1 00:00:00,199 --> 00:00:04,779 This is the Guardian's guide to Scottish independence. For the non-Brits. 2 00:00:04,779 --> 00:00:10,809 It’s a long and complex story but let's begin by answering the most fundamental question. 3 00:00:10,809 --> 00:00:12,549 Where is Scotland anyway? 4 00:00:12,549 --> 00:00:15,999 The country of Scotland is right here, at the top of the island of Great Britain, the 5 00:00:15,999 --> 00:00:22,120 crazy hat worn by the bearded troll who appears to be looking west, toward Ireland and laughing. 6 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:26,110 On Thursday the 18th of September, the people of Scotland will vote to decide whether or 7 00:00:26,110 --> 00:00:30,800 not it will become a country in its own right. But wait, I hear you ask. Didn’t you just 8 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:34,710 call Scotland a country? Isn’t Scotland already a country? 9 00:00:34,710 --> 00:00:37,900 The definitive answer to that question is: sort of. 10 00:00:37,900 --> 00:00:42,900 Technically Scotland is a country within a country known as the United Kingdom. Scotland 11 00:00:42,900 --> 00:00:47,150 may have its own church, its own legal system, its own professional soccer league and its 12 00:00:47,150 --> 00:00:51,790 own dietary idiosyncrasies, but it’s still part of the UK, which also includes the countries 13 00:00:51,790 --> 00:00:58,210 of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scottish people have British passports. 14 00:00:58,210 --> 00:01:03,739 Scotland did used to be a separate country, with its own king, James VI. Then in 1603 15 00:01:03,739 --> 00:01:09,299 Queen Elizabeth - not that one, this one - died without leaving an heir, and the nearest relative 16 00:01:09,299 --> 00:01:14,139 they could find turned out to be her cousin James. He became James I of England, while 17 00:01:14,139 --> 00:01:19,329 still keeping his job as James VI of Scotland. If you think that’s confusing, you ain’t 18 00:01:19,329 --> 00:01:20,289 heard nothing yet. 19 00:01:20,289 --> 00:01:24,310 England and Scotland maintained a monarch-sharing arrangement for over a century before the 20 00:01:24,310 --> 00:01:29,829 Acts of Union in 1707 made the two nations a single entity, with one parliament, located 21 00:01:29,829 --> 00:01:34,109 in London. Scotland went along with this largely because it was almost bankrupt, thanks to 22 00:01:34,109 --> 00:01:39,779 something called the Darien Disaster, which happened way over here and is, frankly, another 23 00:01:39,779 --> 00:01:41,229 story for another time. 24 00:01:41,229 --> 00:01:45,569 Let’s have a stirring musical interludel before we skip ahead, Way ahead. 25 00:01:45,569 --> 00:01:48,950 Duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh (etc) 26 00:01:48,950 --> 00:01:52,840 In the 1970s speculation about devolution, the notion of returning a measure of power 27 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:58,099 to the Scottish government gave rise to what used to be known as the West Lothian question. 28 00:01:58,099 --> 00:02:02,729 For most people in the UK today the real West Lothian question is: ‘What is the West Lothian 29 00:02:02,729 --> 00:02:04,099 question?’ 30 00:02:04,099 --> 00:02:08,598 The West Lothian question named after the Scottish constituency of the MP who first 31 00:02:08,598 --> 00:02:13,780 asked it. To paraphrase, he basically posited a world where Scotland had its own regional 32 00:02:13,780 --> 00:02:18,549 parliament, but also continued to send representatives to the British parliament in London. How could 33 00:02:18,549 --> 00:02:23,170 it be, he asked, that Scottish MPs could vote on laws that affected only England, and yet 34 00:02:23,170 --> 00:02:28,370 had no vote on matters that affected Scotland? That would be totally crazy! You weren’t 35 00:02:28,370 --> 00:02:32,269 really meant to answer the West Lothian question; it was just there to demonstrate that a Scottish 36 00:02:32,269 --> 00:02:35,620 parliament couldn’t logically exist, and that if you tried to set one up the universe 37 00:02:35,620 --> 00:02:37,680 would disappear, or something. 