Topics / Migration, nation and identity
Should Scotland become an independent country?
Whether Scotland should leave the United Kingdom and become an independent state, remain in the union broadly as now, or stay in the UK with substantially more self-government. The debate turns on how people weigh democratic self-determination, national identity, economic risk, shared institutions and the EU relationship, alongside contested forecasts of independence's effects.
Positions
- Yes: Scotland is a nation whose future should be decided by the people who live there. Independence would mean Scotland always gets the governments it votes for, can shape its own economy and can seek to rejoin the European Union.
- No: Scotland is better off as part of the United Kingdom, which provides economic security, shared institutions and the pooling of risks and resources across its nations. Separation would be costly and uncertain, and would divide people who share a common home.
- More devolution, not independence: Scotland should gain substantially more control over its own affairs within a reformed, more federal United Kingdom, keeping the benefits of the union while meeting the demand for real self-government.