http://news.yahoo.com/scots-push-britain-breakup-begins-earnest-231922852.html

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Supporters of independence for Scotland will launch on Friday what they say is the biggest grassroots campaign in Scottish history, a move that could result in the demise of a 305-year-old union with England and the breakup of Britain.
Seeking to tap into a cocktail of historical rivalry, opposing political tastes, and a perception that the British parliament in London does not nurture Scotland's national interests, the "Yes Scotland" campaign says it wants to win a referendum on independence in 2014 and for the country to become fully independent by 2016.
"For the first time the issue is real because people are going to have a vote," a spokesman for the campaign, who said he could not be named in line with protocol, told Reuters.
"People are more open to this than they have ever been before. It is fundamentally better for our future if decisions about Scotland are taken by the people who care about it the most."
If successful, such a move could create serious problems for Britain - which comprises England, Scotland and Wales (Britain is in turn part of the United Kingdom which also includes Northern Ireland).
Britain's Trident nuclear submarine fleet is based in Scotland, revenues from Scottish North Sea oil remain important to its coffers, and analysts say Britain would find it harder to maintain its voice at international bodies such as the U.N. Security Council as well as in European Union decision-making.
"The biggest issue for the UK is defense," Professor John Curtice of the University of Strathclyde said in a phone interview. "The question would be whether an independent Scotland would allow the UK to maintain its nuclear facilities there."
Despite its relatively small population of just over five million - compared to England's population of just over 52 million - a vote for Scottish independence inevitably would diminish Britain's voice on the world stage, he added.
"The rest of the world would be surprised and shocked that the UK was unable to hold together. It would not be perceived to be as big a player as it is now. Its weight in the world would be diminished."
POLITICAL DISCONNECT
Opinion polls show that around 40 percent of Scottish people are sympathetic to independence, with around 10 percent undecided and the remaining 50 percent opposed. South of the border in England, polls show people are largely apathetic.
The independence drive is being led by Alex Salmond, the feisty leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP). His party won a majority in Scottish elections last year and under the country's devolved system of government, it has control over health, education and prisons.
The British government in London controls foreign policy and defense. Yet Scotland has many of the trappings of an independent nation - its own flag, sports teams, culture and a history of achievements in science and literature.
Salmond wants Scotland to have its own armed forces and foreign policy and rejects a nuclear submarine facility based close to Glasgow.
The SNP-backed launch of the Yes Scotland campaign will take place at a conference centre on Friday in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, and will be attended by pro-independence celebrities whose names have not been revealed.
One of Scotland's most high-profile celebrity supporters of independence is Sean Connery, famous for his cinematic depiction of British secret service agent James Bond. The same campaign spokesman declined to confirm whether Connery would attend.
Waiting for a bus on Edinburgh's George Street, an elegant thoroughfare littered with statues dating back to the heyday of the British Empire, 27-year-old bank worker Gregor Low said he would be voting for independence.
"There has always been a romantic notion of Scotland wanting its independence," he said. Praising the SNP and deriding the Conservative party which is locked in an increasingly unpopular British coalition government with the Liberal Democrat party, he said Scottish people felt removed from London.
"How can (Prime Minister) David Cameron or (Finance Minister) George Osborne know anything about the realities of life in Scotland?"
Edinburgh reflects the nation's complex history. It is home to the most tangible symbol of Scotland's thirst for greater independence: the ultra-modern Scottish parliament building.
But ironically, it is also home to an array of British imperial monuments built to commemorate the significant role Scotland played in the Empire alongside England.
History runs deep in Scotland and, symbolically, the independence referendum will be held on the 700th anniversary of the 1314 Battle of Bannockburn in which an army commanded by England's King Edward II was roundly defeated at the hands of a smaller force led by Robert the Bruce, a source of enduring pride for Scottish patriots.
The Yes Scotland campaign says it aims to go door to door in an effort to try to persuade people to sign a "Yes Declaration".
Harry Reid, an author and journalist who has followed Scottish politics since 1969, said the Labour party, traditionally strong in Scotland, had seen its supporters switch to the SNP in recent years.
That is crucial as Scotland historically is more inclined to vote for the left, whereas English voters have voted in much larger numbers for the right, underscoring a political fault line between north and south.
Furious at what they saw as former prime minister Tony Blair's support of U.S. foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan, Reid said disenchanted Labour voters may yet return to the fold.
If they do - in sufficiently large numbers ahead of a British general election in 2015 - the "yes" campaign would be buried, he said.
"If we're going to get a decent Labour government back in 2015 people might wonder whether they really need independence."
(Additional reporting by Ian MacKenzie; Editing by Michael Roddy

