Buckingham Palace in London
Source: BBC
The UK crops up on postcards, passports, in the United Nations and the Eurovision song contest. Would its name change if Scotland says “Yes” to independence, asks Esther Webber.
In reality the country could, and probably would, continue to be known as the UK. It’s difficult to imagine a Westminster government advocating anything else.
But the suggestion that “UK” might need replacing if Scotland becomes independent after the referendum on 18 September has already led to some alternative shorthands being bandied about.
“The rest of the UK” is the handle used most commonly – it appears 293 times in the Scottish Government’s white paper on independence – but leaves England, Wales and Northern Ireland in danger of sounding like Scotland’s cast-offs. It’s also a bit of a mouthful.
Its abbreviation, rUK, is already used by Scottish universities to differentiate between students from Scotland and those from the rest of the UK in relation to tuition fees. It regularly appears in Scottish newspapers such as the Herald and Scotsman.
Categories: Europe and Australia, Scotland, UK