Independent Scotland?

Not getting involved in this one Shiney.

Just like to say that I think England should get in there first, and go independent, before they do.

 

I'm with Pete. Don't want to get stuck in on this one! I think the Scots, and the Welsh for that matter, should have whatever form of government they want. I love both countries - and countries they are, with their own culture and identity. Mind you, I sometimes think there is a strong argument for declaring the South East an independent state. No universally free tuition or prescriptions down here, even though we foot the bulk of the tax bill.

 

I can believe it, Shiney!

 

I did not vote for SNP, as far as i know legally the SNP can hold a Referendum but if the outcome is a majority for Independence the result has to be approved by the Westminster Parliament. personally i think there wont be a Referendum for 3134Karen the people of Scotland will be opposed to Independence on Referendum Day.the reason why SNP won so many seats this time was the collapse of the LIB/DEM vote. there were a great many disgruntled LIB/DEM voters making a protest vote against Mr Clegg and co and voted SNP.

Its a question of watch this space .

 

My view is, if Scotland, Wales, or even Ireland for that matter, want to become independent, they should do so, as long as they can fund themselves.

 

The problem with the S.N.P Manifesto is the sums do not add up.
Free Prescriptions, Council Tax Frozen For 5 yrs, free Tuition fees, where is the money going to come from. Free Prescriptions, They have started already changing peoples medicines to cheaper brands which are inefficient/inferior. Council Tax Frozen for 5 yrs, the service's are being cut as we speak. bin collections are being cut,libraries staff being cut ,hours being cut etc. Free Tuition Fees . .

 

Last I heard, the SNP were talking about raising our taxes to pay for these things, if they had the opportunity to do so - which they do now...
I don't see how they can freeze our council tax - the Tory/LibDems have left local councils with huge budget shortfalls, if our council tax went up by a few pounds a month, this would help bridge the gap, and save essential services like Education, and cleansing.

 

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republic of ireland is free ( sponsored by EU and UK money), the north is enslaved to the UK.


one small matter if we go indie, who is going to supply the men and women, boys and girls to fight and die in our wars?

The Scots reg have just returned from Afg, the Irish a few weeks ago and one of the Welsh regs some time ago!

Me, I like the idea of this slightly disunited kingdom!

Ps. when is Offa's Dyke and Hadrains Wall going to be rebuilt as well as the Watford Gap filled in???????

 

Some very perceptive comments you've made Shiney!
Here's my view, as a sassenach who has now lived up here for 50+ years.
The growth in the SNP support has been in no small part due to a feeling, right or wrong, of marginalisation and a feeling that Scotland wanted its voice to be listened to rather than brushed off as just a whisper from the 10% of UK voters north of Hadrian's wall. The conservative vote up here in rural areas was very largely based on the old feudal system where the tennants voted as the laird dictated. This has been slowly changing over the last 30 years and accelerated when the Blessed Mrs T decided to use Scotland as test bed for the poll tax.
The labour vote has been steadily declining in line with with loss of our traditional labour intensive industries - ship building, heavy industry and mining and the associated trades unions. Disenchantment with Tony B and Gordon B didn't help much either.
The lib-dem vote this time round evaporated due to what previous lib-dem voters saw as a sell out of lib-dem principles.
As far as the future is concerned I'd very much doubt if there would be any majority support for full independence and I think the economics, apart from any other considerations, wouldn't stand up to close scrutiny.

The SNP victory should be seen as a poke in the eye for Westminster and as " Hey, watch out, because we're watching you and we've just discovered that our votes do really count"

 

There were some interesting letters in the papers yesterday, raising questions such as: would an independent Scotland take on a proportion of the UK's national debt, and if so, how much? What would happen to Scottish banks which are still partly owned by UK taxpayers? What would happen to the defence of Scotland? One correspondent maintains (I have no idea whether or not this is true) that according the international rules on boundaries, a fair proportion of the oil reserves fall into English waters!

 

I'm an emigre originally from the Peak District who has been in Scotland for the last twenty years. I'd have to say my assessment is similar to Dave's. Most of my Scottish friends have no desire for an independent Scotland in the slightest but they are very disenchanted with the Lib Dem's which is what's come across in the recent election.