No shaking. Good riddance.
Since the split up of the Soviet Union, Russia still retains all the powers that once belonged to the soviets.
England will retain all powers and will still be greater than all those mushroom states.

The re-branding they'll have to got through will be like a black eye for them. Flag, damage to reputation after over 300 years....so called global voice etc.We might get more "nations" to live too!

What is fantastic about that?

One thing that is constant in life is change, kingdoms rise and fall, what Africa should do is to position itself to benefit from the next ‘big player' since achieving this on it's own seems to be an impossibility.

Its simple - You live with people, you've got to listen to them too, especially if they're culturally different from you. Human beings see things from ethnic or cultural prisms, we've seen it in the old Eastern Nigeria and Western Nigeria, we're now seeing it in the North - MB want their own voice. The take-away is that no man is another man's overlord, you either give a man his due or he'll severe any link he has with you.

Some people said Russia still played big after the collapse of Soviet Union therefore, England will. These people foreget that Russia is a big nation, with or without other soviet republics, Britain is not (Russia is bigger than US or China). In today's world, United Kingdom is nothing without the US. The reason they still have a voice is because US has one. Uk used to be in control of 1/3 of the world (meaning they screwed 1/3 of the world big time) but since early 20th century its size/power has been decaying exponentially. Who knows, UK may eventually be reduced to only England.

I'll say this - UK, the only land you own is England, so try as much as possible to manage it.
And for Nigeria - Learn from the reality of your master, UK, and be good and just to your component parts or risk the same fate.

Sam_Ikenna: Its simple - You live with people, you've got to listen to them too, especially if they're culturally different from you. Human beings see things from ethnic or cultural prims, we've seen it in the old Eastern Nigeria and Western Nigeria, we're now seeing it in the North - MB want their own voice. The take-away is that no man is another man's overlord, you either give a man his due or he'll severe any link he has with you.

Some people said Russia still played big after the collapse of Soviet Union therefore, England will. These people foreget that Russia is a big nation, with or without other soviet republics, Britain is not (Russia is bigger than US or China). In today's world, United Kingdom is nothing without the US. The reason they still have a voice is because US has one. Uk used to be in control of 1/3 of the world (meaning they screwed 1/3 of the world big time) but since early 20th century its size/power has been decaying exponentially. Who knows, UK may eventually be reduced to only England.

I'll say this - UK, the only land you own is England, so try as much as possible to manage it.
And for Nigeria - Learn from the reality of your master, UK, and be good and just to your component parts or risk the same fate.

Well said.

I hope the Welsh and Irish will tow the part of scotland and be counted in the committee of nations. I hope they also make sure they cancel whatever power the Queen has in these countries.

russia , china, us is not more powerful than uk. the rothschild family rule the world .all the world is under the queen. cnn other never will tell u. real power is beyond statistic.

procedure: russia , china, us is not more powerful than uk. the rothschild family rule the world .all the world is under the queen. cnn other never will tell u. real power is beyond statistic.

