[MGR1]

The catch with the independence game is economics.

Put bluntly, Northern Ireland can only exist as part of the UK, or as part of the Republic of Ireland.

Similarly Wales can only be part of the UK, or be re-integrated into England as it was prior to the late 1960's.

Neither can function as independent entities.

Scotland can function as an independent state, theoretically, but the shock of independence would cause severe economic damage in the short term with a very long term recovery. At the moment a majority of Scots aren't too keen on making that leap of faith. We Scots do seem to be remarkably fond of money if we want to painfully honest with ourselves.

Only England can function by itself relatively painlessly as it's the only net-contributer in the UK, the other three parts are subsidised to greater or lesser degree.

Ultimately the United Kingdom doesn't make sense for England if you look at it in pure economic terms BUT from the stand point of military defence then it becomes much more understandable.

If we take a look at the strategic position that England found itself in prior to 1707, it was at war France and had very poor relations with Scotland, a traditional French ally it shared a land border with. Therefore the Act of Union was a marriage of convenience - it allowed Scotland (more specifically it's ruling elite) to recoup it's losses after the failure of the Darien scheme. It allowed England to concentrate it's attention against France without having to glance nervously over it's shoulder to the north in case Louis XIV tried to use Scotland as a base to open a second front.

That's a gross simplification, but that's the basic essence.

If Scotland became independent and affiliated itself with the EU whilst Northern Ireland rejoined the Republic, an EU state, England (or England and Wales) would find itself surrounded by EU territory on all sides. Fanciful perhaps, but entirely possible.

My own complaint about how Scotland is governed within the UK does come down to economics - the Scottish branches of the main UK parties appear have no interest in allowing Scotland to become a net-contributer to the UK exchequer.

It would severely damage the "Scotland Strong in UK" message if Scotland could become self-supporting in the same way as England is and would give further impetous to the SNP's pro-independence message. For the UK Government allowing Scotland to have the necessary economic levers to improve it's economy would have a disruptive effect on the internal UK market and economy.

Neither appear to be willing to run the risk, unfortunately. A Scotland that was a consistant net-contributer to the UK would be much happier within it, I suspect.

Mike.