The Anglo-Scottish border runs for 96 miles (154 km) between Marshall Meadows Bay on the east coast and the Solway Firth in the west. ... The Solway–Tweed line was legally established in 1237 by the Treaty of York between England and Scotland.
I promise not to bang on about this again, but it is in bothering me. So last time.
The official result of the Scottish Independence Referendum on a turnout of 84.6% was:
Yes 1,617,989 (44.5%)
No 2,001,926 (55.5%)
It was a while ago and I'm sure things have changed, but I'd still argue that the result was still pretty much, 'We're not sure.' And, if we have another vote, I'd be less than surprised if the result was much the same, even if it was reversed.
But I'd point out a couple of distinct outliers within the current boundaries. Those boundaries set down the best part of 800 years ago along a line roughly set out by a group of visiting Italians some centuries before that.
The percentage of those who said 'No' in Orkney and Shetland were 67.1% and 63.6% respectively. And, interestingly, those in the Borders and in Dumfries and Galloway were 66.5% and 63.6% respectively. Those furtherest away from Holyrood were the areas most determined not to leave the Union.
But my point here is really back to the arbitrary nature of the lines drawn. That and that the only real use of these lines currently is for political acrimony. For the vast, vast majority of us they are of no real consequence.
That 66.5% is on the verge of being a consensus, the 67.1% is pretty much there. That is the point at which three friends go for a curry after the pub even though one of the three would have preferred the Chinese. That is close to the point of knowing what you want.
So my question is; if we were to have another vote and the result was split again but an overall yes, but the lowland areas again had a two thirds or more in favour of staying, would the quarter of a million or so people who are closest to Northumberland and Cumbria be forced to accept the rule of a government that they did not want?