Scottish Independence or Highlands & Islands Independence?

Question

First of all, I am a Unionist, and always will be so lets not bother arguing - nobody will change their mind about. My question is would it make more sense for the Highlands & Islands to be Independent as opposed to Scotland? The first argument against of course is the size of the nation, this argument is used against Scottish Independence as well. However there are smaller nations with less income, and besides they will still be part of the EU.

They have a great claim to north sea oil revenue, a thriving tourism, film and leisure industry, and growing industrial and commercial interests, not least hydroelectric power and wind and wave power potential. They would also no doubt enjoy profitable trade links with Ireland, the UK and Europe etc.

Historically there are reasons for the split as well. For a very long time the Highlands was seperated from the Lowlands both physically, culturally and by language. The 'Gaedhealtachd' (the Gaelic-speaking regions) populated by Highland clans..

Answer 1

Scotland would do well to stay with the United Kingdom. You have limited autonmy within the system, be happy with that...

Answer 2

the big question is should england get its independence & stop subsidising the rest of the uk.scotland should be carefull,because when/if it loses the billions & billions of english money it will end up like bulgaria!

Answer 3

no i am scottish! i think that says it all!

Answer 4

Mmmm.. How far do you want to go back. Most of the Islands were of Scots { or Irish Tribal} and Norse stock along with Argyle {Irish}. The South West was British and most of the rest was Pictish, although the Lothians and eastern Borders were Northumbrian for a few hundred years. The Picts and Scots unified (probably History is a bit vague here) and controlled the area North of the Forth excluding the Isles and Caithness and Sutherland. The British of Strathclyde and Cumbria were probably a vassal Kingdom. The Lothians and Borders were then folded into a greater Scottish {Alba} Kingdom.

So Scotland should include Cumbria as well in it's independence?

I suppose that the Norwegians should have Yorkshire and Wales/Cornwall should be another separate country.

Oh and Mercia could be separated as well.

{All this information is still subject to historical debate [argument]}..

[edit: OKA Yes there is a lot of evidence that, particularly Shetland, has strong ties with Norway, I'm not sure what evidence you have {possibly supposed} that Shetland or Orkney has a stronger tie with the UK than to Scotland. I suspect that if they split, Shetland may want to join Norway rather than remain in the UK if they did not want to stay Scottish. Lerwick may be far from Edinburgh, but it's a h**l of  a long way from London]

{edit 2 : You've added it surreptitiously, but Denmark! Why? The Faroes and Iceland? I believe that The Northen Isles belonged to White Vikings rather than Black.] {add  edit} Oh and there's loads of oil left, a recent survey indicated that there maybe more than half left, it's just a lot more [expletive deleted] difficult to extract. I also have some doubt that the Orkney Isles would have much affect on the oil fields, most of those ones are probably nearer Aberdeen. <**** Sorry I see where you are coming from; in the mid 15th C Shetland (and Orkney) were pawned to Scotland, but they only came under Danish Influence in the 14thC {as a result of plague}, before that they were for several hundred years Norse ***>

{edit3}

Oh and the idea of a modern Gaelic speaking area is a bit false, you'll have to acost a lot of people in Inverness to find anyone that speaks more than a handful of words . The only place that uses Gaelic as a first language is the South Islands in the Outer Hebridees and it's quite possible that the native language of the Picts was more akin to Welsh..

{edit 4: Robert. In general I agree with you. My main concern is the supposed facts of the Barnet formula, which does indeed favour an increased expenditure in Scotland {and Wales and particularily N Ireland} It just doesn't factor in a few items. The {and expenditure {just think of all the money that's filtered through the civil service offfices in and around London, and how much gets trapped in that system} and infrastructure expenditures that have been centred on England and particularily on the South East { you won't find any 'hub' airports north of err. Watford - although Manchester does try} and there's almost no  3 lane motorways in Scotland {discounting the bit that comes in from England and the merging system in central Glasgow}. You may quote the Scottish Parliment as a blight on Scotland and I and most of the populace would have to agree with you. But we can quote the Dome, Wembley, the New Heathrow Terminal {plus possibly a new runway(?), the proposed expenditure in the House of Lords and soon {probably} the Olympics as huge money black holes in London alone.  I'm not saying you haven't a case, but it's certainly not as clear cut as the tabloids may have you think. Saying that I'm not really convinced by Salmond's budget predictions and the thought that he can just tear up oil contracts and write new ones just seems farcical.}

Answer 5

Scotland only wants independence because they have a daft notion that they own the oil in the North Sea.  This is a fallacy for a number of reasons:

1) There's not much left

2) Mineral rights on the continental shelf are determined by a complicated mathematical formula based on the land area of adjacent countries.  If England and Scotland were separate countries, the whole of the Brent field would belong to Norway.

3) If Scotland became independent, the Orkneys and Shetlands (who are nearest to the oil) would not want to be ruled from Edinburgh.  They would either remain in the United Kingdom or attach themselves to Denmark.

Answer 6

I have always agreed that Scotland should be independent!But that means just that!Scotland standing on it's own two feet!By funding it's own pensions,benefits and health service!With NO help coming from the Welsh and English taxpayer!With regards to the Scottish ship building industry!No Orders from the Royal Navy!I believe it was Alex Salmond who said!One less CROSS on the UnionFlag!!One less CROSS the Welsh and English taxpayer have to bear!I agree with Alex Salmond!