--- title: White House Indicates Preference In Scottish Independence Vote description: The United States continues to have concerns about the Scottish independence efforts as Thursday's vote approaches, the White House indicated Monday. Speaking to reporters at... canonical: https://time.com/3379251/white-house-scotland-independence/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-15T18:23:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:41:37.900Z article:section: Politics og:title: White House Indicates Preference In Scottish Independence Vote og:description: The United States continues to have concerns about the Scottish independence efforts as Thursday's vote approaches, the White House indicated Monday. Speaking to reporters at... og:url: https://time.com/3379251/white-house-scotland-independence/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1ff1a80afe13351/698699fa1eebf767c9371ac4/josh-earnest.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4418 og:image:height: 2485 og:image:alt: Josh Earnest og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White House Indicates Preference In Scottish Independence Vote twitter:description: The United States continues to have concerns about the Scottish independence efforts as Thursday's vote approaches, the White House indicated Monday. Speaking to reporters at... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1ff1a80afe13351/698699fa1eebf767c9371ac4/josh-earnest.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House Indicates Preference In Scottish Independence Vote > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Besides Scotland, Where Else is Secession Possible? [Watch (HLS stream): Besides Scotland, Where Else is Secession Possible?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hWa6FEa5.m3u8) (2:35)  _Published 2014-09-16. Scotland holds a referendum on September 18th to decide if they want to break away from the UK and be an independent country, but who else have they inspired?_ by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Sep 15, 2014 6:23 PM UTC  White House press secretary Josh Earnest speaks to the media during the daily briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House White House press secretary Josh Earnest speaks to the media during the daily briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House Pablo Martinez Monsivais—AP by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Sep 15, 2014 6:23 PM UTC The United States continues to have concerns about the Scottish independence efforts as Thursday’s vote approaches, the White House indicated Monday. Speaking to reporters at the daily press briefing, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said it was up to the people of Scotland to decide their fate in this week’s referendum, but that the U.S. has a “deep interest” in a united United Kingdom. “This is a decision for the people of Scotland to make,” Earnest said. “We certainly respect the right of individual Scots to make a decision along these lines. But, you know, as the president himself said, we have an interest in seeing the United Kingdom remain strong, robust, united and an effective partner.” In at a press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron in June, President Barack Obama said “we obviously have a deep interest in making sure that one of the closest allies that we will ever have remains strong, robust, united, and an effective partner. But ultimately these are decisions that are to be made by the folks there.” Earnest would not explicitly state that the U.S. opposes the effort to create the first independent Scotland in 307 years, saying ” I will certainly respect their right to cast their own ballot without interference from people on the outside.” Polls paint a conflicting picture leading into Thursday’s ballot, though the voting is expected to be close. The United States has enjoyed a “special relationship” with the United Kingdom since the end of World War II. Earnest said that some elements of the U.S. government were considering the implications of a potential independent Scotland on the relationship. “I suspect that there’s somebody at the administration who’s been thinking about that at some level,” he said. “I don’t know to what level it has risen.” ## Transcript This week, residents of Scotland will go to the polls to answer a simple question: should the country become fully independent? Yes! Right now polls are split and the vote seems likely to go down to the wire. The ramifications of an independent Scotland will go well beyond the British Isles. [ MUSIC ] A yes vote in Scotland would definitely encourage other separatist groups around the world that would like to become independent. The residence of Catalonia, which is a region in the northwestern Spain that includes Barcelona, is set for an independence referendum on November 9th. Unlike the Scottish wrote though, the Catalonia one is going against the wishes of the spanish Government. The Catalonians can be just the beginning. The European Union, which is a block made up of 28 different countries, is already under pressure because of economic policies following the 2008 recession. An independent Scotland could encourage Baske and Spain, Flesmslimoulin and Belgium [ UNKNOWN ] And Corcia is in France and that's just the beginning. The small cession movement in the state of Texas is looking to Scotland for support as are the Quebecers in Canada. If Scotland can become independent, why shouldn't they? For the majority of the British people in [ CROSSTALK ]. And without Scotland, what's left of the United Kingdom is much more likely to pull out of the European Union, which could doom the EU altogether. A dismembered Great Britain would also be a much weaker one. Without Scotland, the United Kingdom will lose a third of its land mass and millions of its citizen. Great Britain has often been an American ally and a major player on the world's stage. But would be a much harder role to play without Scotland. It may not even be a nuclear power any longer. Great Britain's nuclear deterrent was made made up of missile carrying submarines in their base in the Scottish port of Fast Lane. This is totally different to a general election. Conservative British Prime Minister David Cameron has made a major push against independence in recent days. Well before [ UNKNOWN ] resigned of Scotland votes yes. England. The political turmoil resulting from a yes vote will [ UNKNOWN ] everything from oil revenues to the salmon fisheries that are shared by England and Scotland still need to be decided will almost certainly have an economic cost. There would likely be a major one. There are estimates that if Scottish independence causes Britain to leave the EU, economic growth in the country could decline by billions upon billions of Dollars over the next decade, and it's likely to be even worse for an independent Scotland. The country won't be able to control its own currency, it'll still be using the British Pound. 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