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"That's an
end to ane auld sang."
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Lord
Seafield, Chancellor, announcing the vote to dissolve
the Scottish Parliament. |
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The
Act of Union in 1707 which finally "merged" the Scottish
and English Parliaments and created "Great Britain"
was one of the most shameful pieces of International blackmail
ever carried out in the name of politics.
 |
| The original Treaty of Union |
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Scotland was broke. Bankrupted by
the ill-fated , a sceme to colonise Panama which collapsed
in 1700.
Most
Scots of any standing, including the country's Parliamentarians,
owed money, and much of it to English lenders.
Crippling
trade restrictions imposed by the English Government were strangling
Scottish trade. Half of all Scotland's exports went to England.
They
had us by the balls, and well they knew it.
After
centuries of warfare, a simple blend of economics and politics
combined to achieve what so many English Kings had failed to do.
Swallow
Scotland whole.
Many
Scots believed, with justification, that Scotland could never
prosper without the access to imperial markets which a union would
give them and that a go it alone policy was impossible given the
obstacles which the legalised bullying of the "Navigation
Acts" presented, effectively barring Scottish shipping from
operating freely in English controlled waters, which covered most
of the known world at that time.
The
die was cast. And oh so heavily loaded.
In
return for the creation of a British free trade agreement and
the retained independence of its Church, Laws and Education system,
Scotland sold its soul and its sovereignty for 30 pieces of English
silver.
The
actual sum paid to bail out the broke Scottish MP's and ensure
their compliance in voting for a unified Westminster Parliament
is believed to be around £40,000. That's in total, not each.
The
real cost to the Scottish nation and its people would be immeasurable.........