Economy and political power are inseperable. China's economy is rising while UK's is either stagnant or snail-pacing. Without America, UK is a toast. Without US, UK's only power is their stockpile of nukes. Be real brother, queen's power is bull. Who respects the queen? The respect queen of England has is not deeply rooted in the hearts of other cultures. In fact you need to take a survey of American opinion any time Queen Eliza comes here and see how much white Americans dont give 2 cents about her. UK is only big on paper, if not for the fear of US; China and Russia and other emerging nations would have swallowed England.

Wake up buddy. Think about it, was it not US that saved England from NAZI obliteration? Its true England was doing well holding off Germany but eventually it still would have fell like other EU nations given unrelenting German assualt. Even though we dont give Russia credit, but boy did they fight to death against Hitler's war machine. So brother, I get am b4 no be properti. UK is just holding on to US power, its nukes, and the veto card it secured itself following the end of WW2 - aside all that, England is just an old empire fighting hard to remain afloat. Unfortunately, this fight for empire preservation is becoming more and more difficult as new powers emerge and old allies of the empire gradually break loose.

I have always believed that most countries that gained independence from britain btw 1945-1980 was becos d war had weakened britain and not because britain saw d need for these nations to be independent. What do I mean? Nigeria got her independence on a platter of gold because WW2 had weakened britain and she cld nno longer hold on to power. Since that war britain knew there was a new world order propagated by wilson woodrow from WW1.

On Feb 21, 1947, in a communique to d american secretary of state, british embassy told d US dat britain cld no longer shore up d west's position in d eastern mediterranean in d face of a hostile soviet union. British aid to greece and turkey,n both of which appeared to be threatened by russian expansionism, wld terminate d following month (march 31) and if d US wished to take britain's place, they shld prepare to do so effective April 1.
Such rush to give up and willingly hand over its place in d world expressed britain new place in foreign relations. Sir Henry Tizard's (once britain chief adviser to d defence ministry) observed dat: "we persist in regarding ourselves a great power capable of everything and only temporarily handicapped by economic difficulties. We are not a great power and never will be again"

Britain long lost the power abroad. Now, its hitting home hard.

procedure: russia , china, us is not more powerful than uk. the rothschild family rule the world .all the world is under the queen. cnn other never will tell u. real power is beyond statistic.

Bro you might be thoroughly mistaken.

England has giving the world the most widely spoken language.
The U.S does not give aid to England or the U.K. I wonder how someone here can think like that.
The U.K has spent billions of pound fighting alongside the U.S.
The U.K economy is still the 4th largest economy in the world.
The U.K still has some of the best universities in the world.
The U.K has the second busiest airport in the world-heathrow.
The football league in England is the most watched league in the world.
The F.A Cup of England is the most popular in the world.
If any of the component units of the U.K was to detach from the mother country- England has nothing to lose.

How I wish Coogar will join this thread and silence all this chaps who know nothing about England.

Andre Uweh: England has giving the world the most widely spoken language.
The U.S does not give aid to England or the U.K. I wonder how someone here can think like that.
The U.K has spent billions of pound fighting alongside the U.S.
The U.K economy is still the 4th largest economy in the world.
The U.K still has some of the best universities in the world.
The U.K has the second busiest airport in the world-heathrow.
The football league in England is the most watched league in the world.
The F.A Cup of England is the most popular in the world.
If any of the component units of the U.K was to detach from the mother country- England has nothing to lose.

On the first bolded, the US can and will fight its wars without UK's help. The reason US likes to get UK on board is to give its wars an international outlook - to make peoples of the world think this or that war has international consensus. US can, to a large extent, fight major wars in any part of the world today, can UK do that without US? US is extremely more powerful than UK. To put it succinctly, UK needs US to remain relevant, US doesnt.

On your second bolded, UK is not the 4th largest economy, it dangles between 6th and 7th (http://money.cnn.com/news/economy/world_economies_gdp/). Countries like Nigeria can easily overtake UK in 15-20 years if we get our head out of our behind. Uk economy is almost nearing its saturation point, they've almost maxed out their growth thats why they cant lay off countries like Nigeria even as they despise our guts.

