So the Scotts said no. It seems like a very British near-separation, with everyone being polite and putting a positive face on it. It also seemed to be surprisingly rational. Of course, I’m watching from an ocean away, but discussion seemed to have surprisingly little delusion and dirty tricks, despite what I talked about earlier in the campaign.
People really emphasized that the no vote doesn't mean business as usual, and there has to be further devolution of power. I hope that works. Partly because it could end up with my own dear Birmingham becoming the capital of the province of West Midlands. But also because it seems that with the closer cultures, lack of language differences, and vaguer desires, Britain may actually come up with a long-term solution. No, I'm not saying that no one will want independence ever again - there'll always be hardcore separatists - but they have a chance at satisfying enough people to sap the movement of its softer support. That's if the federal government acts decisively. Prime Minister Cameron, though, doesn't seem like the grand-gesture type, so I’m guessing that reforms are headed for committee hell. And yes, I know the British don't call it the federal government; but if they're serious about devolution, they soon will, so let me be the first.
This could be interesting to watch in the future: The nations of Britain will be reassessing their role vs. the federal government. At the same time, Britain (and likely a few others) will be reassessing their membership in Europe. And Europe will be, um, trying to make things work. There’s potential for this to be a much-needed re-examination of what countries and nations are and what we want them to do. But I suspect it will be business as usual within Britain, while it caves to staunch conservatives and leaves Europe, and the EU will continue living off of Angela Merkel’s credit card.
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