According to representatives of the approximately 6000 strong Scottish Jewish community, most of them based in Glasgow, independence will be bad for the community, who have in recent months and even weeks began to feel slightly estranged from the mainstream of Scottish life, with for the first time in many years anti-Semitism beginning to raise its head, as a result of Israel’s recent military incursions in Gaza.
The situation became especially strained in Glasgow, where the city’s mayor took it upon himself to hang a Palestinian flag over the city council chambers, to identify with the residents of Bethlehem, which has controversially been twinned with Glasgow since 2007.
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Irrespective of that particularly uncomfortable situation, most of the Scottish Jews are convinced that the implications of independence will be far from healthy for the economy at large. The number of the larger companies who have their offices based in Scotland reported to be seriously contemplating relocating their operations back into England if the vote does go in favor of independence, with at least two major financial service providers Lloyds Banking Group and Standard Life, have already hastened to reassure their worried shareholders that contingency plans are well in place, including the possibility of relocation, if Scotland does indeed vote for independence.
What may give some reassurance to those in favor of Scotland’s remaining part of the United Kingdom, as they have been for close to 500 years is that betting agencies are giving very short odds on the “Yes” vote going through, with the great incongruity among all the opinion polls being on how the “don’t knows” will finally place their votes with 16% of potential Scottish voters falling into that category.
On the international scene, paying particular attention to the outcome will undoubtedly be the Spanish government who have long had to contend with a Separatist movement of its own, in the region of Catalonia who have long striven for independence.
Political analysts predict that , in the what now seems an unlikely event that the those in favour of independence get their way, Scotland’s separation from the rest of the United Kingdom would cause major reverberations, which could yet spread across mainland Europe, with even the most optimistic predictions are that it could take several months and more likely years to allow Scotland’s independence to become a financially feasible proposition.
