I don’t know whether the SNP thinks Scotland is a colony, but certainly many if not most independence supporters think this. They often point to a list of countries that have gained independence from the UK

and argue that none of them have ever wanted to go back. Most of these countries used to be part of the British Empire. The implication is that Scotland is too.

But there is an obvious problem with the argument that Scotland is a colony. Who are the colonisers?

A large number of Scots are like me of Irish descent. Our ancestors arrived in Scotland in large numbers in the 19th and 20th centuries. Are we the colonisers?

There are over 400,000 people living in Scotland today who were born in England. Are they the colonisers?

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