I don’t have a strong opinion on today’s Scottish independence vote; it’s a peaceful foreign country that in no way threatens us, so it’s none of our business as a nation, and our government should certainly not express any opinion on the matter. But I do have an opinion. Scotland is as much our Mother Country as England is, and I share with many Americans a sentimental attachment to Caledonia. That’s why, if I were a Scot, I’d vote against independence.
It’s the only way Scotland can stay Scottish.
The socialist loons of the Scottish National Party have made clear that they are committed to two steps which would lead to Scotland’s eventual disappearance as anything but a geographical designation: membership in the EU and mass immigration. Just as the anti-EU, pro-sovereignty sentiment is making UKIP a major player and could lead to the U.K.’s withdrawal from the EU within a few years, the SNP wants to break away from the U.K. but immediately surrender Scotland’s newfound independence to Brussels. If people thought rule from Westminster was bad, they’ll be in for a surprise.
The SNP has also pledged to substantially increase immigration from overseas, “to lower the current financial maintenance thresholds and minimum salary levels for entry to Scotland,” and “have an inclusive approach to citizenship and a humane approach to asylum seekers and refugees.” It’s pretty obvious where that will lead. Given how few Scots there are (a little over 5 million), it wouldn’t take that much immigration to fundamentally change the nation’s demography and create the kind of problems Latvia or Cyprus face, but without a foreign invader forcing it upon them.
The flip side is that I also would like England to survive, and Scotland’s departure would improve UKIP’s prospects immensely and accelerate England’s liberation from the EU. Independence would dramatically weaken the electoral prospects of the Labour Party in England and at the same time deliver a colossal defeat for the TINO (Tory in name only) David Cameron and a Conservative-party establishment that seems to suffer from the same dysfunction as our own Republicans.
But that doesn’t seem like it outweighs the damage Scotland would suffer from an independence shaped and led by the SNP. A vote for “independence” is effectively a vote for rule from Brussels and large-scale immigration, putting Alba on the road to oblivion.
Vote No — for Scotland.