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Scotland mulls over separation from UK
Scotland mulls over separation from UK
The Scottish government envisions a referendum on the country's separation from the UK in the face of domestic and Whitehall opposition.
On Wednesday, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond, who had earlier declared that the country would achieve independence by 2017, said he would present the parliament with a bill on a 2010 referendum on the matter, The Times reported.
"This government was elected with a popular mandate to put the question of Scotland's future to the vote in a referendum. It is time for the people of Scotland to have their say," he said.
In 1997, the Scots voted for Edinburgh's powers to be independent of the United Kingdom, paving the way for the 1999 reformation of the Scottish parliament.
The parliament had been dissolved in 1707 following the Acts of Union, which joined Scotland and England together.
Salmond called the so-called devolution a 'glass ceiling', which hampered the country's progress.
It is, however, doubted that the move will survive the country's legislative minefield. Unionist parties are set to subject it to numerous challenges benefitting from their parliamentary majority over the SNP.
Treasury chief Alistair Darling, meanwhile, called the Scottish prosperity conditioned on that of the UK and said Edinburgh had to see about the economy rather than addressing independence.
Scotland mulls over separation from UK
The Scottish government envisions a referendum on the country's separation from the UK in the face of domestic and Whitehall opposition.
On Wednesday, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond, who had earlier declared that the country would achieve independence by 2017, said he would present the parliament with a bill on a 2010 referendum on the matter, The Times reported.
"This government was elected with a popular mandate to put the question of Scotland's future to the vote in a referendum. It is time for the people of Scotland to have their say," he said.
In 1997, the Scots voted for Edinburgh's powers to be independent of the United Kingdom, paving the way for the 1999 reformation of the Scottish parliament.
The parliament had been dissolved in 1707 following the Acts of Union, which joined Scotland and England together.
Salmond called the so-called devolution a 'glass ceiling', which hampered the country's progress.
It is, however, doubted that the move will survive the country's legislative minefield. Unionist parties are set to subject it to numerous challenges benefitting from their parliamentary majority over the SNP.
Treasury chief Alistair Darling, meanwhile, called the Scottish prosperity conditioned on that of the UK and said Edinburgh had to see about the economy rather than addressing independence.