HC 504 - The Implications of Scottish Independence on Business; Higher Education and Research; and Postal Services
HC 504 - The Implications of Scottish Independence on Business; Higher Education and Research; and Postal Services

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Business, Innovation and Skills Committee

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2014-08-08

Total Pages: 116

ISBN-13: 0215075781

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A 'Yes' vote for independence will break up the UK single market and in the short-term could leave Scottish businesses uncertain of their position in Europe, says the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee in this report. A protracted Scottish negotiation over EU membership, and the uncertain investment environment arising from a 'Yes' vote, will have a damaging impact on businesses in Scotland, as well as other parts of the UK. The Committee raises serious concerns that a 'Yes' vote may also leave Scotland facing a currency 'limbo' and in the short term unable to join a sterling currency union and without the prospect of adopting the Euro. Also, the Scottish Government's stated intention to renationalise the Royal Mail upon achieving independence is an un-costed aspiration, bereft of any detail of how it is to be paid for or how it would be done. The Committee also fears for the future of the Universal Postal Obligation in an independent Scotland with its continued survival likely to be secured only at significant additional cost. On higher education, the Committee explored the topics of student fees and UK research collaboration. The central plank of the Scottish Government's HE policy, to charge tuition fees to students from other parts of the UK, was likely to be illegal under EU law. The Committee also expressed concerns this policy would result in Scottish universities facing a financial shortfall, given the significant income currently received for non-domiciled UK students.

Nation to Nation
Nation to Nation

Author: Stephen Gethins

Publisher: Luath Press Ltd

Published: 2021-03-17

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 1910022519

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Scotland has a distinctive place in the world. Nation to Nation explores how this unique relationship with the rest of the world has developed over the years and how it manifests itself today. In this book Stephen Gethins combines his knowledge from years of work in the field - from the conflict zones of the former Soviet Union to the corridors of power in Westminster and Brussels - with insights from political, cultural and academic figures who have been at the heart of foreign policy in Scotland, the UK, Europe and North America. Gethins looks at Scotland's foreign policy to better inform the debate about our country's future and its relationships with its neighbours near and far.

Scotland Analysis
Scotland Analysis

Author: Great Britain: Scotland Office

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2013-02-11

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13: 9780101855426

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The UK Government is undertaking a major cross-government programme of analysis prior to the referendum on Scottish independence in 2014. The aim is to provide a comprehensive and detailed analysis of Scotland's place in the UK. This paper, the first of a series to be published in 2013 and 2014, examines the UK's constitutional set-up and the legal implications of independence. The UK Government is convinced that the current devolution offers the best for Scotland: the Scottish Parliament and Government are empowered to take decisions on a range of domestic policy areas - such as health, education, policing - while Scotland continues to benefit from decisions made for the UK as a whole - defence and security, foreign representation, economic affairs. Independence is very different to devolution. Based on independent expert opinion (published as Annex A), the paper concludes that if there were to be a vote in favour of leaving the UK, Scotland would become an entirely new state whilst the remainder of the UK would continue as before, retaining the rights and obligations of the UK as it currently stands. Any separation would have to be negotiated between both governments. Legal and practical implications of independence, both at home and abroad, are addressed. An independent Scotland would have to apply to and/or negotiate to become a member of whichever international organisations it wished to join, including the EU and NATO. Scotland would also have to work through its positions on thousands of international treaties to which the UK is currently party.

Scottish Independence
Scottish Independence

Author: Gavin McCrone

Publisher: Birlinn Publishers

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 9781780271590

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In autumn 2014 those living in Scotland will face the most important political decision of a lifetime. Whether Scotland becomes an independent state once again, as it was before 1707, or remains within the United Kingdom will have profound consequences for everyone in Britain. There are many issues involved in this important choice, but a key part of the debate centres around the question of whether Scotland would prosper more or less after independence. How well off are we? Would we have a faster or slower growing economy if we were independent? What currency would we use - the pound, the euro or a new currency of our own? What should our energy policy be? There are those who would like to see a more egalitarian society, like Scandinavia, with a reduction in poverty and deprivation; would we be likely to achieve that? Would we continue to be in the European Union but with Scotland becoming a member in its own right? Is that right for Scotland and what problems might that involve? In this impartial, clearly expressed and thought-provoking book, economist Gavin McCrone addresses these, and many other, questions which are of vital importance in the run up to the referendum.

Brexitland
Brexitland

Author: Maria Sobolewska

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2020-10-15

Total Pages: 411

ISBN-13: 1108611826

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Long-term social and demographic changes - and the conflicts they create - continue to transform British politics. In this accessible and authoritative book Sobolewska and Ford show how deep the roots of this polarisation and volatility run, drawing out decades of educational expansion and rising ethnic diversity as key drivers in the emergence of new divides within the British electorate over immigration, identity and diversity. They argue that choices made by political parties from the New Labour era onwards have mobilised these divisions into politics, first through conflicts over immigration, then through conflicts over the European Union, culminating in the 2016 EU referendum. Providing a comprehensive and far-reaching view of a country in turmoil, Brexitland explains how and why this happened, for students, researchers, and anyone who wants to better understand the remarkable political times in which we live.

