Will/Should the UK Break Up?

Do the images on this page fill you with pride, or do they aggravate you a little - or a lot? If you are not English I believe your reaction is somewhere between “slightly irritated” to “downright angry”. In 2014, the Scottish referendum narrowly kept Scotland within the UK but it caused people in the other countries of the UK to think again about their position too. They want to have more say in how they are governed and the EU referendum has highlighted this issue even more starkly. The Scottish electorate have demonstrated that they feel about the UK government the same as the English feel about the EU government - that, basically, their views are not properly represented. • Should the UK break up and let each part go its own way? • Is there a way to greater independence of the nations but still retain the benefits of a United Kingdom? • Was the UK right to opt out of the EU? My natural instincts tell me that we are all better off if we work cooperatively with others to ensure peaceful coexistence and prosperity. But all the time that there are those in our society that feel in in some way disadvantaged by the political arrangements made in this direction, then it will not work and will cause a continual background “noise” that will disrupt the smooth functioning of society. The basic problem is that the governments of the UK and the EU are not democratic enough to satisfy their citizens.