SECOND SCOTTISH REFERENDUM
- May 7, 2021
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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SECOND SCOTTISH REFERENDUM
Subject : International Relations
Context : Recently, Scotland took to the polls to vote for its next parliament with a third of the results expected to be announced.
Concept :
- Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who leads the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), has described this election as the most important in her country’s history.
- The Scottish election campaigns have been widely dominated by discussions around another independence referendum.
How Scotland could push for another referendum?
- A referendum held without the consent of the British would struggle to gain international recognition similar to the 2017 Catalonian movement that was rejected by Madrid.
- Under the Scotland Act of 1998, the Union between England and Scotland is a matter reserved for the British parliament.
- Scotland will have limited options to hold a legally binding, internationally recognised referendum without the green light from London.
Impact of Scottish independence
- The independence of Scotland from the UK would have widespread ramifications for both England and Scotland, as well as on the stability of the union as a whole.
- The London School of Economics has predicted that independence from the UK would cost Scotland up to three times as much in lost revenue as Brexit will.
- The negotiating of a trade deal with the EU or re-entering the bloc altogether will be a costly and time-consuming process.
- Scotland would also have to bolster its defence capabilities, extract itself from British public funding schemes and establish independent trade and security arrangements with other countries.
- England and Scotland would both have to consider the matter of creating a physical international border and account for the considerable number of people and goods that currently cross between the two nations.
- The success or failure of the hypothetically independent Scottish state would have ramifications on the Northern Irish and Welsh independence movements respectively.
Types of Direct Democracy
- Direct democracy has 4 devices – Referendum, Initiative, Recall and Plebiscite
- Referendum – procedure in which a proposed legislation is referred to the electorate for acceptance through direct voting.
- Initiative – method by means of which the people can propose a bill to the legislature for enactment.
- Recall – way for voters to remove a representative or an officer before the expiry of his/her term, when he fails to discharge his duties properly.
- Plebiscite – method of obtaining the opinion of people on any issue of public importance. It is generally used to solve territorial disputes.