"Scotland pushes for independence from UK; Prospectus for new state retains bonds to Britain" by Alan Cowell | New York Times, November 27, 2013
LONDON — Raising the stakes in its struggle for independence in advance of a referendum next year, the Scottish government Tuesday unveiled a voluminous prospectus for a new state with its own embassies and identity, but retaining significant bonds to Britain including a common currency, the pound, and allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II as head of state.
The new nation would strike out on its own in defense and its relationship with Europe, expelling British nuclear submarines from their current Scottish bases and seeking separate membership in NATO and the 28-nation European Union.”
Why would you want to join that economy-killing organization??
Related: Sunday Globe Special: Europe Splitting Apart
The 670-page document's publication, 10 months before a referendum Sept. 18, seemed designed to encourage greater support among Scotland’s 5 million people, many of whom, according to opinion surveys, are undecided or opposed to independence....
The latest survey in The Sunday Times of London said 47 percent of Scottish voters are opposed to leaving the United Kingdom, 38 percent are in favor, and 15 percent were undecided. “If we vote no, Scotland stands still,” the document said. “A once-in-a-generation opportunity to follow a different path, and choose a new and better direction for our nation, is lost. Decisions about Scotland would remain in the hands of others.”
But approval would mean that “the most important decisions about our economy and society will be taken by the people who care most about Scotland, that is by the people of Scotland.”
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Scottish leaders have already said they want independence to come on March 24, 2016 — a historic date commemorating key steps in the fusion of England and Scotland centuries ago.
The drive for independence has been led by Alex Salmond, the head of the Scottish National Party that dominates the Scottish authority, which has its own government and Parliament under longstanding constitutional measures to grant limited powers to Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland....
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Related:
"REARING THEIR HEADS -- Artist Andy Scott led a Clydesdale during a ceremony marking the completion of his sculpture, the Kelpies, in Falkirk, Scotland. At nearly 100 feet tall, the project is the world's largest pair of equine sculptures (Boston Globe November 28 2013)."
"Helicopter crashes into Scottish pub" Associated Press, November 30, 2013
LONDON — A helicopter late Friday night slammed into the roof of a crowded Glasgow pub, causing numerous casualties and trapping people in the unstable building, officials said early Saturday.
Authorities said they had made contact with people still inside The Clutha pub in the city center. They said some people had been taken to hospitals but it was too soon to give a number of injured. Witnesses spoke of people streaming out of the building covered in blood, with gashes and other injuries.
‘‘Given an incident of this scale we must all prepare ourselves for the likelihood of fatalities,’’ Scotland’s leader, Alex Salmond, said on his official Twitter account.
Television images showed what appeared to be the helicopter’s propeller sticking out of the popular one-story pub’s roof.
The crash, which took place Friday at around 10:30 p.m. local time, sent dozens of patrons fleeing through a cloud of dust.
It was unclear how many people were still inside, officials said.
A crew of three — two police officers and a civilian pilot — were aboard the Eurocopter EC135 T2, according to Scottish police. Their fate was unknown.
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Related: Terrorists in Helicopter Attack London Tower
Another type of terrorist:
"Scottish cardinal halted abuse inquiry" by Sylvia Hui | Associated Press, August 24, 2013
LONDON — A Scottish cardinal blocked an inquiry into cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic church of Scotland a year before resigning because of his own sexual misconduct, the church said Friday.
Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who resigned as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh in February after unidentified priests said he acted inappropriately toward them, objected to a church review of abuse allegations commissioned in 2011, retired archbishop of Glasgow Mario Conti said in a letter to Friday’s edition of the Catholic newspaper the Tablet....
The Scottish Catholic Church confirmed O’Brien withdrew from the inquiry in 2012, a year after it began. The church said the inquiry aimed to examine data relating to abuse in the Scottish church from 1952 to 2012. But ‘‘without the participation of all the dioceses, a ‘national audit’ was not possible, so the analysis was stopped,’’ the church said.
O’Brien, once Britain’s top Catholic leader, stepped down amid misconduct allegations.
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