Scottish Election Could Boost Independence Movement - The New York Times

If the pro-independence vote surges in Thursday’s elections for the Scottish Parliament, momentum for an another referendum on independence may become unstoppable.

When Scottish voters go to the polls to elect 129 members of Scotland’s Parliament, strictly speaking the question of independence will not be on the ballot.

The end of the union with England is no foregone conclusion, for as these images show, Scotland is divided both over its future and the prospect of another polarizing vote on independence.

After all, the question was supposed to have been settled for a generation in 2014 when 55 percent of Scots who voted in a referendum opted to preserve their union with England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In the 2016 referendum, 62 percent of Scottish voters who took part opposed leaving the European Union, only to be outnumbered by their compatriots in England and Wales and wrenched, unwillingly, out of the trading bloc.

Johnson not only proceeded with Brexit, but also brushed aside Scottish calls to keep close ties to the European Union and opted instead for a bare-bones trade deal with the bloc that has caused significant disruption.

Among the sectors worst hit by Britain’s departure from the European Union’s giant single market is the Scottish seafood industry.

Many people in fishing communities like Peterhead bucked the trend in Scotland and voted for Brexit, lured by the promise of a “sea of opportunities” for their industry outside the European Union’s fisheries rules.

The pro-independence Scottish National Party, led by the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, points to the economic damage and says she would aim to rejoin the European Union after breaking away from England.

is aiming for a rare overall majority in the Scottish Parliament to justify her calls for a second independence referendum.

Sturgeon tough questions lie ahead about whether an independent Scotland could afford the sort of social policies she favors without the support of taxpayers in England or their central bank.

Johnson, who has stayed away from Scotland, knowing that his presence would probably undercut the Conservative Party’s pitch to preserve the union.

Johnson’s cultivated English upper-class persona tends to grate on Scottish voters.

Johnson to lose a Scottish independence referendum, he would probably have to resign, and his strategy so far has simply been to reject calls for one.

And a centuries-old union could face its greatest test if a majority in Scotland, which joined voluntarily with England in 1707, thinks now is the time to think again