Question haunting Scots: Will there be a referendum again

Question haunting Scots: Will there be a referendum again – to leave UK or not?

By Sadhan Mukherjee*

The Scots are having a nightmare. Their Scotch seems to have lost its soothing effect on the politico-economic aliment that Scots survived on so far. They voted against leaving European Union (EU) during Brexit referendum hoping that Britain’s membership in the EU will be retained. But they were outvoted by the rest of Britain.

They had even preferred three years ago to remain with Britain foregoing their own independence. They thought that independence from Britain may prevent their own independent membership in the EU due to firm opposition from Spain that is already fighting the Catalan bid for independence.

Scotland now needs EU more than ever before though it’s major economy is integrated with Britain. However, it had developed relations with other EU members over the years and its foreign trade accounted for almost 25% with countries other than Britain.

Now that Brexit is going to be a reality soon, the Scots are worried. They need to remain in the EU but that is not possible if they are a part of Britain. The arguments in favour of remaining within Britain do not seem to hold any water in the prevailing situation. Scotland is heading towards steady fiscal deficits. Its economy is in a shambles. Britain’s booming pre-Brexit economy itself is slowing down and it obviously cannot help Scotland much despite the lip service paid by Prime Minister Therese May.

Scotland’s industry today is in doldrums. Its famous ship building industry that built a number of famous warships and passenger liners including Queen Elizabeth II is in recession. Its textile industry has lost its pre-eminence. Its aircraft industry, especially jet engine manufacturing, is no longer viable and GE and Rolls Royce have shifted the manufacture of their engines elsewhere.

In recent years, basically two liquids supplied Scotland’s economic sustenance – Scotch and Crude oil. Its other major industries include banking and financial services, construction, education, entertainment, biotechnology, transport equipment, gas (mainly from the North Sea), and tourism.

Scotland’s GDP in 2015 was estimated at £152 billion including revenue generated from North Sea oil and gas. Now the oil prices have fallen drastically and North Sea oil and gas seem to be running out. As per latest data available in January 2017; its 2016 third quarter GDP growth was only 0.2%.

Wages are falling; last year, the average pay dropped by about 5%. Scotland is a country of 5 million people and many believe that they would live better as an independent country. Will there be a referendum again – to leave UK or not? This question is haunting all Scotsmen. If such a referendum takes places soon, probably most Scots will vote to get out. Scots with their kilts will then assert their national ethos.

---

*Veteran journalist

Comments

Importance of Bangladesh for India amidst 'growing might' of China in South Asia

By Samara Ashrat* The basic key factor behind the geopolitical importance of Bangladesh is its geographical location. The country shares land borders with Myanmar and India. Due to its geographical position, Bangladesh is a natural link between South Asia and Southeast Asia. The country is also a vital geopolitical ally to India, in that it has the potential to facilitate greater integration between Northeast India and Mainland India. Not only that, due to its open access to the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has become significant to both China and the US.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

'BBC film shows only tip of iceberg': Sanjiv Bhatt's daughter speaks at top US press club

By Our Representative The United States' premier journalists' organisation, the National Press Club (NPC), has come down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for recent "attacks on journalists in India." Speaking at the screening of an episode of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question,” banned in India, in the club premises, NPC President Eileen O’Reilly said, “Since Modi came to power we have watched with frustration and disappointment as his regime has suppressed the rights of its citizens to a free and independent news media."

Chinese pressure? Left stateless, Rohingya crisis result of Myanmar citizenship law

By Dr Shakuntala Bhabani* A 22-member team of Myanmar immigration officials visited Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar to verify more than 400 Rohingya refugees as part of a pilot repatriation project. Does it hold out any hope for the forcibly displaced people to return to their ancestral homes in the Rakhine state of Myanmar? Only time will tell.

Unlike other revolutionaries, Hindutva icon wrote 5 mercy petitions to British masters

By Shamsul Islam* The Hindutva icon VD Savarkar of the RSS-BJP rulers of India submitted not one, two,or three but five mercy petitions to the British masters! Savarkarites argue: “There are no evidences to prove that Savarkar collaborated with the British for his release from jail. In fact, his appeal for release was a ruse. He was well aware of the political developments outside and wanted to be part of it. So he kept requesting for his release. But the British authorities did not trust him a bit” (YD Phadke, ‘A complex Hero’, "The Indian Expres"s, August 31, 2004)

China ties up with India, Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingyas; Myanmar unwilling

By Harunur Rasid* We now have a new hope, thanks to news reports that were published in the Bangladeshi dailies recently. Myanmar has suddenly taken initiatives to repatriate Rohingyas. As part of this initiative, diplomats from eight countries posted in Yangon were flown to Rakhine last week. Among them were diplomats from Bangladesh, India and China.

40,000 Odisha adolescent girls ask CM: Why is scheme to fight malnutrition on paper?

By Our Representative In unique a postcard campaign to combat malnutrition, aimed at providing dietary diversity, considered crucial during adolescence, especially among girls, signed by about 40,000 adolescent girls from over 10,000 villages, have reminded Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik that his government's Scheme for Adolescent Girls (SAG), which converged with Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman ( POSHAN ) 2.0 in 2021, is not being implemented in the State.

Natural farming: Hamirpur leads the way to 'huge improvement' in nutrition, livelihood

By Bharat Dogra* Santosh is a dedicated farmer who along with his wife Chunni Devi worked very hard in recent months to convert a small patch of unproductive land into a lush green, multi-layer vegetable garden. This has ensured year-round supply of organically grown vegetables to his family as well as fetched several thousand rupees in cash sales.

Over-stressed? As Naveen Patnaik turns frail, Odisha 'moves closer' to leadership crisis

By Sudhansu R Das Not a single leader in Odisha is visible in the horizon who can replace Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. He has ruled Odisha for nearly two and half decades. His father, Biju Patnaik, had built Odisha; he was a daring pilot who saved the life of Indonesia’s Prime Minister Sjahrir and President Sukarno when the Dutch army blocked their exit.

Search This Blog