Anya Gruber ’16
News Editor
Today the citizens of Scotland will vote on a referendum which will decide whether the nation, now part of the United Kingdom, will become an independent country or remain under the wing of England.
If achieved, Scottish independence will mark the end of a union with the United Kingdom that has been in place since 1706 when the acts of union were signed; though the past three hundred years have been no stranger to conflicts between Scotland and England.
According to The Week UK, the ballot which will determine the future of Scotland features a single, straightforward question: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”
However, if the Scots vote “yes,” the resulting effects on the United Kingdom may not be so simple. With the loss of Scotland, the United Kingdom will be significantly weaker with only England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to its name.
The impending referendum has been a topic of hot debate not only in England, but throughout the world. JK Rowling, superstar author of the Harry Potter series, commented on rising tempers and a lack of understanding between the sides on Twitter, “People before flags, answers not slogans, reason not ranting.”
However, heads of state have remained cool about the topic.
President Obama stated at an event in Brussels in June that, “We obviously have a deep interest in making sure that one of the closest allies that we will ever have [the United Kingdom] remains a strong, robust, united and effective partner,” according to CBS News.
Queen Elizabeth II, who naturally has much at stake in the question of Scottish independence, is obligated by the terms of the union agreement to stay neutral on the subject. Last week, in her first public remark about the vote, she advised the Scottish people to “think very carefully about the future.”
The Queen is known to be fond of Scotland and vacations there frequently, but perhaps following today’s decision she will need to find a new countryside in which to walk her corgis.
