scot47

Michael's grasp of the History of Britain seems to be a bit shaky -

"Was that an agreement signed 400 years ago when Scotland became part of the UK?" he asks.

The Kingdoms of Scotland and England were joined by treaties in 1707 which formed "Great Britain". The "United Kingdom" came about in 1800 when Ireland dissolved its parliament and joined Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

If his grasp of history is so feeble maybe he should refrain from making comments about the constitution !

Pulaski

Hence the "kings colors" flag of the US colonial era which was the British flag at the time of the War of Independence, which is the Union Jack that is missing the St Patrick's saltaire.

nun

Consider a marriage.....it only takes one person to want the divorce to make it happen. There's no way a union can be preserved if one party doesn't want it to continue.

Michael

I wonder what might happen the next time you make a very minor mistake about US history. I suspect someone just might be searching for your posts.

holly_1948

It is not binding on the UK government, but the government has promised to honour it.

Historically, the UK government has not always honoured the promises it makes. To put it mildly.

holly_1948

Not really.
The government has not formally made any similar undertaking with the Isle of Man, yet the UK pound is legal tender there and circulates freely within the Isle of Man.

I'm not seeing why the UK-Scotland relationship cannot be strongly modeled on the existing UK-Isle of Man relationship. As regards currency, trade, NHS and a whole host of other things.

Including QE2 as head of state.

dunroving

But surely the IoM isn't an independent country.

Hotscot

The UK economy isn't closely coupled to the Isle of Man economy.
Whereas with Scotland...

Pulaski

It isn't. Neither are the Channel Islands. IIRC "crown colony" is the correct description.

holly_1948

Oh it totally is.

IoM and UK have the same head of state. Elizabeth IIR is Queen of UKofGB&NI and is the same person as the First Lord of Man. But the Queen is the only constitutional connection between UK and IoM.
And they have all sorts of bilateral treaty agreements, NHS is a good example. Army/Navy/Coast Guard is another.

It is important to note that IoM is not part of the EU and not in NATO. While Manx goods can be freely moved free of tariffs within the EU, capital and services cannot be. Most obviously there is no free movement of labour. Frenchmen cannot just pick up sticks and go and work in Douglas and manxmen cannot just ship out to Paris and look for work.

But back to my original point, when thinking about things like "How can the UK pound be used in Scotland without UK consent" (and similar questions) you can look to the Isle of Man and find that many of these problems have already been solved.

scrubbedexpat099

The vote is for Independence.

Vote Yes.

dunroving

Hmmm, as someone else said, I thought it was a crown dependency (note bolded word - not an independent county, which Scotland is supposedly voting to be).

Besides, Scotland has a population about 50 times the size of IoM and an economy about 100 times the size. I think the idea of continuing to support the economy of an independent country of that size is a big ask.

Of course, as has been said countless times in this neverending debate, Scotland is perfectly entitled to use "a" pound that is linked with the UK pound, they just can't have a say in the strength of that pound, nor be entitled to an economic bailout if Alex Salmond's vague economic plans end in tears.

Pulaski

So you think that the UK is going to enter a treaty with an independent Scotland to provide coast guard, navy, and air force protection/ coverage for Scottish fisheries and oilfields?
Ironically the IoM and Channel Islands largely survive with economies shored up with off-shore banking and related financial services, whereas Scotland's banks and financial services companies are all preparing to decamp south of the border!

dunroving

Most people participating in this discussion don't have a vote in the referendum.

Nutek

Even though they should.