here in dark blue (Ireland is in white). Image: Peeperman
Should they stay or should they go?
That’s the question on the minds of the people in Scotland.
They’re voting to decide their fate today (Thurs., Sept. 18). They will either vote to stay within the UK (United Kingdom) or to become independent.
The Scottish Independence Referendum Bill will ask voters to sayyesornoto the question: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”
People who say Scotland should stay within the UK say it would be better because:
Scotland is better off financially within the UK because it has the resources of the UK to rely on;
The Scots helped to build the UK and have a stake in it now and historically; and
The English want Scotland to stay – if it leaves it may make things difficult for them.
People who say Scotland should become independent say it would be best because:
The Prime Minister of England is quite conservative and does not well represent the more liberal Scots;
Scotland has changed dramatically in the last half-century and needs its independence to move forward;
Scotland is in the midst of a surge of new culture—music, writing, art, film—and it wants to develop its own culture independent of the UK;
An independent Scotland will better be able to protect its higher education, national health services and its resources.
These are not the only reasons on either side of the issue. There are many more, some of them complicated (about the economy, for instance) and some of them simply emotional (about the culture, for instance).
The side has wants independence has a campaign called “Yes Scotland.” The side that wants Scotland to stay within the UK has a campaign called “Better Together.”
In 1995, Canada faced a similar fork in its historical road when Quebec took a vote to decide whether it would become independent from Canada. Quebec’s people voted No, choosing to remain in Canada.
More than four million people in Scotland will vote to decide their nation’s fate today. Stay tuned.
Just for fun, here’s what The Simpsons’s “Groundskeeper Willie” has to say about the vote.
