Active discussions

Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Politics
Original poster

Independence for Scotland?

59 replies

Hammerlikedaisies · 16/01/2011 19:14

First Minister Salmond thinks more people are in favour than pre 1997.

I can't make my mind up. I hate Nationalism of any sort, but independence might well be the best thing for Scotland, if you want a more peaceful, humane government - because let's face it, the Tory-Lib Coalition is no fun for anyone. On the other hand, I'd hate to break up the UK.

What do you think?

OP posts:
Original poster
Hammerlikedaisies · 16/01/2011 20:29

Without the Scottish Labour MPs, England would be delivered up to the wolves - no doubt about that.

And what would Wales do then? They'd really miss us, and then would the whole Union break up do you think?

OP posts:
claig · 16/01/2011 20:23

Without Scotland, what would happen to the Labour party? Would they ever beat the Tories in England?

Original poster
Hammerlikedaisies · 16/01/2011 20:19

In any case, by the time it happened, if it ever did, the financial crisis would be over - though we are far too reliant on the financial services industry imo.

This thing about not being represented in parliament irks me. During the eighteen-year plague that was Thatcher, I don't think we had one Tory MP from Scotland.

Equally, it seems unfair that Scottish (+ Welsh, N Irish) MPs should be allowed to vote on purely English matters and vice versa - unless of course there are repercussions for the other nations.

If Scotland did go independent, we would have a chance to choose a government we wanted, and the Labour Party north of the border is a different animal from the Westminsteristas. I hope.

Also Green issues are enormously important to us - we have a lot to lose as regards our green spaces, whereas so many of yours have already been built on.

OP posts:
claig · 16/01/2011 20:15

Switzerland, Luxembourg and Denmark do well.

doggiesayswoof · 16/01/2011 19:50

Yes.

MadameC, the UK economy has gone to the wall anyway.

I think it's flawed logic to point out individual examples of small countries which have not done well out of the recent global economic crisis and use them as a case against independence. There are other small countries out there who have not done an Iceland.

I've been in favour of independence since Thatcher.

I would prefer to be shafted economically than be part of the union any more, tbh. And actually I see no reason why it couldn't be sustainable.

carminaburana · 16/01/2011 19:41

Unless the entire population of Scotland has been asleep for the last 2 years & missed the Ireland fiasco - I'd say Scotland will be quietly tearing up the 'independence' banners.

YeButerfleogeEffete · 16/01/2011 19:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MadameCastafiore · 16/01/2011 19:26

Your economy would have gone to the wall when HBOS and RBS nearly failed!

Economically I can't understand how you would be able to support yourselves?

Chil1234 · 16/01/2011 19:22

I thought that since it was the Scottish king that cooked up the Union in the first place, it would have to be England (or the rest of the UK) that declared independence from Scotland rather than the other way around. Wink

But seriously, given what's happened to small countries like Ireland and Iceland recently, if I were a Scot considering this I'd want to be very sure that it would be going solo for the right reasons and that independence would be sustainable rather than symbolic.