While its true UK currently have a sound economy, what's also true is that - its more like a nation on international status decline. For ages they exploited, raped, and usurped 1/3 of world when the rest of humanity was asleep, now the world is awake and ready to toss the union jack aside. Before anyone accuses me of hate, I do not wish evil on UK neither do I incite criminally minded folks (Jihadist) to harm UK citizens because of the evil England perpetrated on 1/3 of humanity.

On the 3rd bolded, I'll say - should Scotland, Wales, and North Ireland detach from England, the loss will be lean power and lesser territory. Their economy will still be fine but their power, both at home and abroad, will be diminished a lot. Who knows, maybe when that time comes England will be both territorially and economically small relative to say - Nigeria, and we might end up picking their veto power in UN, which is fine by me.

Andre Uweh: How I wish Coogar will join this thread and silence all this chaps who know nothing about England.

I wonder what we dont know about England, is it that Nigeria doesnt have the capacity to be bigger than England economy-wise? Is it that if we get our heads out of our behind now we wont be able to have England (in about 20 years) suck up to us like we've been doing since 1862?

What is it that we dont know about this old empire that we grew up with. And please dont tell me about football or English language. Japan neither speaks english nor plays football better than Nigeria but their economy is bigger than UK's. The only thing that'll secure the future of a nation is if the youths take science and math seriously, not if that nation speaks english or plays football. If Nigeria commits herself to education and provision of infrastructure, I guarantee you that in the next 20 to 30 years we'll be providing aid to England.

Someone said the British have nothing to lose, but they do. They will lose out on the future oil revenue.

Scotland has found vast amount of oil reserves in the North Sea. That is not being mentioned much in the media.

Plus, this will be a blow to the United Kingdom prestige, because other regions may follow suit such as Northern Ireland which remains a contentious issue.

I know William Wallace would be proud.

Nebeuwa: Someone said the British have nothing to lose, but they do. They will lose out on the future oil revenue.

Scotland has found vast amount of oil reserves in the North Sea. That is not being mentioned much in the media.

Plus, this will be a blow to the United Kingdom prestige, because other regions may follow suit such as Northern Ireland which remains a contentious issue.

I know William Wallace would be proud.

Don't you know that Britain spends x3 on Northern Ireland than what it gets. Believe me, nothing to lose if they all go.
On Scotland, even with the north sea oil, most Scots work in England and English cities are bigger than Scottish cities.

Sam_Ikenna:

I wonder what we dont know about England, is it that Nigeria doesnt have the capacity to be bigger than England economy-wise? Is it that if we get our heads out of our behind now we wont be able to have England (in about 20 years) suck up to us like we've been doing since 1862?

What is it that we dont know about this old empire that we grew up with. And please dont tell me about football or English language. Japan neither speaks english nor plays football better than Nigeria but their economy is bigger than UK's. The only thing that'll secure the future of a nation is if the youths take science and math seriously, not if that nation speaks english or plays football. If Nigeria commits herself to education and provision of infrastructure, I guarantee you that in the next 20 to 30 years we'll be providing aid to England.

You most be joking. Do you mean their airports and under grounds will fold up while they watch. Their factories, education sectors etc.
The Japanese economy is stronger but the U.K economy is one of the strongest economies in the world.
The same mistake you guys are making here was what Argentina made 30 years ago. You know the consequences.

What do the Scots want that they think independence will give them? Just find out what they want and give it to them.

Honestly, I don't even know the difference between a Scot, Englishman, Irishman, etc. They are all essentially the same thing to me.

Anyway, UK had better do whatever it takes to keep the Scots in the fold. Doesn't need any more hits to its prestige and power.

Andre Uweh:
You most be joking. Do you mean their airports and under grounds will fold up while they watch. Their factories, education sectors etc.
The Japanese economy is stronger but the U.K economy is one of the strongest economies in the world.
The same mistake you guys are making here was what Argentina made 30 years ago. You know the consequences.

