LONDON (CU)_The British government will move some of its operations to Scotland amid growing support for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom. Accordingly, UK’s cabinet office will set up a “second flagship HQ” in Glasgow, ministers announced on Monday (15 March).
However, the much-criticised COVID-19 pandemic response, as well as Brexit, to which majority of Scotland opposed, has led ties between Glasgow and London to be severely damaged. Moreover, those in Scotland continue to claim that policies designed in London make their day-to-day lives harder, as they do not represent their views.
Nevertheless, Britain’s cabinet office says it is developing a new headquarters in Glasgow, while the office also plans to create 500 new jobs at their existing office in East Kilbride. Moreover, a total of 1,000 more jobs will be moved to Scotland over the next four years, although their exact functions have not yet been set out.
The decision is in response to calls on the British government for more of its jobs, which are mainly based in London, to be moved elsewhere, in order to challenge the idea of London-centric policymaking.
“Not only will this bring new jobs and investment to Scotland, it will strengthen the diversity of the UK civil service, ending the Westminster knows best approach to policymaking and ensuring Scottish voices shape everything we do,” Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said in a statement.
Although Scots voted 55%-45% to remain in the United Kingdom, in a referendum held back in 2014, however, recent polls show that more people in Scotland are in favour of independence over remaining part of Britain. Therefore, Scottish nationalists are attempting to hold another referendum for Scotland’s independence after the Scottish parliament election which will be held in May.
However, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says that such votes should happen only once in a generation.
