Historic night for Scotland

abrr1de - only 24% of those in employment in scotland work in the public sector....

Five million people in some pretty landscape with the State pretty well the only employer of note.

Saying this as wife of a Scot. He is far ruder than I am about Scottish independence.

My2, I think you could be spot on with the 2014 idea - they have 5 years in power, they'll want at least a couple of years to prove themselves and to work out if independence is feasible before they hit us with a referendum

Lol at Scotland is an expensive "hobby"......

surely though Erebus that will all depend on whether there is a difference between our capped funding from Westminster and what we could bring in on our own....and until any of us see figures for that we can only guess

'London' does not need oil revenues. London would be the richest little city state in the world if it dumped Scotland, NI, Wales and the north. If London wishes to keep the Union for reasons that probably defy logic.

I doubt SNP would push for independence if they didn't think the sums stacked up. And it's not as if the Scottish people don't contribute to the cash we eventually get back from Westminster?

i also think the independance referendum will be later in their term - there's already talk of 2014 (the games, homecoming year, 700 years since bannockburn etc) so they might try to harness that good old 'i belong to scotland' feeling.

Add message | Report | Message poster JennyPiccolo Fri 06-May-11 19:24:12
i just came on to make the same point as Aitch, if England were propping us up, Cameron would be tripping over himself to ditch us.

Not necessarily. Some of us English Tories have an emotional and historic affection for the Union. It is stretched a bit thin at the moment. Scotland is an expensive hobby.

well done SNP - as a public sector worker who has worked under the tories, labout and snp - SNP are definitely the most sensible of them all.

i agree to the comments above - why if Scotland costs westminster so much is DC not jumping at the chance to cut us off?? could it be anything to at all to do with the billions they get in oil revenues??

labour and the tories suppressed for years the macrone report of 1975 which is all about scotland's oil and gas and the incredible amounts of money it makes for london - sorry i can't do links! came to light under FOI question.

www.oilofscotland.org/mccrone_oil_reports.html
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCrone_report

LadyBeagle, I'm from the Highlands too (originally, am in Stirlingshire now) and I've never known it to be anything other than a LibDem stronghold. What happened yesterday/today is astounding in terms of the gains the SNP made. I agree with the poster above who said Eck won't even think about holding the referendum any time soon, the SNP majority need to prove themselves, and they know that.

Despite the party I voted for doing so badly, I feel bizarrely optimistic tonight. The political landscape of the country has changed forever and it's up to the elected MSP's to make the very best out of the hand they've been dealt. I really hope things improve.

Erebus - Noooo! Couldn't bear it ...

A small point but surely the SNP are going to find themselves in exactly the same boat as the Lib Dems currently find themselves in- it's easy to promise all sorts of stuff from 'opposition', but it's a rather sobering moment when suddenly you're in power and actually have to make the maths add up.... see what happens to the free universities, pensioner perks, NHS guarantees once the cash from Westminster disappears.

Well said LadyBeagle, NormanTebbit and Aitch. I am proud to be a part of a multicultural Scotland - I think if you want to live here and put up with the midges and weather then you are very welcome, irrespective of your nationality. I think that my feelings are pretty normal, and since devolution anti-English feeling has lessened a lot.

I agree Aitch.

Well, as I said above I'll wait and see what happens in the future.
I'm not a Nationalist but I'm not against it either.
I'll vote for whatever is best for Scotland.
I remember the vote for devolution when i realised that we would never, ever again have a regime such as Thatcher where Scotland were totally disenfranchised.
The Scottish Goverment is the best thing that ever happened to us, independance may be the next step but I don't think we should rush into anything.

I think all of the UK countries need to start looking at making changes. For example, tourists buy souvenirs of their time here, where are they made?

Local produce, the little businesses who make souvenirs for the market don't get a look in.

There are (or were ) many multinationals up here though. there is the infrastructure. Who in the Westminster government is looking out for Scotland? Who is trying to lure companies here? No one.

notyummy, the whole world order is changing. Regardless of whether we are independent or not India and China will undercut and (from what I've read) do as many underhand business deals that is needed to keep world wages low.

We as consumers need to start making choices for industry to listen before starting on all this who can stand alone.

Scotland has to start thinking smart. We don't want another Darien project. We have to begin thinking what is right for us and working from that. People would pay higher taxes knowing it was being shared amongst 5 million rather than over 60 million!

I actually voted SNP. I am English living in Scotland.I just felt that it was the only party looking wholly at Scotland's interests. I agree with them on the NHS and tuition fees, prescriptions andi think even if they are forced to concede some things due to economic realities they start from a position that these things should be valued and protected.

The other parties too often discount Scotland or in Labour's case, rely on a knee-jerk vote from the West of Scotland. Scotland received very little in return for its loyalty from the last Labour government.

As to a referendum, let the people decide. They are grown ups.

Bizarrely, Tesco selling a Saltire celebration cake today.

i just came on to make the same point as Aitch, if England were propping us up, Cameron would be tripping over himself to ditch us.

Manufacturers in particular, and any big industry that will have to make a large investment in infrastructure to set up operations. Basically they like to ensure that their investment will be 'safe' in terms of the credit worthiness of the country they are coming to if any sort of state assistance (eg training/road building) is involved in the negotiations of the package (which it will be for many companies. )

They will set up operations in a 'second world' state where infrastructure isn't as well developed because they know they will get a very cheap (and potentially highly skilled if somewhere like India) workforce. What they DONT want is a place where the labour is not that comparatively cheap, and there is uncertainty over the future of that countr. A general election is one thing - a potential future declaration of independence is another.

re the funding thing...

wish i could find it, but there was a study done by a Harvard prof last year that demonstrated that this 'oh we prop up scotland' thing is bullshit and that if you take into account ALL the monies that go from scotland to the crown, ie VAT, road tax etc then we Scots are putting in slightly more than our share. we've pretty much been lied to by the english, it seems.which makes more sense than not, if we're so shit why didn't they ditch us long ago. they're not a sentimental bunch in westminster.

I saw that rant also LadyBeagleEyes......I'm surprised they gave it airtime.

I'm delighted that SNP have had such an astounding victory...but I hope it doesn't mean they lose sight of the good relationships they built up with certain parties before they had an overall majority.

As far as Independence goes....it will go to a referendum and it will be for the Scottish people to decide what they want...but that referendum wont take place for some time, I can guarantee that. Alec Salmond isn't daft, he knows that now is not the right time for a referendum, his administration need to further prove themselves to the Scottish people and show in detail that we can support ourselves - that aside, a referendum Bill will need to be written and consulted upon before a referendum can actually take place and that could take well over a year.