[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.20,0:00:04.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is the Guardian's guide to Scottish independence.\NFor the non-Brits.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.78,0:00:10.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s a long and complex story but let's\Nbegin by answering the most fundamental question.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.81,0:00:12.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Where is Scotland anyway?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:12.55,0:00:15.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The country of Scotland is right here, at\Nthe top of the island of Great Britain, the
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.100,0:00:22.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,crazy hat worn by the bearded troll who appears\Nto be looking west, toward Ireland and laughing.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.12,0:00:26.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On Thursday the 18th of September, the people\Nof Scotland will vote to decide whether or
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.11,0:00:30.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,not it will become a country in its own right.\NBut wait, I hear you ask. Didn’t you just
Dialogue: 0,0:00:30.80,0:00:34.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,call Scotland a country? Isn’t Scotland\Nalready a country?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.71,0:00:37.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The definitive answer to that question is:\Nsort of.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.90,0:00:42.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Technically Scotland is a country within a\Ncountry known as the United Kingdom. Scotland
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.90,0:00:47.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,may have its own church, its own legal system,\Nits own professional soccer league and its
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.15,0:00:51.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,own dietary idiosyncrasies, but it’s still\Npart of the UK, which also includes the countries
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.79,0:00:58.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scottish\Npeople have British passports.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.21,0:01:03.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Scotland did used to be a separate country,\Nwith its own king, James VI. Then in 1603
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.74,0:01:09.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Queen Elizabeth - not that one, this one - died\Nwithout leaving an heir, and the nearest relative
Dialogue: 0,0:01:09.30,0:01:14.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they could find turned out to be her cousin\NJames. He became James I of England, while
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.14,0:01:19.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,still keeping his job as James VI of Scotland.\NIf you think that’s confusing, you ain’t
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.33,0:01:20.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,heard nothing yet.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.29,0:01:24.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,England and Scotland maintained a monarch-sharing\Narrangement for over a century before the
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.31,0:01:29.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Acts of Union in 1707 made the two nations\Na single entity, with one parliament, located
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.83,0:01:34.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in London. Scotland went along with this largely\Nbecause it was almost bankrupt, thanks to
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.11,0:01:39.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,something called the Darien Disaster, which\Nhappened way over here and is, frankly, another
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.78,0:01:41.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,story for another time.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.23,0:01:45.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let’s have a stirring musical interludel\Nbefore we skip ahead, Way ahead.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:45.57,0:01:48.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh (etc)
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.95,0:01:52.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the 1970s speculation about devolution,\Nthe notion of returning a measure of power
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.84,0:01:58.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the Scottish government gave rise to what\Nused to be known as the West Lothian question.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.10,0:02:02.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For most people in the UK today the real West\NLothian question is: ‘What is the West Lothian
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.73,0:02:04.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,question?’
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.10,0:02:08.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The West Lothian question named after the\NScottish constituency of the MP who first
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.60,0:02:13.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,asked it. To paraphrase, he basically posited\Na world where Scotland had its own regional
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.78,0:02:18.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,parliament, but also continued to send representatives\Nto the British parliament in London. How could
Dialogue: 0,0:02:18.55,0:02:23.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it be, he asked, that Scottish MPs could vote\Non laws that affected only England, and yet
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.17,0:02:28.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had no vote on matters that affected Scotland?\NThat would be totally crazy! You weren’t
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.37,0:02:32.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,really meant to answer the West Lothian question;\Nit was just there to demonstrate that a Scottish
Dialogue: 0,0:02:32.27,0:02:35.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,parliament couldn’t logically exist, and\Nthat if you tried to set one up the universe
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.62,0:02:37.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,would disappear, or something.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.68,0:02:43.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But then in 1998, after a referendum on devolution,\Nthey did set up a Scottish Parliament, with
Dialogue: 0,0:02:43.34,0:02:48.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,its very own brand new building. I know, but\Nit’s meant to be really nice on the inside.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.58,0:02:53.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Devolution is not the same as being a separate\Ncountry. The British parliament merely devolved
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.03,0:02:57.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,certain powers to Scotland, rather than transferring\Nthem, and it reserved to the right to overturn
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.43,0:03:01.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,any law made in the Scottish legislature.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.06,0:03:05.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 2011 the Scottish National Party - a party\Nthat campaigned on a pledge to hold an independence
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.45,0:03:11.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,referendum - won a landslide in the Scottish\Nparliament. The SNP leader - this man, Alex
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.48,0:03:15.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Salmond (you don’t pronounce the L, like\Nwith the fish) - became Scotland’s First
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.72,0:03:20.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Minister, and promised a referendum within\Nthe election cycle. In 2012 British Prime
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.60,0:03:24.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Minister David Cameron finally agreed to a\Nlegally-binding referendum, saying: “This
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.23,0:03:29.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,United Kingdom can never hold a country within\Nit without its consent.” What he meant was:
Dialogue: 0,0:03:29.34,0:03:34.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“I’m allowing this because it’s certain\Nto fail”. Polls consistently showed that
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.09,0:03:37.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,only a minority of Scots would vote for actual\Nindependence.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.27,0:03:41.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A Yes Campaign was set up, and also a No campaign,\Nwhich isn’t called the No Campaign, because
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.48,0:03:45.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that would sound a bit negative. Instead it’s\Ncalled Better Together, which is arguably
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.94,0:03:46.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,worse.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.68,0:03:51.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Those is Yes camp include Alex Salmond and\Nthe SNP, and also the Scottish Green Party,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.38,0:03:56.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Scottish Socialist Party, possibly Rupert\NMurdoch, Sir Sean Connery and both of the
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.56,0:03:56.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Proclaimers.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:56.96,0:04:02.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The No camp includes all three main political\Nparties, Harry Potter author JK Rowling, Susan
Dialogue: 0,0:04:02.15,0:04:07.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Boyle, one of the Dr Whos, and a majority\Nof the people in the rest of the UK, who don’t
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.75,0:04:09.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,get a vote.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.31,0:04:15.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Those conspicuously offering no opinion include\NAndy Murray, Billy Connelly and the Queen.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.13,0:04:19.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Recently the no camp's comfortable lead has\Neroded and a lot of questions that nobody
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.51,0:04:24.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had ever answered satisfactorily have suddenly\Nbecome interesting to people.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.04,0:04:28.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Questions like: if it were independent, what\Nwould Scotland use for money? What about Scottish
Dialogue: 0,0:04:28.66,0:04:33.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,passports? Would Scotland be able to join\Nthe EU? Or NATO? And what will they call the
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.63,0:04:37.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rest of the UK if Scotland leaves? At the\Nmoment they’re are literally calling it
Dialogue: 0,0:04:37.63,0:04:42.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“the rest of the UK” or rUK for short,\Nwhich gives you an idea how much thought has
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.82,0:04:44.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,gone into the whole business.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:44.86,0:04:51.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The real question is: will Scotland be better\Noff as an independent country, or would it
Dialogue: 0,0:04:51.79,0:00:00.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,be an economic disaster. And the real answer\Nis nobody knows... because it’s the future.