Over three centuries the union between Scotland and England has survived skirmishes, rivalries and, last year, a nail-biting referendum. But increasingly, Scotland is its own country. It will soon decide its own income-tax levels and bands, control half the receipts from the VAT sales tax and set some welfare payments. The vote may be extended in Scottish elections to 16-year-olds (in England the voting age remains 18). After its near-clean sweep of Scotland on May 7th, the emboldened Scottish National Party is out for more. The SNP, which runs Scotland's devolved government and now holds all but three of the Scottish seats in Westminster, has confronted David Cameron, the prime minister of the shaky union, with demands to set business taxes, the minimum wage and more aspects of welfare policy. Scotland, already semi-detached, would become an even more distant neighbour (see page 46).
展开▼
