Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2014 19:38:28 -0400
From: mark <whitroth at 5-cent.us>
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: [WSFA] The Scottish Political Singularity. by Charles Strauss...
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

Or, why Charles Strauss is having problems writing sf & fantasy....

Excerpt:
Now, to the Scottish Political Singularity:

We have an SNP government. They promised, and got, a referendum that, this
September 18th, will ask people like me (anyone who lives here, basically)
to vote on the question "should Scotland be an independent nation?" It's a
straight yes/no question. The third option, Devo Max, was ruled off the
ballot by David Cameron (probably because he knew it would win by a
mile\342\200\224over 60% of the Scottish voting public supported it as of the last
poll I saw that asked about it). Devo Max was a last mile marker for a
devolved parliament short of full independence: Scotland would acquire
control over all internal affairs, including taxation, but would delegate
defence and foreign affairs to Westminster. It's my preferred option. Such
a shame we're not allowed to vote for it ...

Anyway. A vote will be held on the 18th of September. If there is a
majority for independence, then the constitutional shit will hit the fan
because Westminster will be required to negotiate and enact the enabling
legislation for Scottish independence ... with a UK-wide General Election
coming up in June 2015. The enabling legislation can't be rushed through
before the next election (it's too big and complex), so it's going to
trail into the next Westminster parliament, probably completing in 2016
with independence in 2017. But the next Westminster parliament cannot be
bound by the decisions of the current one\342\200\224basics of the British
constitutional system here\342\200\224and so can't automatically be held to handle
the consequences of the independence vote. It's anybody's guess what the
government in Westminster will look like in July 2015. It might be a
renewed Conservative/Lib-Dem coalition (unlikely), a Conservative majority
or minority government (less unlikely), a Labour majority (not unlikely),
a Labour/Lib-Dem coalition (possibly most likely, but still not something
to bet on), a Conservative/UKIP coalition (unlikely but not impossible),
or a Martian invasion. Nobody knows. Add to this, 70 Scottish MPs elected
on a mandate to sit for 12-18 months while they negotiate independence,
then pack their bags and go home. It'll be chaos.
--- end excerpt ---

<http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2014/06/the-scottish-political-singula.html#more>

        mark "maybe we *should* move to Scotland...."