Some reflections on the monopoly of violence in Scotland

It is interesting that the other day, under pressure from protestors, the Scottish police freed refugees who had been detained by Immigration Enforcement. It raised the intriguing question : who now possesses the monopoly of violence in Scotland ? Where does state power now lie ? A few more incidents like this, and things could unravel very quickly. Perhaps this is on Michael Gove's mind as well, as he has adopted a much more emollient tone toward Scottish nationalism recently. When Scotland's independence was abolished in 1707, one of the principal causes was the collapse of the Darien scheme on the Panamanian isthmus and with it Scotland's imperial dreams, Scotland's access to global trade (and the fortunes of many propertied Scots), and England's offer of prosperity through membership of its own global trading connections and Empire. As emphasised in previous blogposts, membershiop of the EU helped to keep Scottish nationalism at bay. Now Scotland's proposed independence also has much to do with the loss of its access to a huge market and its uncertain future as part of 'Global Britain's' nebulous post-imperial commercial fantasies.