The Ulster-Scot independent spirit has a long pedigree and might in Scotland translate into a separatist vote

Northern Ireland unionists may feel uneasy at SNP strength in Scotland and the consequences for the Union.

But many NI unionists might vote for Scottish independence if they lived in Scotland.

Some unionists have mooted independence for Northern Ireland in the past due to mistrust of London but Northern Ireland is not economically viable on its own.

Scotland though is a different matter.

This Ulster-Scot independent spirit has a long pedigree.

The Ulster Plantations in the 1600s were the success that they were thanks to Presbyterian Scots.

That they were treated as second class citizens by the Anglo/British establishment was a grudge they took to America in the 1700s and is why they were prominent in the American Revolution against Britain resulting in the 1776 Declaration of Independence.

Recent events have increased NI unionist anger at London.

If, hypothetically, they migrated en masse to Scotland, might these Ulster-Scots vote the independence campaign indisputably across the line in a modern day Scottish version of the American Revolution thus banishing a deceitful London from their lives forever?

If yes it might suit everyone.

What are now NI unionists would find themselves under an Edinburgh government they’d have more affinity with than they ever would under a London or Dublin one; the Scots would be happy with independence; the Irish would be happy to be ‘a nation once again’; and the English would be happy no longer subsidising troublesome regions.

Problem solved – apart from finding Scottish housing and employment for a million NI unionists!

Thomas Stewart, Belfast BT4

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