18th September 2014: Referendum
7th May 2015: Likely Date of General Election in United Kingdom (including Scotland)
Early March 2016: Agreement between UK and Scotland, and between European Union and Scotland
24th March 2016: Independence for Scotland (via Acts of the UK Parliament and Scottish Parliament)
5th May 2016: Elections to Scottish Parliament
Writing for the UK Constitutional Law Group Blog,
Nick Barber (University Lecturer in Constitutional Law at Oxford University) argues that the short timescale is likely to result in considerable problems. Mr Barber's article is well worth reading because it is replete with many pertinent observations and identifies a considerable number of problems -Nick Barber - Constitutional Law blog - After the vote
A remarkable fact is that the UK has created many federations such as Australia and Canada. Wouldn't a FEDERATION be a far more sensible way forward? For whatever reasons, the idea has not found any traction in political circles. Rather, they prefer to go for a divorce in which only one side has much say in the outcome!
Scotland ~ Independence White Paper - 26th November 2013 - including links to several earlier posts relating to Scotland and the European Union etc.
It is too late in the current process for Federation to be considered; however, if the Scots vote 'no' then Federation must come to the fore. It is only through Federation that the West Lothian Question can be resolved. As an additional comment, many of the points raised by Nick Barber would also apply if the Uk voted to leave the EU in a referendum. There seems to be a view that the outcome of a referendum, whatever it is, is the end of the process. In both the major UK referenda in prospect it is only the start - whatever the outcome.
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