This blog has been published by the London School of Economics and Political Science here. For an irreversible change like the break-up of the UK a one-off bare majority vote is a flawed option. It is time to move the goalposts and make it clear that the UK would only recognise an independent Scotland if there were two referendum results in favour, and if the interests of the rest of the UK were safeguarded.
This is a highly English/UK biased view. Firstly there is the matter that the UK Union is supposed to be a voluntary partnership. That is, either party can walk away from it. So why should Scotland be held hostage for any potential damage to the residual UK economy if it left the Union? That is like a violent husband saying to his battered wife, you can't leave me because my finances would be worse off if you leave. Secondly, why should Scotland have to clear higher hurdles for coming out of a union than the UK did for coming out of the EU? That is blatantly unfair. It's not feasible for the UK government or any academics advocating on its behalf to say we should have the right to take back control from the EU with a single vote referendum but it's not OK for the Scottish nation to do the same in the case of the UK. And it's also not feasible for the UK government to say we can decide to have a referendum on any issue we want and at any time we want simply by agreeing this with a majority vote in the UK Parliament but Scotland mustn't be allowed to follow the same process in their Parliament.
This is a highly English/UK biased view. Firstly there is the matter that the UK Union is supposed to be a voluntary partnership. That is, either party can walk away from it. So why should Scotland be held hostage for any potential damage to the residual UK economy if it left the Union? That is like a violent husband saying to his battered wife, you can't leave me because my finances would be worse off if you leave. Secondly, why should Scotland have to clear higher hurdles for coming out of a union than the UK did for coming out of the EU? That is blatantly unfair. It's not feasible for the UK government or any academics advocating on its behalf to say we should have the right to take back control from the EU with a single vote referendum but it's not OK for the Scottish nation to do the same in the case of the UK. And it's also not feasible for the UK government to say we can decide to have a referendum on any issue we want and at any time we want simply by agreeing this with a majority vote in the UK Parliament but Scotland mustn't be allowed to follow the same process in their Parliament.