Is Scotland On the Brink of Splitting Up With Britain?

A referendum which will become due on the 18th of this month will decide, based on Yes/No votes, if Scotland becomes a nation independent of the UK.

There are fears of course, mirrored in a fraction of the world - Nigeria - where a similar 'divorce' was recently attempted in the famous Biafra war.

However, that isn't the major issue right now. While Alex Salmond believes it is possible to separate Scotland from the UK with not much drama, others (who lean heavily on history and its habit of repeating itself) believe that a majority 'Yes' vote will not be enough to grant Scotland its independence.

There is the issue of economic infrastructure (spiraling into billions of dollars) required to support the newly-independent Scotland (if the referendum sails through.)

Several believe it would severely affect the strength of the British Empire and that it is in everybody's best interest if Britain and Scotland remain a single entity.

Below are snippets from today's newspapers and op-ed pieces relevant to the event:

(#REUTERS) - British Prime Minister David Cameron was urged by fellow lawmakers on Wednesday to "drop everything else and fight" to keep Scotland part of the United Kingdom, two weeks before a referendum vote which polls show is becoming increasingly close.

The Sept. 18 referendum featured heavily in Cameron's weekly question and answer session in parliament, just a day after an opinion poll showing support for independence at its highest-ever level threw the fate of the United Kingdom into question.

Edward Leigh, a member of Cameron's Conservative party, said that leaders of Britain's three main political parties - all of whom are campaigning against independence - had been complacent that they would win the vote.

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From #TheGuardian: "If Britain Loses Scotland, It Would Feel Like an Amputation" -

"This decision of the Scots will affect every Briton outside Scotland. Our country will change. At its most basic, a yes vote will mean that, at a stroke, the UK will lose a third of its land mass and close to a tenth of its people. The mountains and lakes of Scotland will still be there, of course, but they will be the terrain of a foreign country. They will no longer be part of our shared inheritance. I am haunted by the words of the Czech who remembers the sensation when his country no longer included Slovakia: “It felt like an amputation.”

‘British” will become an extinct term, too baggy and ill-fitting for the rump UK left behind. The English will account for more than 90% of the population of this leftover entity, while the Welsh and Northern Irish huddle together making up the rest. We will have to let go of British and Britishness, terms long mocked for their vagueness but useful all the same. Not least for those of us from minorities, who have found living in a country defined by its very plurality, a composite of four nations from the start, easier than in most places. “British” works well next to an unseen hyphen – black British, Muslim British, Jewish British. But if Scots vote yes, we will have to learn that trick anew alongside the word “English”, a category whose history is not quite as generous."

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#Telegraph: "Scotland should not, and will not, survive alone"

"It’s a tragedy the spine of our unique nation, the England-Scotland axis, could be about to break.

With Yes and No voters seemingly entrenched, the future of the UK is now in the hands of Scotland’s “don’t knows”. A year ago, polls suggested up to a third of Scottish voters had yet to decide how they would cast their ballot. That undecided share has now fallen to just 10pc."

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