38 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:43,340 But then in 1998, after a referendum on devolution, they did set up a Scottish Parliament, with 39 00:02:43,340 --> 00:02:48,579 its very own brand new building. I know, but it’s meant to be really nice on the inside. 40 00:02:48,579 --> 00:02:53,030 Devolution is not the same as being a separate country. The British parliament merely devolved 41 00:02:53,030 --> 00:02:57,430 certain powers to Scotland, rather than transferring them, and it reserved to the right to overturn 42 00:02:57,430 --> 00:03:01,060 any law made in the Scottish legislature. 43 00:03:01,060 --> 00:03:05,450 In 2011 the Scottish National Party - a party that campaigned on a pledge to hold an independence 44 00:03:05,450 --> 00:03:11,480 referendum - won a landslide in the Scottish parliament. The SNP leader - this man, Alex 45 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:15,719 Salmond (you don’t pronounce the L, like with the fish) - became Scotland’s First 46 00:03:15,719 --> 00:03:20,599 Minister, and promised a referendum within the election cycle. In 2012 British Prime 47 00:03:20,599 --> 00:03:24,230 Minister David Cameron finally agreed to a legally-binding referendum, saying: “This 48 00:03:24,230 --> 00:03:29,340 United Kingdom can never hold a country within it without its consent.” What he meant was: 49 00:03:29,340 --> 00:03:34,090 “I’m allowing this because it’s certain to fail”. Polls consistently showed that 50 00:03:34,090 --> 00:03:37,269 only a minority of Scots would vote for actual independence. 51 00:03:37,269 --> 00:03:41,480 A Yes Campaign was set up, and also a No campaign, which isn’t called the No Campaign, because 52 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:45,939 that would sound a bit negative. Instead it’s called Better Together, which is arguably 53 00:03:45,939 --> 00:03:46,680 worse. 54 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:51,379 Those is Yes camp include Alex Salmond and the SNP, and also the Scottish Green Party, 55 00:03:51,379 --> 00:03:56,560 the Scottish Socialist Party, possibly Rupert Murdoch, Sir Sean Connery and both of the 56 00:03:56,560 --> 00:03:56,959 Proclaimers. 57 00:03:56,959 --> 00:04:02,150 The No camp includes all three main political parties, Harry Potter author JK Rowling, Susan 58 00:04:02,150 --> 00:04:07,749 Boyle, one of the Dr Whos, and a majority of the people in the rest of the UK, who don’t 59 00:04:07,749 --> 00:04:09,310 get a vote. 60 00:04:09,310 --> 00:04:15,129 Those conspicuously offering no opinion include Andy Murray, Billy Connelly and the Queen. 61 00:04:15,129 --> 00:04:19,510 Recently the no camp's comfortable lead has eroded and a lot of questions that nobody 62 00:04:19,510 --> 00:04:24,040 had ever answered satisfactorily have suddenly become interesting to people. 63 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:28,660 Questions like: if it were independent, what would Scotland use for money? What about Scottish 64 00:04:28,660 --> 00:04:33,630 passports? Would Scotland be able to join the EU? Or NATO? And what will they call the 65 00:04:33,630 --> 00:04:37,630 rest of the UK if Scotland leaves? At the moment they’re are literally calling it 66 00:04:37,630 --> 00:04:42,820 “the rest of the UK” or rUK for short, which gives you an idea how much thought has 67 00:04:42,820 --> 00:04:44,860 gone into the whole business. 68 00:04:44,860 --> 00:04:51,790 The real question is: will Scotland be better off as an independent country, or would it 69 00:04:51,790 --> 00:00:00,000 be an economic disaster. And the real answer is nobody knows... because it’s the future.