Scotland's Choices
Scotland's Choices

Author: Iain McLean

Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

Published: 2014-05-30

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 0748696393

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Scotland faces its biggest choice since the 1707 union that made the United Kingdom - should Scotland be an independent country? The Yes and No campaigns are well under way but with the vote looming closer the information available to the public is still limited. What will happen after the referendum? What are the international implications? What about the UK's nuclear deterrant, currently housed in Scotland? What happens if the vote is 'No'? Is it even clear what independence will mean? What about the oil? What will the currency be? What will happen to the Old Age Pension pot if the UK splits? Scotland's Choices, now fully revised for the critical last few months before the referendum, does just that. Written by one former civil servant, one academic and one think-tanker - one a resident Scot, one a Scot living in England and one an Englishman - the authors clearly explain the issues you may not have considered and detail how each of the options would be put into place after the referendum.

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot
Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot

Author: John Lloyd

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2020-03-24

Total Pages: 197

ISBN-13: 150954268X

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The Scottish nationalists seek to end the United Kingdom after 300 years of a successful union. Their drive for an independent Scotland is now nearer to success than it has ever been. Success would mean a diminished Britain and a perilously insecure Scotland. The nationalists have represented the three centuries of union with England as a malign and damaging association for Scotland. The European Union is held out as an alternative and a safeguard for Scotland's future. But the siren call of secession would lure Scotland into a state of radical instability, disrupting ties of work, commerce and kinship and impoverishing the economy. All this with no guarantee of growth in an EU now struggling with a downturn in most of its states and the increasing disaffection of many of its members. In this incisive and controversial book, journalist John Lloyd cuts through the rhetoric to show that the economic plans of the Scottish National Party are deeply unrealistic; the loss of a subsidy of as much as £10 billion a year from the Treasury would mean large-scale cuts, much deeper than those effected by Westminster; the broadly equal provision of health, social services, education and pensions across the UK would cease, leaving Scotland with the need to recreate many of these systems on its own; and the claim that Scotland would join the most successful of the world's small states - as Denmark, New Zealand and Norway - is no more than an aspiration with little prospect of success. The alternative to independence is clear: a strong devolution settlement and a joint reform of the British union to modernise the UK's age-old structures, reduce the centralisation of power and boost the ability of all Britain's nations and regions to support and unleash their creative and productive potential. Scotland has remained a nation in union with three other nations - England, Northern Ireland and Wales. It will continue as one, more securely in a familiar companionship.

Scotland Analysis
Scotland Analysis

Author: Great Britain. Parliament

Publisher: Stationery Office/Tso

Published: 2013-07-01

Total Pages: 129

ISBN-13: 9780101861625

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This paper is the fourth in the Scotland analysis series. It discusses the strong economic integration between Scotland and the rest of the UK, and investigates the consequences of Scottish independence for the UK business environment. It explains the benefits of the current UK framework, which minimises the costs and risks that Scotland would otherwise be exposed to. The integration within the UK's domestic market brings benefits to all. The size and scale of the market brings opportunities to trade, move jobs, collaborate to develop new and future technologies, travel and communicate efficiently and benefit from economies of scale. Effective common regulations and institutions, a unified labour market, a shared knowledge base and integrated infrastructures are central to the success of this unified domestic market. However much an independent Scottish state sought to stay aligned with regulations and institutions in the continuing UK, a single market withn two separate states is not the same as a fully integrated domestic market. Divergence and fragmentation would likely lead to short-term and long-term costs, and prolonged uncertainties, for businesses and consumers.

Debating Scotland
Debating Scotland

Author: Michael Keating

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017-01-19

Total Pages: 317

ISBN-13: 0192507052

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On 18 September 2014, Scotland held a referendum on the question: Should Scotland be an independent country? This is a most unusual event in modern democracies and engaged the political class, civil society, and the general public to an unprecedented degree, leading to an 85 per cent turnout in the final vote. This was an occasion to debate not just the narrow constitutional issue but the future of the nation, including the economy, social welfare, defence and security, and Scotland's place in Europe and the world. Debating Scotland comes from a team of researchers who observed the debates from close-up and engaged with both sides, with the media and with the public in analyzing the issues, while remaining neutral on the independence question. The book examines the main issues at stake, how they were presented, and how they evolved over the course of the campaign. The editors and contributing authors explore the ways both independence and union were framed, the economic issues, the currency, welfare, defence and security, the European Union, and how the example of small independent states was used. The volume concludes with an analysis of voter responses, based upon original survey research, which demonstrates how perceptions of risk and uncertainty on the main issues played a key role in the outcome.

Scotland Analysis: Macroeconomic and Fiscal Performance - Cm 8694
Scotland Analysis: Macroeconomic and Fiscal Performance - Cm 8694

Author: Great Britain: H.M. Treasury

Publisher: The Stationery Office

Published: 2013-09-03

Total Pages: 132

ISBN-13: 9780101869423

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In September 2014 people in Scotland will take one of the most important decisions in the history of Scotland and the whole of the United Kingdom (UK) - whether to stay in the UK, or leave it and become a new, separate and independent state. In advance of the referendum, the UK Government will ensure through the Scotland analysis programme that the debate is properly informed by analysis, and that the facts crucial to considering Scotland's future are set out. This paper sets out the role of economic and fiscal integration in shaping Scotland's economic performance as part of the UK and describes some of the potential economic and fiscal consequences of independence. It follows the fourth paper in the Scotland analysis series, Scotland analysis: Business and microeconomic framework, which sets out how the UK's domestic market is a key part of Scotland's successful business environment