Why not liberate Scotland and then run with a conservative majority?

Thanks Colette!

You are right about the weather. Even worse when the national forecast starts "Well it's a lovely day for us all out there" when it is bucketing.

Having lived in Scotland for 18 years I can now understand why some appear to have a chip on their shoulder, all the news etc. is dictated as if London and the south east =Great Britain . Generally I find Scots a lot more open and friendly , off the subject of politics I admit

rain is a bummer though

nighbynight, what did you do to them? Did you suggest that it was their turn to pay for a round of drinks?

earthstar- I am Scottish and I agree with you! I am pro-independance, and would love to see us going it alone.

This election, to me, has proved what we have always known- that Scotland and England are neighbours, and friends, but are very different countries, with a different political outlook. I do hope that a few years of being ruled by a party that we didn't vote for will encourage more Scots to think more seriously about independance.

I feel like English government is like the overbearing husband who tells his wife "You'd be NOTHING without me! Don't forget that!" We seem to have been listeing to that for so long that most of us believe it, without actually looking at the facts and figures, and at other small nations throughout the world.

For years we were told "there is no oil worth talking about in the North Sea" then suddenly there is an oil shortage and miraculously there then IS oil there- tis a miracle!

I have no hard feelings towards English people, but having seen what happened to scotland under the last Tory government (that we didn't vote for but got anyway) I am deeply depressed about the prospect of another period of enforced Tory rule.

And I know everyone will bring up the HBOS/ BOS, but those weren't purely scottish banks- they were acting as national banks- that's like saying Halifax should bear part of the blame, as a county! I'm sure Scotland could borrow money and get into debt just as effectively as England.

I'm glad we have our own parliament, and I think if we didn't have to send MSPs to westminster that would save some cash too. Yes, we have seen a reduction in prescription fees, and a freeze in our council tax for the last 2 years. We also have a different law system, and have managed to pass laws fairly easily that are still being thrashed out in England- a smaller beaurocracy seems to be more able to get things done. So maybe England should have its own parliament- if you guys want to push for it, I won't stop you! I can see why you would want to- and at least then you could all stop chuntering about handing over the weekly housekeeping to Scotland (money that we pay in that we are then given back, like pocket money!)

Remove the chip from our shoulders.....

People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones etc.

Having lived in Scotland for a year once, and had my ear bent all year about how much they hate the english, and how we've ripped them off since the dawn of time, I find the huffing on this thread very funny.

IMO - if they want to go, let them. And if they dont want to go, perhaps they could remove that chip from their shoulders.

What's with all the anti-Scotland sentiment?

"funny accents" - well I could point out that at least most Scots say all their letters instead of dropping rs and hs everywhere, but making fun of people's differences is incredibly petty. Pathetic.

just how people talk about all the inventions Scottish people have given the world, modern medicine, bicycles, televisions, telephones, etc.

...and your dad. Get it round ye.

Is that a scottish saying?

Yeah, well, Scotland invented your dad ...

What does it mean? Is there a suggestion of illegitimacy?

yeah well Scotland invented your dad.

I am and at this thread!

I don't want Scotland to be independent. I don't want a Tory landslide thank you very much

Salmond's a very clever man. Didn't he come within a whisker of getting some sort of majority a few years back, wasn't there something about a missing ballot box caught up in fog or something that may have denied him outright victory? Can't remember the details.

Well one example of a nonsense policy is enforcing council tax freezes year after year after year, putting incredible strain on Local Government budgets. Another is the fact that they might as well completely abolish the planning system in Scotland for all the good it ever does to prevent completely inappropriate and damaging developments. Perfectly sensible local decisions overruled by ill-qualified ministers time and time and time again.

Don't think so, smallorange

But no-one is trying to force you to be a member of a union if you don't want to be, ohexpletive. Go independent if you want to. Just do it. But don't get huffy about it.

I agree. And Salmond's an economist - more trustworthy in the current climate than many of the alternatives, IMO. The SNP have done quite well under his leadership, for an "embarrassment". He's a clever man.

But I understood that if you took into account stamp duty, oil revenue, other duties etc instead of just income tax, Scotland actually pays its way.

I've always been impressed by Salmond. As he says Ireland boomed in the EU before this financial crisis. There is no reason that Scotland couldn't do better. There is a lot of talking independence down, by people who would prefer to keep Scotland in the Union.

It might be obvious that I'm not a Scot (I didn't vote Labour or SNP for a start). You only have to look at the Scottish Parliament and the embarrassment of the SNP government to see why Scotland should never be let loose on its own. The only reason the SNP can afford their populist policies is because we are subsidised from south of the border.

The terms of the OP are nonsense though - can't believe many English people would object to scotland being independent if the Scots so wanted. Liberation isn't in point...

We would struggle without the UK to prop us up, plus we have nice wildlife - is the essence of your reasoning behind keeping us as part of the Union. It's just patronising, all of it. How does me having a deer in my back yard benefit you? I think many people in Scotland want greater independence because they are fed up of being patted on the head, told we wouldn't manage on our own and described as naive. It does irk a little.