A Scottish State or Scottish Republic ?

It is many years off, I know, but I am fascinated by the prospects for some kind of devolution plus for Scotland.

Of course, the ultimate option for Scotland is that it should become a sovereign state with its own elected (presumably) Head of State. There is, by the way is an intriguing question - who would be Scotland's first president in, say, ten years? I suppose Alex Salmond would be favourite, and what price Gordon Brown (suitably well into his sixties by then ? I think figurehead presidents should, on the whole, be well into their sixties). Then there are wackier choices such as Sean Connery or Billy Connelly or Lulu even.

But it now seems probable that the SNP may settle for devolution plus simply on the grounds that they will not be able to secure a yes vote for full independence. This raises some interesting and unique questions (literally unique that is). The Crown is the big problem. If the British Monarch remains the Monarch in Scotland, what is their role ? Would he/she play the same role as he/she does in the UK presently, that is be the constitutional source of the prime minister's powers ? But if a semi-independent Scotland operated under a new codified constitution, no such source is needed. Under devolution plus Scotland would undoubtedly have its own foreign policy, presumably on thr Swedish neutrality model. A codified constitution and independent foreign policy renders the need for the royal prerogative redundant. On the other hand the Monarch could be totally a token with no political or constitutional role, but merely a ceremonial one. Come to think of it, that model could work for the UK now.

Devolution plus is not federalism. Federalism imples a good deal of sovereignty remaining at the centre, i.e. London. This would clearly be uneacceptable to supporters of Scottish autonomy.

Perhaps what we are looking at is federalism plus. A system where the centre has a very limited set of sovereign powers, extending merely to control of the currency perhaps plus cross-border trade, a bit like the American 'interstate commerce' clause of the of its constitution.

This is just a series of questions really - and we haven't started on the EU yet. I have heard Scottish Nationalists refer to a Scotland under the British Crown but with an independent voice in Europe. Mmmmmmm looks problematic to me.

Having raised all these issues I think there is a real possibility here of some kind of unique constitutioonal experiment. The creation of a kind of 'sovereign state within a sovereign state' . We need to amend our traditional view of sovereignty to countenace this, but why not ?

And, while we're at it, why not Ally McCoist for President ?








http://www.hoddereducation.co.uk/Colleges/Government---Politics.aspx?mRef=CNM01.