Scotland could possibly be the next Catalonia!

 

Very recently the leader of the SNP and Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, reiterated her party’s demand for another referendum seeking independence. After having won 80 percent of Scotland’s seats, she cast the election as a watershed moment and says she has worked her whole adult life to secure Scottish independence and it is bonkers to think she doesn’t want an independent Scotland.

For many months now, a growing majority of people in Scotland have been turning towards “Yes”, suggest opinion polls. So, what is behind the change since the 2014 referendum when 55 percent of voters chose to remain in the Union? And why are people talking about a second Scottish independence referendum?

Could Scotland be possibly the next Catalonia for the parallels are obvious; the Catalan secessionists have for years argued that they want from Madrid what Scotland secured from Westminster in 2014 – the legal right to hold a referendum. In the words of Sturgeon, “You cannot hold Scotland in the union against its will. … If the United Kingdom is to continue it can only be by consent.” There is also a growing view and feel that relative performances of the administrations in London and Edinburgh in the crisis have demonstrated that Scotland would be better off independent, with full control of its own affairs.

For all of this to happen, the Scottish parliament needs to have the power to hold another independence referendum and would also need agreement from Westminster to make the process legally watertight. Taking into considerations the position of the other parties on Scottish independence, it becomes amply clear that the Scottish Greens, the other pro-independence party in the Scottish Parliament, along with the SNP holds 68 seats – a narrow majority required for independence.  

So, this leaves open a question whether an independent Scotland would reapply to be part of the EU. If Scotland voted for independence, it would most likely be considered a third country and would need to apply to join under Article 49 of the Treaty on the European Union for re-entry would require accession negotiations and the consent of all 27 EU member states. While, in 2014, Britain’s three major parties — the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats — worked together to make the case for no in Scotland, will they muster a similar level of collaboration if a second referendum occurs?