Rebirth of England.

Chapter 979 Independence Referendum
“Yes, we have successfully achieved our set goals. Currently, the fundraising scale of the Vision Fund and the European Wealth Fund has exceeded more than 80% of the planned scale.”

The time came to 2014. After New Year's Day, Daisy reported this good news to Barron.

The two funds that Barron plans to establish, namely the Vision Fund for investing in emerging markets and the European Wealth Fund for investing in the European market, are currently going through a very smooth fundraising process and are expected to complete their fundraising plans of US$1 billion and EUR 1000 billion respectively before the end of January.

As for the managers of the two funds, they have already been determined. The CEO of the Vision Fund is Heidi Collins, who was recommended by Daisy. She is 41 years old and was once in charge of the investment department of Standard Chartered Bank in Asia. Later, she joined the DS Group and has been Daisy's assistant. According to Daisy's evaluation, Heidi has rich experience in corporate management, a global strategic vision, and is very good at communicating with people. Therefore, she is qualified for the position of CEO of the Vision Fund with a total fund size of up to US$1000 billion.

The CEO of the European Wealth Fund is Gerard Reynolds, who was recommended by Ashley Webb. Gerard was born into a once prominent aristocratic family in France. Although his family's financial situation is not as good as before, he still has certain connections in Europe. In addition, as the second son in the family, Gerard's personal ability is also very strong. He has participated in many mergers and acquisitions of William Webb Capital before.

After raising funds, the two super funds will then need to spend the money and invest it.

The Vision Fund is easier to deal with. After all, based on Barron's experience, there are still many investment opportunities in emerging markets.

But the European Wealth Fund…

In addition to participating in the acquisition of two Italian banks by Eurobank, Barron's request to Gerard Reynolds is to first study Europe's basic livelihood industries, including electricity, gas, water, logistics and other industries, and list companies suitable for investment or acquisition...

In addition, the target will be on Europe's high-tech industries, including precision manufacturing, semiconductors and other industries.

After all, he understood that in many common industries, especially manufacturing, it would be difficult for Europe to compete with China in the future.

Over a certain period of time, the decline of Europe is inevitable, so as an investment, Barron can only choose industries that are more stable and less susceptible to this decline.

……

"According to the latest opinion poll, 30% of the people in Scotland strongly support independence, 51% do not support independence, and 19% have no definite intention..."

While having breakfast in the morning, Bonnie was flipping through the newspaper and casually told Barron about what the newspaper was saying about the Scottish independence referendum.

Yes, there will be an independence referendum in Scotland on September 9 this year...

Since this matter was confirmed in 2012, it has often become a hot topic in the UK.

In fact, apart from the thousands of years of historical disputes between Scotland and England, the reason why Scotland clamors for independence from England every once in a while is nothing more than interests...

It can be said that Britain has been deindustrializing since World War II, shifting the country's industrial pillars to finance and the service industry...

But Northern Ireland and Scotland are places where British industrial manufacturing is concentrated. Unlike England, especially around London, these regions have not benefited much from the development of the British financial industry. Instead, they have suffered losses in the industry due to the process of deindustrialization, and have therefore always complained about this.

What is more important is the North Sea oil and gas fields owned by the UK. The blocks where they are located are right next to Scotland. It can be said that 90% of the area of ​​these oil and gas blocks belongs to Scotland.

However, Scotland can only get 10% of the profits from the North Sea oil and gas fields. This also makes the Scots think that once they separate from Britain, almost all the North Sea oil and gas fields will be able to give them 10% of the population of Britain, and their income will definitely increase significantly...

Of course, in addition to this, the Scottish government often talks about independence as a means to gain benefits from the British government. Therefore, agreeing to the Scottish independence referendum can be said to be a risk for Cameron - if the final voting result is that most Scottish people do not support independence, then you should stop making noises all day and just follow the country...

In 2007, the Scottish National Party won a larger number of seats in the Scottish Parliament in the Scottish election and formed a minority government.

You have to know that the Scottish National Party, as its name suggests, is a staunch supporter of Scottish independence...

After winning the election, the Scottish local government controlled by the Scottish National Party published a white paper titled "Choosing Scotland's Future", which outlined possible options for Scotland's future, including independence...

Faced with this situation, the Scottish Labour Party, the Scottish Conservatives and the Scottish Liberal Democrats jointly boycotted a referendum on independence as an option.

The then Prime Minister Brown also publicly opposed this independence option.

The three major political parties formed the anti-independence Kalman Commission, which reviewed devolution and considered all constitutional provisions that prevented independence.

2009年8日，苏格兰民族党宣布《2010年苏格兰公投法案》将会成为其2009至2010年度立法方案的一部分，详述这一可能进行的独立公投的问题和实施办法。

根据计划，该法案将于2010年1月25日“彭斯之夜”公布，而公投则建议于2010年11月30日“圣安德鲁日”举行。

However, due to the SNP's position as a minority government and opposition from all major parties, the bill was not passed.

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So in September 2010, the Scottish government had no choice but to announce that there would be no referendum before the 9 election.

Then, the Scottish National Party, whose slogan was to promote Scottish independence, won the 2011 election and won an absolute majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament.

Subsequently, Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond stated his desire to hold a referendum in 2014 or 2015.

After intensive discussions, the British government, the Secretary of State for Scottish Affairs and Prime Minister Cameron hinted that they wanted the British Parliament to decentralize power to hold a referendum, but disagreed with the Scottish National Party's timetable and related arrangements.

Alex Salmond and his Scottish National Party insist that the Scottish Parliament already has the power to implement a referendum and will no longer accept authoritarianism from Westminster.

Finally, on October 2012, 10, Prime Minister Cameron and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond signed the historic Edinburgh Agreement.

The agreement paves the way for a vote in the fall of 2014.

Under the provisions of the Edinburgh Agreement, this referendum on whether Scotland should leave the UK only offers a "yes/no" option and allows people aged 16 and 17 to vote. The British government grants the Scottish Parliament limited powers to hold this legal referendum under a mechanism known as "Section 30".

On November 2013, 11, the Scottish Parliament passed the Scottish Independence Referendum Act, allowing the Scots to vote on whether Scotland should become an independent country, and set the referendum date for September 14, 2014, which coincided with the 9th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn.

(End of this chapter)