WEBVTT 00:00:00.199 --> 00:00:04.779 This is the Guardian's guide to Scottish independence. For the non-Brits. 00:00:04.779 --> 00:00:10.809 It’s a long and complex story but let's begin by answering the most fundamental question. 00:00:10.809 --> 00:00:12.549 Where is Scotland anyway? 00:00:12.549 --> 00:00:15.999 The country of Scotland is right here, at the top of the island of Great Britain, the 00:00:15.999 --> 00:00:22.120 crazy hat worn by the bearded troll who appears to be looking west, toward Ireland and laughing. 00:00:22.120 --> 00:00:26.110 On Thursday the 18th of September, the people of Scotland will vote to decide whether or 00:00:26.110 --> 00:00:30.800 not it will become a country in its own right. But wait, I hear you ask. Didn’t you just 00:00:30.800 --> 00:00:34.710 call Scotland a country? Isn’t Scotland already a country? 00:00:34.710 --> 00:00:37.900 The definitive answer to that question is: sort of. 00:00:37.900 --> 00:00:42.900 Technically Scotland is a country within a country known as the United Kingdom. Scotland 00:00:42.900 --> 00:00:47.150 may have its own church, its own legal system, its own professional soccer league and its 00:00:47.150 --> 00:00:51.790 own dietary idiosyncrasies, but it’s still part of the UK, which also includes the countries 00:00:51.790 --> 00:00:58.210 of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scottish people have British passports. 00:00:58.210 --> 00:01:03.739 Scotland did used to be a separate country, with its own king, James VI. Then in 1603 00:01:03.739 --> 00:01:09.299 Queen Elizabeth - not that one, this one - died without leaving an heir, and the nearest relative 00:01:09.299 --> 00:01:14.139 they could find turned out to be her cousin James. He became James I of England, while 00:01:14.139 --> 00:01:19.329 still keeping his job as James VI of Scotland. If you think that’s confusing, you ain’t 00:01:19.329 --> 00:01:20.289 heard nothing yet. 00:01:20.289 --> 00:01:24.310 England and Scotland maintained a monarch-sharing arrangement for over a century before the 00:01:24.310 --> 00:01:29.829 Acts of Union in 1707 made the two nations a single entity, with one parliament, located 00:01:29.829 --> 00:01:34.109 in London. Scotland went along with this largely because it was almost bankrupt, thanks to 00:01:34.109 --> 00:01:39.779 something called the Darien Disaster, which happened way over here and is, frankly, another 00:01:39.779 --> 00:01:41.229 story for another time. 00:01:41.229 --> 00:01:45.569 Let’s have a stirring musical interludel before we skip ahead, Way ahead. 00:01:45.569 --> 00:01:48.950 Duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh (etc) 00:01:48.950 --> 00:01:52.840 In the 1970s speculation about devolution, the notion of returning a measure of power 00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:58.099 to the Scottish government gave rise to what used to be known as the West Lothian question. 00:01:58.099 --> 00:02:02.729 For most people in the UK today the real West Lothian question is: ‘What is the West Lothian 00:02:02.729 --> 00:02:04.099 question?’ 00:02:04.099 --> 00:02:08.598 The West Lothian question named after the Scottish constituency of the MP who first 00:02:08.598 --> 00:02:13.780 asked it. To paraphrase, he basically posited a world where Scotland had its own regional 00:02:13.780 --> 00:02:18.549 parliament, but also continued to send representatives to the British parliament in London. How could 00:02:18.549 --> 00:02:23.170 it be, he asked, that Scottish MPs could vote on laws that affected only England, and yet 00:02:23.170 --> 00:02:28.370 had no vote on matters that affected Scotland? That would be totally crazy! You weren’t 00:02:28.370 --> 00:02:32.269 really meant to answer the West Lothian question; it was just there to demonstrate that a Scottish 00:02:32.269 --> 00:02:35.620 parliament couldn’t logically exist, and that if you tried to set one up the universe 00:02:35.620 --> 00:02:37.680 would disappear, or something. 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:43.340 But then in 1998, after a referendum on devolution, they did set up a Scottish Parliament, with 00:02:43.340 --> 00:02:48.579 its very own brand new building. I know, but it’s meant to be really nice on the inside. 00:02:48.579 --> 00:02:53.030 Devolution is not the same as being a separate country. The British parliament merely devolved 00:02:53.030 --> 00:02:57.430 certain powers to Scotland, rather than transferring them, and it reserved to the right to overturn 00:02:57.430 --> 00:03:01.060 any law made in the Scottish legislature. 00:03:01.060 --> 00:03:05.450 In 2011 the Scottish National Party - a party that campaigned on a pledge to hold an independence 00:03:05.450 --> 00:03:11.480 referendum - won a landslide in the Scottish parliament. The SNP leader - this man, Alex 00:03:11.480 --> 00:03:15.719 Salmond (you don’t pronounce the L, like with the fish) - became Scotland’s First 00:03:15.719 --> 00:03:20.599 Minister, and promised a referendum within the election cycle. In 2012 British Prime 00:03:20.599 --> 00:03:24.230 Minister David Cameron finally agreed to a legally-binding referendum, saying: “This 00:03:24.230 --> 00:03:29.340 United Kingdom can never hold a country within it without its consent.” What he meant was: 00:03:29.340 --> 00:03:34.090 “I’m allowing this because it’s certain to fail”. Polls consistently showed that 00:03:34.090 --> 00:03:37.269 only a minority of Scots would vote for actual independence. 00:03:37.269 --> 00:03:41.480 A Yes Campaign was set up, and also a No campaign, which isn’t called the No Campaign, because 00:03:41.480 --> 00:03:45.939 that would sound a bit negative. Instead it’s called Better Together, which is arguably 00:03:45.939 --> 00:03:46.680 worse. 00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:51.379 Those is Yes camp include Alex Salmond and the SNP, and also the Scottish Green Party, 00:03:51.379 --> 00:03:56.560 the Scottish Socialist Party, possibly Rupert Murdoch, Sir Sean Connery and both of the 00:03:56.560 --> 00:03:56.959 Proclaimers. 00:03:56.959 --> 00:04:02.150 The No camp includes all three main political parties, Harry Potter author JK Rowling, Susan 00:04:02.150 --> 00:04:07.749 Boyle, one of the Dr Whos, and a majority of the people in the rest of the UK, who don’t 00:04:07.749 --> 00:04:09.310 get a vote. 00:04:09.310 --> 00:04:15.129 Those conspicuously offering no opinion include Andy Murray, Billy Connelly and the Queen. 00:04:15.129 --> 00:04:19.510 Recently the no camp's comfortable lead has eroded and a lot of questions that nobody 00:04:19.510 --> 00:04:24.040 had ever answered satisfactorily have suddenly become interesting to people. 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:28.660 Questions like: if it were independent, what would Scotland use for money? What about Scottish 00:04:28.660 --> 00:04:33.630 passports? Would Scotland be able to join the EU? Or NATO? And what will they call the 00:04:33.630 --> 00:04:37.630 rest of the UK if Scotland leaves? At the moment they’re are literally calling it 00:04:37.630 --> 00:04:42.820 “the rest of the UK” or rUK for short, which gives you an idea how much thought has 00:04:42.820 --> 00:04:44.860 gone into the whole business. 00:04:44.860 --> 00:04:51.790 The real question is: will Scotland be better off as an independent country, or would it 00:04:51.790 --> 00:00:00.000 be an economic disaster. And the real answer is nobody knows... because it’s the future.