Scotland Week Part 2: Politics

The reason that my group was in Scotland last week was technically educational. We've been learning about the history and politics of the United Kingdom, and now is a particularly interesting time for Scotland. In September, Scots will get to vote on whether or not they want the country to continue to be a part of the UK. In other words, they get to vote for independence.

It's actually completely fascinating, something that I never thought I would say about any kind of politics, particularly British politics. I've chatted with a few Englishmen and Scots about it, and we got to sit in on a Scottish Parliament session where everyone asked questions of Alex Salmond, Scotland's First Minister. It was quite the experience, as Scottish Parliament members are allowed to thump their desks and sort of grumble or cheer depending on whether or not they like what someone said. To make a long story short, Scotland got its own parliament a few years ago, but still doesn't have complete control of everything (defense, welfare and foreign policy are still under UK control, for example). Now the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) is the majority party in Scotland, and they're going for it. There are all sorts of dirty political tricks being played, of course. Scotland wants to keep the pound, but the English minister of the treasury was like, "No way, mate. Not gonna happen." Then there are questions about Scotland begin able to keep its place in the EU…it's all crazy stuff.

I'm still a bit undecided, but the America Bone in my body sort of screams "INDEPENDENCE! FREEDOM!" After all, Scotland is kind of complaining about the same thing as the States were: taxation without proper representation. And I completely understand why Alex Salmond has gotten as far as he has. The other ministers got flustered and visibly angry when the personal insults flew their way (that's the other thing they're allowed to do in Parliament), but Salmond just stayed chill. He laughed, smiled, made jokes about the Daily Mail. He's a cool customer, with charisma to burn.

So hey, I learned something last week. And I'm starting to be more informed about British politics than I am about American politics, which I suppose is some kind of full integration.  Anyway, I definitely have to keep an eye on Scotland for the next few months, because things are going to get interesting.