I was reading about a politician in Dundee who moved from Labour to the SNP and handed over power in the city council. Independence is only a step away maybe. Wonder if it could happen to the whole country and if it would have any implications for Lancashire.
Maybe Mr Blair and Mr Browns biggest legacy will be to make Labour so unpopular in the whole of the UK so that England goes Conservative and Scotland goes SNP leading to independence. Maybe, quite a few if’s.
If Scotland was independent. Scotland seems fairly close to Preston which has benefitted from being in the middle of a London Glasgow axis and the first major stop out of Scotland. What might change in the area? Would the West Coast Main Line and M6 still have the same importance north of Manchester or would there be a bigger emphasis on its benefits and who pays for it. I read that Scotland has very high government employment, more than northern England so would that move. Would subsidised work and military factories and bases remain in Scotland. Could tax or currency benefits be gained in the north of England trading with a European partner who would probably want to go into the Euro for protection. I guess any Scottish government might also be thinking of reverse effects.
Need to add that I think being British is a great thing. For such a small island to make such an impact on the world there must be something special. I read in an overseas newspaper that to the British the country is less than it appears to the non-British. That never applied to me as I’ve embarassing recollections of exaggerated statements in foreign company. Probably England is synonymous with Britain and that is why the English don’t think that much about it until some feel poked by Mr Salmond. So, back on topic, is Preston or the North West thinking about its position in such a scenario? Probably not, particularly if you’ve invested council money into an Icelandic bank. Then again it’s probably less than 50/50.