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> Russia and friends would seem to have an interest in Scottish independence as it undermines the UK. But so do Scottish people.
by rayiner 10mo ago
> Russia and friends would seem to have an interest in Scottish independence as it undermines the UK.
But so do Scottish people.
- master-lincoln 10mo agoObviously, but how is that relevant in the context here with the Iran internet blackout?
- 6LLvveMx2koXfwn 10mo agoPresumably only some Scottish people have an interest in undermining the UK? Latest (2024) results from YouGov suggest yes/no is 34/49 to the question 'Should Scotland be an independent country?' [1] 1. https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/Internal_IndyRef_Results_240813.pdf https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/Internal_Ind...
- laurencerowe 10mo agoMore recent results from YouGov (November 2025) put yes/no at 39/41 [1] while other polling companies put yes in the lead [2]. [1] https://ygo-assets-websites-editorial-emea.yougov.net/documents/Internal_ScotlandResults_251105.pdf https://ygo-assets-websites-editorial-emea.yougov.net/docume... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_on_Scottish_independence https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_on_Scottish_in...
- john-h-k 10mo agoOut of the 26 polls since the GE, 13 are pro indy 13 aren’t. But it’s worth noting that 9 of the 13 pro-indy polls were commissioned by strongly pro-Indy groups (The National, The Herald, STV News), which seems like it could have some selection bias.
- Shortness8 10mo agoThe Herald[1] and STV News (neutral as a broadcaster) are not strong Pro-Indy groups. The National certainly is. DOI: Scotsman not in favour of independence. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Herald_(Glasgow)#Political_stance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Herald_(Glasgow)#Political...
- 6LLvveMx2koXfwn 10mo agoI honestly wasn't trying to game my reply, I looked for the latest results on their site and clearly failed at that!
- mxmilkiib 10mo agoScotland is part of GB, so the fairly likely Northern Ireland exit will be the big blow to the "UK"
- jpfromlondon 10mo agoMoreso when Russia and friends are putting their finger on the scale. After all it certainly doesn't make economic sense.
- rayiner 10mo agoCountries aren’t just economies. Scotland was colonized by England and it’s reasonable for them to want to be independent. It’s also reasonable for them to want to remain in the UK. Trying to paint one side as the one Russia supports is an ugly way of treating a decolonization movement.
- arethuza 10mo ago"Scotland was colonized by England" That's not really true, it was a union agreed by both sides - hence the name.
- rayiner 10mo agoThe British East India Company’s colonization of India also involved negotiated treaties.
- inglor_cz 10mo agoAren't you a German? (Maybe I am mistaking you for someone else.) If so, I would like to remind you of the German saying „Nicht alles, was hinkt, ist ein Vergleich“. Your analogy is very, very stretched. One can definitely say that suppression of Highlanders after the defeat of the last Jacobite Uprising was somewhat similar to other British military actions, including those in India, but that was the standard of the day in the 18th century. Scotland was in no meaningful way "colonized". The local elite kept their power, their property, and got adequate representation in the common British Parliament, which meant real influence over the legislative process and formation of governments. Can you name any Indian MPs sitting in the Westminster back then and co-determining the next budget and the next Prime Minister? No.
- everdrive 10mo agoYes, a foreign adversary can only really leverage existing stressors. Iran could not really radicalize for an issue which the country was either totally unified on, or else is totally apathetic about.
- red-iron-pine 10mo agoagit-prop sure loves to try tho Jade Helm, Obama's tan suit, etc. most don't stick, which means you need to hammer "real" issues, even if they're only real to 10% of the population or less, e.g. "wedge issues" etc.
- everdrive 10mo agoRight. You're always going to be able to press on racial tensions, but just try manipulating the mass study of advanced calculus. The latter is just going to be impossible.
- ricardo81 10mo agoMy perspective, is Russia only sees other countries on how they can militarily respond to Russia's intentions. For Scottish independence- well Adam Smith, David Hume et al set up the modern world. There's a definite Scottish identity. For others in Scotland it's a UK identity and they still identify as Scottish.
- JumpCrisscross 10mo agoRussia's interest in Scottish independence begins and ends with the British nuclear deterrent.
- alephnerd 10mo agoSpecifically HMNB Clyde [0] - it's the only naval base in the UK that can host the Vanguard class nuclear submarines that can launch the Trident. [0] - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/locations-and-operations/bases-and-stations/hmnb-clyde https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/locations-and-operations/bases-...
- ErroneousBosh 10mo agoIf England want to house American nuclear weapons, they can house them in England. Put them in Harwich or something.
- JumpCrisscross 10mo ago> If England want to house American nuclear weapons, they can house them in England Sure. But the point is they don't. Moving nuclear weapons (and building a new submarine base) is difficult, disruptive and expensive. (Having a non-nuclear power on the same landmass as a geopolitical competitor is also nice. If there is an underlined vision of this millenium shared by the world's great and regional powers, it's that nuclear sovereignty trumps the conventional kind.)
- ErroneousBosh 10mo agoWell, they can pay us rent or something. Do you want a nuclear weapons site 20 miles from your largest city?