Should Scotland become independent?
The Scottish head of government Nicola Sturgeon is seeking a second referendum on Scottish independence for 2021. In 2014, 55 percent of the population voted against independence, but Brexit, which a majority of Scottish voted against, has changed the situation, commentators conclude.
Scots must give up one of their identities
Scotland has good reasons to want to part ways with the UK, the Financial Times concedes:
“Sticking with England means tearing itself out of Europe. Preserving a strong relationship with the rest of Europe demands that it leaves the UK. At the whim of the English Tory party, Scots have been told to surrender an identity. They can no longer be at once Scottish, British and European. Psychologically as well as practically, it is easy to see why many of those who voted against independence in 2014 might now change their minds. ... The Scots face the prospect of being shackled to a partner that has turned at once rightward and inwards.”
Fractious regions gaining power
The fragmentation of the political spectrum is increasing the influence of separatist movements across Europe, The Guardian comments:
“Sooner or later, Scotland will get an independence of some sort, if only because devolution/partition is the direction of travel in an over-centralised Europe. In every country - Germany, Italy, France, Britain and, this weekend, Spain - the great postwar political families are disintegrating. ... Minority loyalties are re-emerging, mostly at the extremes, shattering the coherence and discipline of party governments. The result everywhere is to require negotiated coalitions, and these tend to grant disproportionate power to fractious provinces, witness Northern Ireland and the Catalans.”