“Culloden was the final significant defeat of a Scottish alternative to the British state. The irony is that a federal British Isles under a single crown, which had existed between 1603 and 1707 and is effectively what the Jacobites wanted, is closer to where we are today than the victors of Culloden could ever have imagined:” author re-examines the ’45.
Archives for July 2016
Scotland should stay in the EU
“Scotland’s chances of remaining in the EU are good,” argues a former EU senior official in this sharp analysis of how the country can now look forward to a Brussels welcome and of what has changed since the 2014 and 2016 referendums.
A day at the seaside: Great Yarmouth 2016
A photo tour round Great Yarmouth, one of the English towns that voted overwhelmingly to leave the EU. I can recall the town when it was a chaotic but cheerful place. Now, it seems, there is not so much cheer.
Can Scotland avoid Brexit?
Three options for Scotland’s post-EUref future – blocking Brexit, staying in the EU and the UK, becoming an independent EU member state – are examined here and found wanting. A constitutional crisis is more than likely.
Scotland can lead debate on UK’s post-EU future
The UK has voted to leave the UK, a decision unlikely to be reversed any time soon. Nicola Sturgeon, however, wants to keep Scotland in that union at least; her position is clear but her journey to the goal less so. Even so, Scotland can, in the absence of leadership at Westminster, lead the post-Brexit debate.
Scotland’s fiscal hole could deepen post-Brexit
If the UK economy worsens post-Brexit, Scotland’s budget will be affected. Already, the Chancellor’s decision to abandon his fiscal targets and borrow has knock-on effects we’ll find out about in the autumn. Scotland’s fiscal framework will come under greater strain.
Brexit: how the other half lives
The Leave campaign was an exercise in mendacity. But, as the post-EUref fall-out continues to unravel the UK, it’s important too to understand why millions of people, mainly poor, who feel disenfranchised voted for it.
Brexit makes independence inevitable…
Post-EUref and the vote fo0r Brexit the case for a No vote in a second Scottish referendum has, ironically, got stronger but it’s more than likely that Scots will now vote Yes. Here’s why!