alfrombarking

Well, apart from the other one who is unelected and has so much influence over us.

This Union "thingy" is becoming more and more unsustainable.

Either way she and her army got us by our balls and there's nothing we can do

SNP's Nicola Sturgeon tells Ed Miliband 'we'll call the shots now' | Daily Mail Online

Johnnyboy11

I believe Scottish Independence is inevitable, and will likely happen in the next 10 years. Devolution > Devolution Max > Independence. There is only one direction of travel and already 45% of voters have started that journey, including myself. Whether you agree with Salmond or not, he ran a fantastic campaign and caused panic amongst the British establishment. Years of Labour dominance in Scotland's Central Belt have left the entire country in a social and economic mess.

Do the Qatari's send their gas revenues to Saudi for redistribution? No, and look at their booming economy and overseas asset purchases. Do the Norwegians send their oil & gas revenues to Brussels for redistribution? No, and look at their sovereign wealth fund. Do the Scots send their oil & gas revenues to Westminster for redistribution? Yes, and look at the social and economic disparity between London and Glasgow.

That said, I remain highly sceptical of SNP policies, particularly regarding the redistribution of wealth (LBTT example), bloated public sector, energy, defence, immigration, EU, just about every aspect.

I will vote again next month, one way or another, and probably UKIP. I sincerely hope Lib/Lab/Con get routed and there is profound political change. Good luck to Nicola Sturgeon come May 7th.

[J]

mikewot

And the majority of Scots (55%) said NO! It is not inevitable because most Scots are intelligent enough not to believe the haverings of 'Team Scotland', the SNP. The biggest unanswered questions being around money. Where is the money coming from to turn Scotland into the land of milk and honey they promise?

scot47

Do not fall for the "Austerity" line of the main parties. It did not work in 1931 and is not working now

Could These 3 Simple Changes to Banking Fix the Economy?

mikewot

You are conflating this 'austerity' with something completely different. It is a simple question. How does an independent Scotland support itself financially? Already we have seen oil prices drop like a stone and whisky export receipts similarly drop. Where is the money coming from if Scotland decided to cut the umbilical cord to London?

scot47

I do not believe the hogwash that I read in the Daily Mail. Do you ?

The Economy of an independent Scotland | The Wee Blue Book

DXBtoDOH

Qatar and Saudi are two separate, independent and self governing nations, no?

Scotland and England are two components of one larger nation called the United Kingdom. Using your argument one could claim that all revenues generated by London and the Southeast, which is substantial, should stay only in London and the Southeast and not be redistributed to the rest of the country, including Scotland. But that's not how nations work. The North Sea oil was UK oil, in UK territorial waters, developed by the UK government, that it happened to be off the coast of Scotland is meaningless. The Norwegian oil wealth is used for the benefit of all of Norway, not just the areas immediately adjacent to the oil fields.

The sentiment that somehow the oil was "created" by hardworking Scots only for it to be stolen by the nasty English is rather bizarre.

scot47

I do not fall for the notion that in Scotland we depend on subsidies from our generous imperial masters in London.

Let's make a deal. You can have Trident AND the House of Lords, and we will run the show in Scotland for ourselves !

We will start with FFA - Full Fiscal Autonomy !

alfrombarking

or Everything except Defence and Foreign Affairs

mikewot

I guess you've never heard of the Barnett Formula.

scot47

Which they plan to scrap anyway !

We live in interesting times. As for the question of public finance, how did HMG raise the money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ? Is it not strange that Defence Expenditure is just magicked up by some kind of sorcery but other spending is simply not feasible ?

The sooner we escape from the putrid remains of the Empire the better ! As I said we can leave you Trident - if you find a place to park it - and the House of Lords, with its inmates.

DXBtoDOH

What's this bullshite?

Imperial masters in London?

You mean, people Scotland voted for? Like Tony Blair or Gordon Brown? The same men who led Britain into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?

While I can see some Scottish desire for independence on the notion that the Scots were once an independent people, and that a government in Scotland would be more directly accountable to the Scottish people, when people start moaning about "imperial overlords" in Westminster as if Scotland was a conquered colony and that the Scots had no electoral rights or representation or input in Westminster policies, that's when I lose all sympathies.

scot47

Hyperbole. Understandable when our critics are screaming "Treason" at every opportunity !

mikewot

Treason? It is not the 'no' voters who formed 'team Scotland' as if we were the traitors. You sometimes talk a lot of pish.
I really really hope we are not going to end up with neverendums.

DXBtoDOH

It's hyperbole to point out that Scotland voted for Blair by a thumping great majority in how many consecutive elections and wholly backed Gordon Brown, despite a highly unpopular war in Iraq? Where was the talk of imperialist overlords in London during the Blair and Brown days?

But when a different party comes to power, somehow it's a direct affront and now there's rantings of imperialist overlords in Westminster?