Following the Brexit story and quite literally, fiasco, many questions which were left unanswered, specifically those related to territories, countries and even kingdoms, are being asked again. In this case, whether Scotland will leave the UK? To answer that, we would have to look at Scotland’s history with the UK.

The First Devolution Referendum

In 1978, Scotland held a referendum in order to establish home rule. That did not go their way, unfortunately. In order for this particular referendum to be valid, at least 40% of the voters had to vote in favor of the devolution. Even though the results of the vote vere 52% for yes and 48% for no, the total turnout was 32%, which is not even close to 40% for anybody to consider challenging the decision. Scottish home rule had to wait two more decades.

The Second Devolution Referendum

In 1997, the second devolution referendum was held in order to secure Scotland home rule. This time, 74% of the electorate voted in favor of the devolution. The total turnout was almost 45% which made the UK Parliament approve the Scottish Parliament which had rule over most of the issues regarding Scotland. The parliament was formed in 1998 and had its first election in 1999 and held session for the first time in 292 years.

The Independence Referendum of 2014

In 2014, Scotland held an independence referendum, to decide whether its citizens wanted to leave or stay in the UK. The results were announced by the BBC, with 55% of voters opting to stay in the UK and 45% opting to leave. The turnout was around 85%, with around 2 million people voting to stay and 1,85 million people wanting independence. With that, Scotland is still not independent, but the story definitely does not end there.

Brexit Vote of 2016

When the Brexit vote of 2016 took place, Scottish people opted to stay in the European Union, at least, the wanted the UK to remain in the European union. 62% of the voters wanted the UK to stay in the EU, while 38% wanted otherwise. With that in mind, a proposed second independence referendum came to be. It was held off for a long time, in order for things to stabilize after Brexit. It was suggested that the referendum should be held by 2021.

Whether Scotland leaves the UK can only be answered with time, if and when a second independence referendum is held. On that note, Scotland’s relationship with the EU might change after Brexit, which is another reason why Scotland is looking into its independence from the UK. There is obvious disagreement about some major political questions which could easily be answered by an independent Scotland.