The Colonies

I'm going to be slightly mischievous in this my first post. At least I hope it will provoke a little discussion. Especially as I will not pretend to have all the answers here, but I think this is an idea worth discussing more fully.

It has been said by the SNP that Scotland will take it's fair share of the debt. Given our population size that amounts to between 8% and 9% of the UK's debt. That seems entirely fair. Then we take everything within Scottish territory, like 90% of the UK's oil fields. These figures have been well rehearsed already. However if we are to take on our fair share of the "shared" resources and commitments then should that not mean the remaining colonies as well? Sorry, I should be a little more precise in my terminology here. The term colonies was dropped in 1981. I bet I'm not the only one to be slightly amused that that term was dropped by Thatcher. They were renamed British Dependent Territories. That was changed again in 2002 to British Overseas Territories. Much more politically correct I'm sure you'll agree. At the last count 14 of these territories remain. Before anyone tries to be funny, I'll make clear that Afghanistan (or at least parts of it) do not count towards any of the 14. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that an ardent British patriot could still claim that the sun never sets on the British Empire.
Given that the Scottish Government will negotiate a settlement with the remaining UK Government in regards to Scottish Independence, why not ask for our fair share of the Overseas Territories? Most supporters of the home rule movement will initially baulk at this suggestion. Indeed, I would have as well for all the usual reasons of being anti-imperialist, left leaning, etc etc... until I saw the list of the 14. If we take our 8% to 9% share then we should be due one of those territories. I've not made any calculations in terms of land mass or population size of the territories. But one of those territories could be a huge asset to an Independent Scotland. The one I am thinking of would have no issues in regards to governing a population or anything like that. I'm not even suggesting we get all of it, just a bit of it. A bit of it that could be negotiated as part of the separation settlement. How does a slice of the British Antarctic Territory sound?

Alex Salmond for many years now has told us that Scotland has the potential to become "the Saudi Arabia of renewables". Indeed Scotland already leads the way in developing technology in this field. Recent deals done by the First Minister around the world are testament to that fact. Having a slice of the Antarctic would be massive scientific coup for a country of Scotland's size. The Antarctic has no permanent human population. So all I am really suggesting is that we get the right to set up a scientific base there maintained by one or all of our universities. I am open minded as to how that would be funded, either by the universities themselves or maybe even some of the money saved when we get rid of Trident. Importantly though, it could have knock on benefits for our education system, especially the universities. Of course that ties into a boost for our economy. But, the primary argument here for me is (as is always the primary argument in that of Independence for me) in terms of the type of country we are trying to create. It sends out a loud message to the International community. We are striving to punch above our weight in science and education. It's the very philosophy of a nation that strives so hard at every step to be the best it can and to lead by example. That is why students from all over the world want to study at our universities. That is why businesses from all over the world want to invest in Scotland. That is why Scotland can and will be a success as an Independent Nation.