[James]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

You do realise that there is a huge independence movement in Catalonia that has FAR greater support than Scottish Independence... and was violently suppressed by the Guardia Civil when they tried to vote on it? There have also been referendums on Quebec independence that have been very close to 50/50. So the answer to your question is clearly... yes, there are many people who think that both Catalonia and Quebec independence would be a good thing. It is, however, not in the interests of the larger state to give up control of its constituent parts. A big reason for that being that if it is shown that it can work, it could have a cascading effect on other areas.

There's a reason Spain is firmly against Scottish independence, even though it has nothing to do with Spain... that reason is that there are independence movement in a NUMBER of Spanish regions. There is a reason that the EU and EU member states have a vested interest in things not working out well for Britain post-Brexit. There is a reason that China wants Hong Kong firmly under the thumb. There is a reason that most nations won't even allow a vote to take place. Entities that hold power don't want to diminish it.

That's why it's unprecedented. Not because "it's a bad idea". How would we know?

Think of it as a reverse hypothesis I suppose; Imagine if New Zealand (a country with a similar population to Scotland) was not an independent country, but rather was a small constituent nation of "Great Australasia". Do you think Australia would happily sign off on NZ independence? Do you think everyone would be convinced that it could work? Wouldn't a lot of people assume it would be a disaster?

And yet, they are a small independent nation, and they thrive. Do you think there's a push in NZ to give up that independence and become a vassal state of Australia? Does anyone at all think that would improve their standing in the world, or their quality of life?

New Zealand has never been part of Australia though, so Australian has never been part of the NZ national identity; whereas Scotland has been part of the UK for 300+ years, and has always been geographically part of Great Britain and had a British identity.