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Comment by wjoe | Hacker News Reader

>My only concern for Scotland is that they wouldn't be able to gain (re-gain?) EU membership then would be left out on their own for many years. So I definitely think the Scottish leadership needs to better plan out EU entry relative to the last referendum.

Previously they said that if the UK left the EU, and Scotland left the UK, they could take on the UK's EU membership. This seems to be what they're aiming for with saying they want the referendum before the Brexit process is complete.

That said, it's never been confirmed that would actually be allowed, and with the UK government likely to trigger Article 50 this month, I'm not sure the door is even open for that. And given the EU's fairly strict and slow entry process, as you say, Scotland could be left outside of both unions for many years. I'm not sure if they'd even satisfy the EU's economic requirements on their own.

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To confirm, I don't think there's any real belief in the party or the wider independence movement that Scotland would somehow 'inherit' the UK's EU membership. The idea seems to rather be along the lines of negotiating fast-track entry into the EU. It's possible that this won't happen, but on the other hand it's worth noting that Scotland is already subject to EU rules and compliance is a much less complex issue that for a country which is entirely outside the EU.

Couldn't a speedy entry process be negotiated?

My guess though is that the EU won't be keen on the UK splitting up and thus won't encourage it by providing Scotland a quick ascension.

This is also a wonderful bargaining chip for the EU to play against Theresa May in negotiating the terms of the UK's exit.

> This is also a wonderful bargaining chip for the EU to play against Theresa May in negotiating the terms of the UK's exit.

Yup. "You lot can leave, but we'll take Scotland. Your choice."

Not to mention Gibraltar - everyone's overlooked this tiny rock, but Gibraltar is entirely dependent on EU freedom of movement and voted very heavily remain. It's not a coincidence that there was a Gibraltar diplomatic mission to the SNP conference, although I'm not entirely clear what they wanted other than solidarity against Brexit.

Maybe Spain would let in Scotland and claim Gibraltar as their own?

Why would they claim it as their own if the population is not Spanish?

Short version: look at a map.

Long version: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disputed_status_of_Gibraltar

If the population does not want to be part of the country, one cannot just annex the territory in the modern times.

Correct. That said, if the UK leaves the EU, and freedom of movement goes away, the opinions of Gibraltar's residents may change fairly rapidly.

Spain is already claiming Gibraltar as its own.

Is just that not the UK neither the people in Gibraltar want that. But yes, Gibraltar could face some problems when the UK leave the UE.

You're assuming the EU will want it.

Germans are going to face a large hike in their contributions to the EU in the next few years as the UK leaves, as the EU appears to be utterly incapable of actually spending less (despite now having diminished responsibility). That's just not in its nature.

So then Scotland comes along. The best available data says it's an economic basket case significantly worse than Greece. The UK subsidises it to a great extent for historical and cultural reasons that don't apply to Germany. Meanwhile, 40% of Scotland voted out of the EU as well.

If you're German and already questioning whether you should be subsidising lots of low productivity high debt Mediterranean countries, does the thought of waiving the entry requirements and then paying even more taxes to subsidise a new Greece appeal to you?

Don't know why this has been downvoted. It's on topic and not even a particularly controversial line of argument. I'd hate to think downvotes were happening due to prejudice, but it does seem that the left wing wants to suppress differing opinion these days.

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