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Scottish Parliament votes for independence referendum
Irish Times ^ | 3/28/17 | Denis Staunton

Posted on 03/28/2017 11:24:17 PM PDT by aquila48

The Scottish Parliament has backed Nicola Sturgeon’s call for a second independence referendum, with 69 votes in favour and 59 against. But Theresa May’s government in Westminster said it would block the vote from taking place until after Britain leaves the European Union.

Ms Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Scottish Greens backed a second referendum, which the first minister says should be held between Autumn 2018 and Spring 2019. The Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats voted against the proposal. Scotland cannot hold a binding independence vote without Westminster’s approval and Scottish secretary David Mundell said the Conservative government would not consider the proposal until after Brexit is complete.

“We won’t be entering into any negotiations at all until the Brexit process is complete. Now is the time for the Scottish government to come together with the UK government, work together to get the best possible deal for the UK, and that will mean for Scotland, as we leave the EU,” he told the BBC.

Until now, Ms May has said that “now is not the time” for a second referendum in Scotland but Mr Mundell suggested that an independence vote might have to wait until Britain had emerged from any transitional arrangements with the EU after Brexit.

(Excerpt) Read more at irishtimes.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:
Northern Ireland may leave as well...

"Earlier, the Times reported that British ministers have concluded that Northern Ireland could rejoin the EU after Brexit if it leaves the United Kingdom to become part of a united Ireland. In a letter to SDLP MP Mark Durkan, Brexit secretary David Davis said the position of Northern Ireland would be analogous to that of East Germany, which automatically became part of the EU after German reunification in 1990. “If a majority of the people of Northern Ireland were ever to vote to become part of a united Ireland the UK government will honour its commitment to enable that to happen,” Mr Davis wrote. “In that event, Northern Ireland would be in a position of becoming part of an existing EU member state, rather than seeking to join the EU as a new independent state.”"

1 posted on 03/28/2017 11:24:17 PM PDT by aquila48
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To: aquila48

How many damn times are the Scots going to vote on this? It will lose again, I reckon.


2 posted on 03/28/2017 11:51:26 PM PDT by pissant ((Deport 'em all))
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To: aquila48

Scotland needs the Gospel.

The entire UK needs it...pray for an awakening.


3 posted on 03/28/2017 11:57:58 PM PDT by SoFloFreeper
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To: aquila48

this is the leverage Brussels has over London


4 posted on 03/28/2017 11:59:01 PM PDT by vooch
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To: aquila48

Theresa May already said no. It’s not going to happen.


5 posted on 03/29/2017 12:43:47 AM PDT by agere_contra (Please pray for Pope Benedict XVI)
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To: vooch

I’d hate to see Scotland leave the UK, but they are an economic drag on the UK and not a benefit. Preventing EU migrants from entering across a rebuilt border wall separating Scotland would be a huge expense.


6 posted on 03/29/2017 12:54:43 AM PDT by Kellis91789 (We hope for a bloodless revolution, but revolution is still the goal.)
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To: aquila48

This is a new definition of “independent”! Leave the UK so they can stay under the EU thumb!


7 posted on 03/29/2017 1:39:39 AM PDT by Moonmad27
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To: Kellis91789

The Nationalist led Scottish government only sees Brexit as an opportunity for yet another independence vote, that is all they care about. I hope they lose again and are consigned to history.


8 posted on 03/29/2017 1:57:58 AM PDT by Silverity
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To: Moonmad27

Too right, there is no true independence here! It is more an anti-English sentiment at work here.


9 posted on 03/29/2017 1:59:02 AM PDT by Silverity
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To: aquila48

If you pull up the district by district map from the last referendum vote, there’s an interesting angle to the voting.

Those districts bumping up against the UK ‘state’....roughly 12 of them on the south side of Scotland...voted mostly 65-70 percent ‘no’. I would expect that trend to continue.

Those districts on the north and central region were mostly 50-to-60 percent ‘yes’.

If the yes vote wins, I would anticipate the dozen southern districts to then announce that they will also have a regional referendum, and ask to leave Scotland (probably within 60 days).

In this case, it’d likely be a 60-to-65 percent vote to exit and form a state (my name for it would be New Caldonia), and then ask to be part of the UK.

Scotland-lite would be a bit shocked and 25-percent less than the original Scotland. They would lose around 850,000 residents to New Caldonia.

Course, this might also open up the London to some exit vote as well. For the EU, it would be a very negative game and you’d see dozens of regions within Europe ask for their own exit options and exit votes. I don’t think it’d be a pleasing thing, and the EU might say no to a London-nation-state existing within the EU.

It’s a bigger mess coming down the pike than people think.


10 posted on 03/29/2017 4:53:17 AM PDT by pepsionice
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To: aquila48

Independence from the UK, but NOT the EU.

Damn, they don’t make Scots like they used to.


11 posted on 03/29/2017 4:57:24 AM PDT by mewzilla (Was Obama surveilling John Roberts? Might explain a lot.)
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To: pepsionice

Could we be getting ahead of ourselves, though? May signed the letter. The letter’s gone to Brussells. But has it been handed over yet? Or was Art 50 triggered with her signature?


12 posted on 03/29/2017 4:59:49 AM PDT by mewzilla (Was Obama surveilling John Roberts? Might explain a lot.)
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To: mewzilla

The Scottish referendum will occur now...whether May wraps up Article 50, or if this whole negotiation fails. Scotland will use the whole Art 50 letter to scare up votes.

I will say this...I seriously doubt that the UK will pay any amount to the EU. So this whole period of negotiation may end up with no agreement.


13 posted on 03/29/2017 5:14:03 AM PDT by pepsionice
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To: mewzilla

“Independence from the UK, but NOT the EU.

Damn, they don’t make Scots like they used to.”

I am SO GLAD my ancestors were rounded up and shipped off to the colonies during the Jacobite rebellions.


14 posted on 03/29/2017 7:50:51 AM PDT by oldvirginian (Government is at best a necessary evil, at worst a millstone around the neck of the citizenry.)
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