I believe we can and will provide aid to England some where down the line, and when we do, we wont destroy them with the same dirty tricks, exponentially increasing interest rate, and divide and rule they used on us. Most Western nations have almost maxed out their rapid economic growth. The best they can do now is to leech on us and/or hope to have 2.5 - 3.5 economic growth. Smart nations like Brazil and her likes have since dumped IMF and other institutions where UK and her fellow criminals reign supreme - no need to talk about how good Brazilian economy is. Like I said before, UK's international clout will eventually approach zero when all the new regional power houses in Africa, Americas and Asia emerge.

Honestly, this seems so foolish to me.

Surely there must be a better way.

Hmm. My strong opposition to this means I should probably spend more time thinking about my pro-"Divide Nigeria" stance, make sure I'm not being inconsistent..

ekt_bear: Honestly, this seems so foolish to me.

Surely there must be a better way.

Hmm. My strong opposition to this means I should probably spend more time thinking about my pro-"Divide Nigeria" stance, make sure I'm not being inconsistent..

According to Marley, "very man has the right to decide his destiny." Unless you're one of that 40% that seek for a break from UK you may never completely understand how they feel.

Even looking at it from my own angle, why would I want a traditional ruler from another ethnic group to be my eternal head of state? Thats a subtle way of telling me that my culture is inferior. Queen Eliza was imposed on Scots and I think the Scots have a right to have their own voice and culture on the front-seat. Self determination is as old as man.

Eh. From reading the history, they've had the same monarch for 400+ years. And for the first 100+ years, their king was a Scot!

So certainly they cannot spin things as if they've been bullied by the English or something.

Basically from my perspective, the UK is working. It is a pretty good country, one of the best in the world. Why destroy it?

Are Scots some heavily oppressed people? No. So what exactly are they fighting for? What do they want?

Why diminish both your voice and the voice of the UK? Ultimately, they have more in common with each other than with anyone else on this planet. So surely they can come to some sort of equitable arrangement.

I don't like seeing good things which work destroyed, basically. For what seems to be sentimental reasons.

Andre Uweh: England has giving the world the most widely spoken language.
The U.S does not give aid to England or the U.K. I wonder how someone here can think like that.
The U.K has spent billions of pound fighting alongside the U.S.
[size=14pt]The U.K economy is still the 4th largest economy in the world.[/size]
The U.K still has some of the best universities in the world.
The U.K has the second busiest airport in the world-heathrow.
The football league in England is the most watched league in the world.
The F.A Cup of England is the most popular in the world.
If any of the component units of the U.K was to detach from the mother country- England has nothing to lose.

Eh my brother the bolded is not true o. The way I see it, here is how they rank:

US
China
Japan
India
Germany
Russia
Brazil
Uk

i see

population does not determine economy.

according to this report


http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/25/11883076-with-support-from-sean-connery-scotland-launches-independence-campaign?lite


they said they'll still retain the queen as their sovereign.

i dont know much about how this situation is, so I'll just be an observer.

but if they're retainng the queen, maybe it will be like ireland or something.

since scotland has links with some parts of nigeria, hope this wont reflect on people like me by virtue of being nigerian even though i know nothing of this issue?

Andre Uweh:
You most be joking. Do you mean their airports and under grounds will fold up while they watch. Their factories, education sectors etc.
The Japanese economy is stronger but the U.K economy is one of the strongest economies in the world.
The same mistake you guys are making here was what Argentina made 30 years ago. You know the consequences.

The UK economy is based on over taxation of its citizens and exploitation of 3rd world countries, take that away and see how they'll crumble. The emergence of BRINCS will spell doom for the imperialism of the west. Like sam_ikenna said, if Nigeria gets its heart together, we are strong enough to eclipse the UK economy has shown by Brazil and India. IMHO massive industrialization in the east, an agricultural revolution in the north and the emergence of an ICT hub in the west and in the next 20yrs Nigeria will be a force to reckon with in the league of powerful nations.