Over the past few decades there have been many referenda in Scotland over the issue of independence from Britain. Each has had different results, but there has always been a fairly large support for Scotish independence. The main hang-up on gaining support has always been the issue of whether Scotland can support itself economically without Britain. Recently, the Scotish Finance Secretary has come out and said that "There can no longer be any argument over whether Scotland can afford to be independent." He has also used data to try to make the Scotish people realize that they aren't exactly getting a fair deal from Britain. Although Scotland makes up only 8.4% of Britain's population, they have been paying 9.6% of the country's taxes, with only 9.3% of the money comming back to them. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few years with this issue, and how it will effect Britain as a whole, as well as independence efforts in Wales and Northern Ireland.
http://news.stv.tv/scotland/300356-no-argument-that-scotland-can-afford-independence-swinney-insists/
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