Again, I agree with most of that. The Scottish issue is massive, personally. In fact, it's amazing how the very same arguments are essentially replicated here in Scotland, but in respect to England. The only difference is Scotland, as a small country, seems to want to be far more outward looking & part of the global community. If England votes to leave (& the majority of Scotland does not), regardless of the narrowness of that vote (in both Scotland & England), then another Independence Referendum will loom very large on the political agenda here. The message will be rammed home (perhaps decisively this time), a believe underpinning much nationalist thinking; that England (by this, I mean the British government(s), past & present), has no real interest in Scottish affairs (echoed by the English public opinion of "just let the Scots leave then" sentiment during the Independence Referendum; the shrugged shoulders, who cares stance, as it was sometimes characterised), and in some cases are actively disinterested & hostile to Scottish matters, to the detriment of the Scottish people; this, you have to understand, even goes as far as saying this is to the detriment of Scottish lives. e.g. the "Glasgow effect". We then face the very real prospect of the disintegration of the UK in it's present form. I voted yes in the independence referendum, but this makes me a little uneasy. That (the indy vote) would have been a positive move for independence; this (the EU vote) might turn out to be a desperate move to independence to avoid following England down the ruinous path (so the narrative will go) it seems hell-bent on following. It will be fucking chaos.
Indeed, but with Scotland you have the added reality of devolution in many areas, historical independence of important institutions (with things like education, policing, law, health, etc), and (real or imagined) "national identity"; combined, these are a far more persuasive argument for "why are we not just independent from these guys?" Scotland has all the machinery of an independent state, when you look at the detail. The only real problem is the issue of economy. With the rest of England, although your argument is undoubtedly true, I'm guessing you guys still identify as English & part of that failing system; in Scotland, not so much. These issues did get highlighted during the Independence campaign (i.e. that many of the issues raised were concerns of, for example, the north of England too); there is overlap. In fact, all of the arguments can essentially be turned around & questions asked in regards to both issues i.e. Scottish Independence & Brexit.
I totally didn't know that. I take it nothing even remotely contentious (Scottish/English) has been voted on with EVEL then?
This is, again, something that also might happen up here too. The SNP administration is often criticised for deflecting blame/scrutiny of their own policies/decisions by simply blaming the Westminster Government i.e. don't blame us this issue isn't devolved. It's usually a pretty unfair criticism as the Scottish parliament often is hand tied on big issues which aren't devolved. Independence would obviously remove this. Kind of a difficult argument for the Scottish Conservatives (& other opposition parties) to make though, since they're mostly pro-union. It's true though; independence would largely relegate the "blame-Westminster/England" to history.
It would be harder for Hofer to get through with the Anschluss though
