Ruth McPherson was born and educated in Scotland but left to work in London two years ago and so has no say on whether her native country should end three centuries of union with England. Over a million Scots like McPherson living outside the land of their birth can take no part in its Sept. 18 referendum on breaking from the rest of Britain, while one in six of those who can vote were not born in Scotland. That has fuelled a debate on just what it means to be Scottish in the 21st century. “It’s ridiculous,” said McPherson, 26. Born in Inverness and brought up in nearby Elgin in the north, she studied in the capital, Edinburgh, before following generations of compatriots south of the English border for a job in publishing. “I will be a Scottish citizen if the Yes vote goes through,” she said. “It seems ridiculous that you can be a Scottish citizen without being able to take part in this decision.”
Many like her who expect to return home to live one day find it galling to be excluded from the decision, now just two months away, that will have huge and lasting implications for Scotland’s $250-billion economy and 5.2 million people.
Others, firmly settled in England or other EU countries, worry their rights in their adopted homes could be undermined by Scotland’s official intention of claiming them automatically as citizens of a new state that is not guaranteed EU membership.
That was the basis of a legal complaint to the European Commission, demanding a vote in the referendum, by expatriates who noted that Britain lets citizens living abroad vote in its national elections. The challenge, however, made little headway.
Full Article: As Scotland decides, not all Scots get a vote | Reuters.