Showing posts with label referendum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label referendum. Show all posts

Saturday, February 22, 2014

I'll take the high road and you'll take the low road

And I'll be in Scotland before ye.  Scotland, formerly an independent kingdom, merged with England at the beginning of the 17th century.  It was part of the deal upon the death of the childless Queen Elizabeth, by which the Scottish King, James, became king of England, as well as of Scotland.  So this is a deal that goes way back.  Despite some tensions, and a number of old rivalries, the merger worked fairly well, at least to outsiders, it looked like the writ of the London government ran over all of the British Isles, and it has been that way for 400 years. 
   Zap, Pow, Kablam.  Save your whiskey cups, the Scots will rise again.  Scottish separatism has come to the point where there will be a referendum on Scottish independence in September.  Polling right now is mixed, the referendum might go either way.  If Scotland votes to leave Great Britain there are a number of "issues".  Like money.  The Scots want to keep using the British pound, the Brits have said  "No way".  The Scots want to become/remain EU members and the EU is saying, "Perhaps, but no guarantees".  Who knows what this will do to the British Army, who will have to turn the Black Watch, all the kilts, all the bagpipes over to the Scots.  The Brits get to keep their redcoats and bearskin hats, but no more bagpipers piping the troops into the attack, like we see in all the old WWII movies.. 
   Or course Scottish separatism may go the way of  Quebec separatism, where it got voted down by a thin margin some years ago, and has died out. 
   When Quebec separatism was riding high (before the referendum) some Quebec leaders visited Wall St to inquire about floating bonds and exchanging the newly created Quebec currency.  According to the Wall St Journal, the Americans poured cold water on the separatist idea.  The Quebecers were told, no loans, no bonds, and we won't accept your currency.  Which had something to do with the referendum failing a few months later.