26 Nov 2022: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

E. Editorials

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. Referendum

Syllabus: Effect of Policies & Politics of Developed & Developing Countries on India’s Interests

Mains: Examples of Direct Democracy.

Context: The United Kingdom’s Supreme Court recently gave a ruling on Scotland’s decision to call a referendum on its independence.

Introduction:

• The United Kingdom’s Supreme Court gave its verdict on a petition by the government of Scotland, disallowing it from holding a referendum on becoming an independent country. 
• The semi-autonomous Scottish government wants to hold a referendum in October 2023 to become an independent country.
• The court said, “the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to legislate for a referendum on Scottish independence.”
• Under the Scotland Act, all matters relating to the “Union of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England” are reserved for the UK Parliament in London. 
• The UK Parliament can grant the Scottish government the authority to hold a referendum using its “Section 30” order, a process that was used to allow a similar vote in 2014.
• But the UK has repeatedly said the 2014 vote should not be repeated for a generation and refused permission for a referendum.

Background:

• The island that makes up Great Britain at the moment is made up of Wales in the west, England in the middle and north, and Scotland in the north. These together with Northern Ireland make up the political union of nations known as the United Kingdom.
• However, each of these areas has a unique relationship with the union as a whole. The nations of Britain have shared the same monarch since 1603 when King James VI of Scotland became James I of England. The Kingdom of Great Britain was established through a formal union in 1707.
• There are 68 million people living in the UK as a whole, of whom 5.5 million are Scots. The Scotland Act, which established the Scottish Parliament and devolved some authority from Westminster, was approved by the then-Labour administration in 1998.
• Scotland also has its own legal and education systems and banknotes. 
• Previously, a referendum for Scottish independence was held in 2014. Scotland had voted to remain in the UK.

Main case for independence:

• Scotland would have more control over its politics. Currently, many decisions are taken and influenced by the UK Parliament.
• Scotland, which is more liberal than the rest of the UK, might advance policies that would boost social welfare.
• Those who support independence believe Scotland “would be richer” if it breaks from England.
  • It could exploit more freely some economic resources, in particular, the North Sea oil.
  • The London School of Economics has predicted that independence from the UK would cost Scotland up to three times as much in lost revenue as Brexit will.
• Independence supporters want Scotland to have the freedom to decide how resources are managed and where money is invested.
• The Scottish National Party (SNP), which is spearheading the independence drive, also wants to remove Britain’s nuclear weapons from western Scotland.
• In 2016, the UK voted as a whole on Brexit. Among regions, Scotland had some of the fiercest ‘remainers’ — supporters of the demand to stay in the EU. After the result to leave, many Scots expressed dissatisfaction with having to bear the consequences of a result they did not vote for.

Nut Graf: In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court of the UK ruled that the “Scottish Parliament does not have the power to legislate for a referendum on Scottish independence.” But the Scottish government says that the right to self-determination is “fundamental and inalienable”, and there were no practical means to push for a referendum through the UK legislature.