I vaguely remember a dispute over whether the sea boundary from Berwick should be at right-angles to the coast (leaving most of the oil in Scottish waters) or should be a continuation of the land border (which apparently heads north and would leave some oilfields in English waters). I don't know what the UN convention dictates.Tubby Isaacs wrote:Thanks. Terrible argument by Sillars though, isn't it?Eric_WLothian wrote:The rebranding of the 'Scottish Parliament' and the 'Scottish Executive', as set up in the Scotland Act of 1998, into the 'Scottish Government' was just that - rebranding.Tubby Isaacs wrote:Actually talking of Jim Sillars, he's called Brown a liar on the NHS in Scotland.
His letter to the Daily Record looks like bollocks to me.
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Note the lack of quote that the UK can do anything it likes with Scotland. Nor does moving the sea boundaries prove it can, any more than the UK army closing a base would. Some things are explicitly UK with devolution as everyone knows.
And this sea transfer, per the standing order, was before the Scottish Parliament opened.
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But I think the YES side might have a point on TTIP. The EU has lots of regions in it- do they get their own vetoes?
Strictly speaking, Holyrood is not the home of the Scottish Government - the latter sits in Westminster. Holyrood is a devolved parliament with authority over such matters as are authorised in Westminster - so technically, Jim Sillars could be correct. There is provision in the Scotland Act for the Queen/Parliament to vary the areas that are reserved or devolved so they could, in theory, reserve everything and declare MSPs redundant. (Having said that, I believe the Act of Union guarantees that education and law remain separate from England).
The sea boundaries are a constitutional (reserved) matter.
A anti-Nat site I saw said that the boundaries were being drawn in line with UN convention. Is that right? And wouldn't it go in the same place with independence?
I think the government also legislated to take Rockall out of Scottish jurisdiction!