Left: The Westminster Parliament in London where Scottish affairs were dealt with after the Union in 1707.

Irrespective of how the parliament came about it is clear that ordinary Scots were against it. A quote form "Scotland and Nationalism" by Chris Harvie indicates the reaction to the 1707 Act: "The union was not especially popular in either country and in Scotland it provoked rioting in the Streets of Edinburgh and almost every other town from Inverness to the borders". An English spy also recorded that the Scottish people were fifty to one against the Union. Another important factor in forcing the Scottish Parliament to accept union was the ongoing plotting by the English Parliamentarians. They had passed the "Aliens Act" in 1705 which they could use to embargo Scottish goods and to deem Scots as "aliens". This measure simply made sure that Scottish Parliament had to accept Union because if they refused the English would invoke the Aliens Act to blockade all Scottish external trade. Once the British Parliament began to function some policies were implemented that depressed Scottish trade and favoured English. For instance, the government allowed English coal to enter Ireland duty-free but Scottish coal could not. The Scottish linen industry was also adversley affected when the government put a heavy export duty on it - England's wool industry had a lighter export duty on it so it could flourish. Acts of Parliament also favoured wool production often at the expense of Scotland's linen producers. Even though there were attempts to prevent injustices, like higher taxation in Scotland's key industries, the British Government replied to protests by saying "Have we not bought the Scots and the right to tax them?".