This article is more than 1 year old

Scot Nationalists' march on Westminster may be GOOD for UK IT

So long as you're not a defence contractor, anyway

Immigration, visas, nukes - and FREEEEEEDOOOOOOM

One of the SNP’s most distinctive policies, which would go down well with many in IT, is its support for economic immigration including the reintroduction of the post study work visa for new graduates. It is not impossible for Scotland to have a different immigration policy: Australia’s Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme gives a better chance to skilled immigrants willing to live in remote areas such as the Northern Territory.

But given the strength of feeling against immigration among many voters, and the Conservative ambition to keep net migration below 100,000 a year, a special Scottish immigration scheme looks unlikely. In practical terms, it would be rather easier to cheat such a scheme by commuting from Glasgow to Manchester than it would be to get from Darwin to Adelaide.

One non-starter SNP policy involving technology is its vehement opposition to a new generation of Trident nuclear submarines based on the Clyde. While the party may be able to question the plans with its new MPs, it is highly unlikely that it can defeat them, given new nukes are supported by both the second-placed Labour and winning Conservative parties.

All of this would be moot in the event of a second referendum on independence in which Scots voted “yes.” After last September’s rejection of independence, the SNP said it would not seek another referendum for a generation. However, during the election campaign Sturgeon said a change of circumstances could justify an early re-run – and one may be just around the corner.

Cameron has already confirmed that the new Conservative government will hold an in-out referendum on British membership of the European Union by the end of 2017, although the prime minister will first try to negotiate a new deal with Europe. Leaving the EU would be disruptive for tech firms as well as many other businesses, as it would be likely to affect access to European markets, including the promised European digital single market. It would also stop companies from employing staff from anywhere in the EU as at present.

Scotland is generally more pro-European than England, and the SNP’s manifesto proposes that each of the UK’s four nations should have to vote in favour of leaving the EU for this to happen. Westminster is highly unlikely to agree to this, paving the way for Sturgeon to claim that a pan-UK vote to leave the EU in which Scots voted to stay would be a change of circumstances justifying another Scottish referendum.

So the UK leaving the EU could lead to Scots leaving the UK – although depending on who you talk to, a newly-independent Scotland might then have to reapply to join the EU as a new entrant.

As The Register discussed last September, Scotland leaving the UK would have a significant impact on tech firms, as well as everyone else. The UK general election, which basically saw the Conservatives winning England and the SNP winning Scotland, has shortened the odds on this coming to pass. ®

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