Not in the least. I've been keeping as up to date as I can on the issues being reported. Creating a new border is bound to come with issues but how badly they impact business and people is going to depend a lot on how it's managed and brexit has been about as badly managed as it could possibly be.
Knowing the end state in advance and having time to prepare for it would make things less fraught. Hence why even May's deal came with a transition period. Naturally even if well managed unplanned issues occur and could have negative consequences but I would expect independence to be better planned than brexit.
As you will recall, the reason May's Withdrawal Agreement was unacceptable to her party and the DUP was, if (when) the two year transition period came to an end, the UK would have to remain in a customs union with the EU precisely in order to avoid customs checks at the border between the RoI and NI.
Certainly, in the event of an independent Scotland joining the EU while the remainder of the UK remains outside, no one is going to be trying to blow up customs posts on the newly created border (or, at least, it is to be hoped they won't) but the issue of delays and customs checks will, nevertheless, be a huge issue.
For example, let's try to imagine a situation some years hence (please God, let it remain imaginary) in which the UK has left the EU and signed trade agreements with the USA and various other American countries to cover, among other things, imports of meat, poultry, and electronic goods.
This means that these imports are significantly cheaper in British supermarkets and electronics stores than they are in the EU.
It also means that, at least in some cases, meat and poultry is being offered for sale here that it would be illegal to sell in the EU because it fails to meet EU health standards (GM foods, growth enhancers, chlorine-washed chicken and so on).
Scotland, meanwhile, has voted for independence and seeks to join the EU an independent state (assuming Spain hasn't vetoed the proposal, in case it gives the Catalans and Basques the wrong idea).
How, in the subsequent arrangements, are the EU and Scottish authorities to ensure that lorries heading north across the border delivering goods to Scottish supermarkets do not contain foodstuffs banned under EU law and that the appropriate customs duties are paid on electronic goods that attract higher tariffs in the EU than do they in the UK?
What are they going to do about people living in Scotland who may wish to take advantage of lower prices on certain goods south of the border driving down to buy their new laptops and phones in Durham and Newcastle in the hope of avoiding import duties on these goods? And if they decide to buy them on eBay from English suppliers, how are the authorities going to ensure that import duties are collected and paid?
It could be done, certainly, but there's no way it could be anything like as seamless as it is them moment, while we're all one country, and it's going to be a horrible complicating factor in all negotiations over Scottish independence, since Scotland would have to be in two sets of negotiations simultaneously, one with the EU and one with the UK.
www.theguardian.com
