Throughout history Scotland has been part of the union and is heavily supported by the United Kingdom. During the 14^th century Scotland and England formed a personal union together. Throughout the past there were many conflicts with the two countries. But in the end both England supported Scotland till the end. About month ago Scotland announced that they have the desire to become independent from the union.

The First Minister Alex Salmond, of the Scotland government, announced that Scotland does not need to be a member of the union due to the fact that they will be able to fund themselves by their oil wealth. Then they will pursue to become one of the riches countries in the world. But what they failed to see is that, on the other side of the field the United Kingdom government states that, Britain is the most powerful in political and social unions.

“Scotland’s Future is an exciting, informative and insightful vision of what an independent Scotland will be, without the controls, mistakes and unwanted, one-size-fits-all policies of Westminster governments,” said Chief Executive, Blair Jenkins

Before the polls Scotland realize that if they were to become an independent country they would lose the security that is provide by the United Kingdom, along with many other things. Scotland saw that to make a difference in their country they had to go about it a different way.

“As part of the UK we are optimally placed to maximize the potential of the North Sea for years to come. Economies of scale mean that tax breaks and decommissioning relief worth billions are attracting new investment into the province. I don’t believe such a level of influence would be possible if Scotland was independent,” said the Chairman and Managing Director of Balmoral Group Holdings Ltd, Jim Milne CBE.

As the debate went on about Scotland independence the country was able to vote if they were able to gain their independence from the union. On September, 18^th Scotland went to the polls to vote on what they seem to be the new start of their country. The poll was presented with either a yes or no. When the polls were down 43% voted yes and 56% voted no.

“Our vision is of an independent Scotland regaining its place as an equal member of the family of nations – however, we do not seek independence as an end in itself, but rather as a means to changing Scotland for the better,” said the first minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond.

FSA Connection Questions

1. What does the author state what about Britain how they are influenced throughout the article?
2. What does the word decommissioning mean in the article?
3. What two statements summarize the article?
4. What tone does the author have about Scotland independence?
5. In the article the author states what about England and Scotland relationship?