Scotland sets a date for vote on UK exit
Source: Agencies |
March 22, 2013, Friday
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SCOTLAND will hold its independence referendum on September 18 next year, First Minister Alex Salmond said yesterday, starting the countdown to a vote he hopes will take his nation of 5 million people out of the United Kingdom.
Salmond's pro-independence Scottish National Party won a majority in the Scottish parliament in May 2011 elections, giving the charismatic politician what he has called a "once-in-a-generation" chance to break ties with London.
But the SNP faces an uphill battle to win the referendum, with opinion polls putting support for independence at about 30 percent of the electorate in Scotland while about 50 percent favor the status quo.
The SNP complains that the British parliament, where members representing Scotland are a small minority because England has a much bigger population of 53 million, does not have the interests of the Scottish people at heart.
"A yes vote means a future where we can be certain, 100 percent certain, that the people of Scotland will get the government that they vote for," Salmond told the Scottish parliament in a speech announcing the date of the referendum.
'A better country'
"The choice becomes clearer with each passing day - the opportunity to use our vast resources and talent to build a better country, or to continue with a Westminster system that simply isn't working for Scotland."
The SNP argues that North Sea Oil revenues combined with the local farming, fishing and whisky industries would enable an independent Scotland to prosper.
But other parties in Edinburgh and the London government say both Scotland and the rest of the UK would lose out.
Critics say oil reserves are dwindling and Scotland would lose the disproportionate share of taxpayer money raised across Britain it currently receives.
Scottish independence would pose serious challenges to the remainder of the UK, such as what to do about its Trident nuclear submarine fleet which is based in Scotland.
Voters will be asked a single question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"
Salmond's pro-independence Scottish National Party won a majority in the Scottish parliament in May 2011 elections, giving the charismatic politician what he has called a "once-in-a-generation" chance to break ties with London.
But the SNP faces an uphill battle to win the referendum, with opinion polls putting support for independence at about 30 percent of the electorate in Scotland while about 50 percent favor the status quo.
The SNP complains that the British parliament, where members representing Scotland are a small minority because England has a much bigger population of 53 million, does not have the interests of the Scottish people at heart.
"A yes vote means a future where we can be certain, 100 percent certain, that the people of Scotland will get the government that they vote for," Salmond told the Scottish parliament in a speech announcing the date of the referendum.
'A better country'
"The choice becomes clearer with each passing day - the opportunity to use our vast resources and talent to build a better country, or to continue with a Westminster system that simply isn't working for Scotland."
The SNP argues that North Sea Oil revenues combined with the local farming, fishing and whisky industries would enable an independent Scotland to prosper.
But other parties in Edinburgh and the London government say both Scotland and the rest of the UK would lose out.
Critics say oil reserves are dwindling and Scotland would lose the disproportionate share of taxpayer money raised across Britain it currently receives.
Scottish independence would pose serious challenges to the remainder of the UK, such as what to do about its Trident nuclear submarine fleet which is based in Scotland.
Voters will be asked a single question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"
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