Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul M
What will the UK become if Scotland leaves ? The Slightly Less United Kingdom ?
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According to one leading Scottish legal expert "
What was created by the Treaty of 1706 and the Acts (Scottish and English) of 1707 was a new legal entity referred to as Great Britain. It was the Act of Union of 1800 that created for the first time a legal entity known as "the United Kingdom" -- namely the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (now the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). If Scotland achieves independence, it is not "United Kingdom" that will have to cease to be used by the remainder, but "Great Britain". It is Great Britain that Scotland and England formed in 1707 and it is Great Britain that will cease to exist if that union is severed. There is no reason whatever why the remainder should not continue to be called the United Kingdom or UK, but the full title would have to be changed to something like "the United Kingdom of England (?and Wales) and Northern Ireland".