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Anniversary focuses attention on Scottish independence

With barely the raising of a glass, Scotland is preparing to mark 300 years since accepting the Treaty of Union with England -- which bound the two countries together and gave the world Great Britain.

The anniversary on Tuesday of the Scottish parliament's voting to accept the treaty is focusing attention on growing discord, with advocates of Scottish independence gaining strength in their campaign for a referendum on breaking the union.

"This treaty can and will be undone and at the moment there is a wellspring of Scottish nationalism," said Murray Ritchie, former political editor of the Herald newspaper and convener of the Scottish Independence Convention.

"What we need is a referendum to settle the issue of independence," he said.

The Union has been contested since 1707, when mobs took to the streets of Edinburgh and Glasgow as news of the vote spread.

Though Scotland's parliament dissolved, the country maintained much of its national identity, its own legal and education systems and its own religion -- Presbyterianism, although Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the Church of Scotland.

Scotland's most famous poet, Robert Burns, labeled those who voted for union as a "parcel of rogues" -- but recent books by historians and academics argue Scotland prospered as a junior partner in the British Empire.

The tricentenary, and the strong opinion poll standings of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), have given the topic a fresh impetus for Scotland's population of 5 million.

Even Christopher Smout, the queen's official historian for Scotland and emeritus professor of history at St. Andrews University, said that independence is "perfectly feasible."

Smout said the English were "completely indifferent to whether or not the union remains in its current form."

"Although I do think the queen would be sorry," he said.

He said most Scots cared little for concerns over liberty, democracy or nationalism, claiming the debate would come "down to simple straightforward taxation."

"They don't want to pay a few more pennies in the pound on tax as they probably would under independence," Smout said.

Some of England's 50 million people grumble that Scotland effectively rules the UK -- bemoaning the abundance of Scottish lawmakers in high-ranking positions and the key factor Scottish polling districts play in determining national elections.

Prime Minister Tony Blair was born in Edinburgh, while Scotsman and Chancellor of the Exchequer (Treasury chief) Gordon Brown is almost certain to succeed Blair in office by September. The only potential challenger would be another Scot -- Home Secretary John Reid.

Brown, writing in the Daily Telegraph newspaper on Saturday, warned against what he called a "dangerous drift" toward separation and called for the union between England and Scotland to be made stronger.

"It is now time for supporters of the union to speak up, to resist any drift towards a balkanization of Britain, and to acknowledge Great Britain for the success it has been and is -- a model for the world of how nations cannot only live side by side, but be stronger together but weaker apart," Brown wrote in the newspaper.

Some opposition parties have long expressed concern that a party could run second in England in a British national poll, but still win to become the majority party in parliament -- and thus govern England -- on the strength of winning Scottish districts.

They also contest the anomaly which allows Scottish lawmakers at Westminster to vote on English domestic affairs, while English lawmakers have no right to contribute to debate at Holyrood, Scotland's parliament.

As Scots ponder the prospect of going it alone, the English also appear disillusioned with the union.

An opinion poll for the Daily Mail newspaper on Friday showed that 51 percent of Scots wanted independence while 48 percent of English approved of Scottish independence. The poll of 1,428 people, 545 in Scotland and 883 in England, was carried out by ICM between Jan. 5 and Jan. 7. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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