- (and the South East) centric and does not respond to the needs and concerns of other parts of the country some distance from the capital.
Scotland’s first minister, Alex Salmond, is appealing to voters not to let the chance of independence slip from their grasp, having written to them saying “let’s do this!” – others feel that whilst this may appeal to the sentiment of some, the real risks, costs and assumptions underlying an irrevocable Scottish split from the UK have been improperly evaluated, discussed and presented even to the fraction of the British nation being given a chance to decide.