Can Scotland Save Its Oil Industry?

The Scottish city of Aberdeen is built upon the successes of the oil and gas industry. A walk round the city centre reveals the level of investment, with every street festooned with luxury hotels, classy restaurants, and even a golf course, courtesy of Donald Trump.

Recently, however, there has been an increasing sense of uncertainty in ‘the granite city’. At the start of the year, it was reported that the price of crude had slumped to a twelve-year low with the likes of Shell warning of a 50 percent cut in profits. Across the city, oil workers have been facing redundancy from a variety of companies including Petrofac, Gulfmark, ConocoPhillips and Sparrows.

Scotland’s Revenge

Last September, Scotland held a referendum on independence from the United Kingdom. The campaign was lively, colorful and, it seemed, decisive: Scots voted by a 10-point margin to stay a part of Britain. But just seven months later, another nationalist earthquake looks set to hit Scotland, shaking the foundations of British politics and even the union itself.

The Origins and Implications of the Scottish Referendum

The idea of Scottish independence has moved from the implausible to the very possible. Whether or not it actually happens, the idea that the union of England and Scotland, which has existed for more than 300 years, could be dissolved has enormous implications in its own right, and significant implications for Europe and even for global stability.

The United Kingdom was the center of gravity of the international system from the end of the Napoleonic Wars until World War II. It crafted an imperial structure that shaped not only the international system but also the internal political order of countries as diverse as the United States and India. The United Kingdom devised and drove the Industrial Revolution. In many ways, this union was a pivot of world history. To realize it might be dissolved is startling and reveals important things about the direction of the world.

The peculiar history of Scotland and England’s union

On Wednesday, British Prime Minister David Cameron issued a plaintive appeal to voters in Scotland ahead of next week's referendum on Scottish independence. "We desperately want you to stay; we do not want this family of nations to be ripped apart," Cameron wrote in a column published in the Daily Mail.

A Scottish Saltire flag is raised over 10 Downing Street in London, September 9, 2014. (REUTERS/Luke MacGregor)

The "Yes" and "No" camps appear to be neck-and-neck ahead of the vote. If the former prevails, it raises profound, existential questions for the nation that Cameron now governs. Could it even be called Britain?

The EU and an independent Scotland

Scots living in Scotland vote on September 18th on whether to end their 300-year union with England. If they win, the nationalists aim for actual independence, and full EU membership, in March 2016. Opinion polls currently show a lead for the pro-Union side, but 15 or 20 per cent remain undecided. The debate is becoming heated, with arguments concentrating on the economic risks and opportunities of independence. The EU dimension has attracted less attention, with each side brusquely dismissing the other's assertions. Most Scots want to stay in the EU: the nationalists assert that this would be quick and easy; their opponents predict problems; impartial voices go largely unheard. Here are eight points which Scots might like to consider.

Scottish independence will leave families with a £600 bill, Treasury warns

Alex Salmond said Europe's "access to Norwegian waters" could be affected if Scotland loses its EU membership Photo: Reuters

By Peter Dominiczak,

 

Families in Scotland will be faced with a £600 bill if the country votes for independence, ministers will warn this week. 

Scotland’s Independence By Rodney Jefferson

The Situation

Source: Scottish Government, UK Department of Energy & Climate Change

Scotland claims credit for the telephone, television and penicillin, not to mention modern economics. Its people built ships, bridges and locomotives for the world and, more recently, Grand Theft Auto. Now many Scots say they deserve to break away from the United Kingdom — and the 307-year-old union with England and Wales — to create Europe’s newest sovereign state. On Sept. 18, voters age 16 and over in Scotland will decide in a referendum.

Please, Scotland, vote Yes and take us northerners with you

Freedom … 'I really want Scotland to go for it.' Photograph: Getty Images/Vetta

 

Act of Union, 1707. Still nailed in my head from history A-level. Three centuries on, could Scotland really be about to tear it up? I hope so. It's a thrilling prospect.

The grand delusion of an ‘independent’ Scotland

CAN Scotland ever be independent? The classical answer to this question, given by politicians of all persuasions, is: yes. If the people express their will democratically and that will is independence, then no-one would stand in their way. The problem with this answer is that it is based on a cruel deception. In truth, Scotland can never be independent and it is time that all of our political parties, the nationalists in particular, recognised the fact.

The reasons why an "independent" Scotland would be nothing of the sort are simple. Part of the UK or "free", Scotland is within the powerful economic sphere of influence of her nearest neighbour, England; she is part of a larger and increasingly dominant European Union; and she is part of the global economy. Depending on your view, this nation is constrained or strengthened by these influences on her. What no-one should deny is that these influences exist.

It should not be in the least bit controversial to make such a statement, yet the Scottish National Party, supported by its fellow travellers, the Scottish Socialists, and the nice but naive Greens, maintains that if Scotland were free she would have it within her power to create a land of tartan milk and honey. Overnight, poverty would be banished, wealth created. There would be peace and prosperity. The trains might even run on time. This is self-delusion on a grand scale.

So far, nationalist politicians have managed to delude only themselves. Voters are far more realistic about the world they live in and the position of their nation in that world. Despite promises of a brave new independent dawn, Scots have resolutely refused to give their support in sufficient numbers to parties advocating what is described as independence. Consciously or not, the voters are ahead of nationalist politicians in the sophistication of their thinking.