The time has finally arrived for Scottish voters to go to the polls to decide whether to break off from the U.K. and we’re discussing the implications of a YES vote for Scotland.
The voters are considering a simple question in the referendum that would separate the two entities after a union of more than 300 years: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”
Turnout was expected to be as high as 85 percent and with polls showing the election too close to call going into the referendum, it is revealed that the result will be determined by four million eligible voters currently living in Scotland. The results are expected to be announced Friday morning.
This voting number has been criticized by campaigners who complained that the system was disenfranchising the nearly one million Scots living elsewhere in the U.K.
The discussion focuses on the much-debated fate of an independent Scotland’s currency, as well as what will become of Britain’s nuclear arsenal stationed in Scotland, plus the lasting political fallout from the loss of Scottish seats in parliament.
American billionaire Steve Forbes spoke out with his views about how he thinks an independent Scotland would send serious shockwaves through the region and the world.
“The break-up of Great Britain would encourage all the forces of chaos, terrorism and aggression and set a terrible precedent,” Forbes said. “Separatists in Europe would ramp up their campaigns exponentially, which would vastly increase political turmoil on a continent that is already becoming vulnerable to the kinds of political extremism we once thought had been extinguished in the ashes of the Second World War.”
Comments