As a Scottish person I ended up voting No last time because I wasn't really convinced by the economic argument. The oil price going over $50 a barrel was the nail in the coffin for the North Sea oil too, although that happened a year or two after the indieRef vote.

I do think there is a possibility to create the "economic miracle" that the SNP are describing in an independent Scotland if we chose to become a tax haven like Republic of Ireland. Scotland has a small, homogeneous population of comparitively highly educated people, centralised around two cities which are 45 mins apart. These factors make it an ideal candidate for becoming a tax haven, however I'm not convinced that is what people who support independence would want or be voting for in a hypothetical referendum. I suppose all of this is a hypothetical given that another vote is unlikely to happen for at least a decade or two.

Archive links -

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

Maybe if the YES vote were aligned on the tax haven benefits like Ireland enjoys then it might win next time around? It would capture the "free us from the English" contingent as well as the "I don't want to have to pay tax" contingent.

But yeah... unlikely another referendum anytime soon.

  • source
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] [S] 1 point 1 year ago

    There are loads of unpleasant practicalities to think about like splitting up the electricity grid and other issues that didn't get much airtime. Brexit brought a few of them into focus but the whole thing would be staggeringly complex.

  • source
  • parent