31/08/2026
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE EXPLAINED โ CHAPTER 1
How Did Scotland Get Here?
We hear a lot about Scottish independence today. But to understand the debate, it helps to go back a little.
Actually, quite a long way back.
So, how did we get here?
It starts before the Union
Scotland was an independent kingdom with its own Parliament long before the United Kingdom existed.
Scotland and England had shared a monarch since 1603, but they remained separate countries with separate parliaments.
๐ง๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ญ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ณ, ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด๐ฑ๐ผ๐บ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ป๐ด๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ, which already included Wales, and brought the Scottish and English parliaments together in the new Parliament of Great Britain at Westminster.
Scotland's own Parliament closed.
But Scotland didn't simply become the same as England. Important parts of Scottish national life remained distinct, including its legal system, education system and established church. That distinction still matters today.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐
For generations, Scotland was governed without its own national legislature. But the idea of Scottish self-government never entirely disappeared.
During the 20th century, demands for greater control over Scotland's own affairs grew.
๐๐ป ๐ญ๐ต๐ณ๐ต, ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐บ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป. A majority of those who voted backed the proposal, but a special rule required at least 40% of the entire registered electorate to vote Yes. That threshold wasn't reached, so devolution didn't happen.
The story didn't end there.
Campaigning continued, and eighteen years later Scotland was asked again.
๐๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ต๐ต๐ณ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐๐บ, ๐ณ๐ฐ.๐ฏ% ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐, while 63.5% also backed giving it tax-varying powers.
This time, change followed.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฑ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ถ๐ป ๐ญ๐ต๐ต๐ต โ ๐ฎ๐น๐บ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ.
Devolution changed Scotland, but it wasn't independence
The new Parliament could make decisions in areas such as health, education and justice.
Other major areas remained reserved to Westminster, including much of the constitution, defence and foreign affairs.
Over time, the Scottish Parliament gained additional powers. But Scotland remained part of the United Kingdom, with sovereignty over reserved matters continuing to rest at Westminster.
And that takes us to the next big moment.
๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฐ
On 18 September 2014, people in Scotland were asked:
โShould Scotland be an independent country?โ
๐ง๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฒ๐
๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฟ๐: ๐ด๐ฐ.๐ฒ%.
The result was:
No: 55.3%
Yes: 44.7%
Scotland remained part of the United Kingdom.
For some people, that settled the question. For others, it didn't.
And events soon added another chapter.
Then came Brexit
In the 2016 EU referendum, the UK as a whole voted to leave the European Union.
๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐น๐: ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐ฎ% ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป.
When the UK subsequently left the EU, Scotland left with it.
That difference in voting patterns became another important part of the independence debate, particularly for people who argued that Scotland's constitutional future could be affected by decisions made across the UK even when a majority in Scotland voted another way.
Others continued to argue that decisions affecting the whole United Kingdom should be made on the basis of votes across the UK as a whole.
And that difference of view gets us remarkably close to where we are today.
๐ฆ๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ?
Scotland has travelled from an independent kingdom, through political union, to nearly 300 years without its own Parliament, and then back to having a devolved Parliament with substantial, but limited powers.
The 2014 referendum answered the independence question put to voters at that time.
But it didn't end the wider debate about where power should sit, how Scotland should be governed, or whether Scotland's future should ultimately be within or outside the United Kingdom.
And that's why, more than three centuries after the Union of 1707, Scotland's constitutional story is still being written.
๐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ป๐ฒ๐
๐: ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ: Who Can Legally Hold an Independence Referendum?
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟAre You YES Yet? ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ
