to ask where indyref Part 5 is?

[grovel]

Well?

LadyCordeliaFlyte: I'm not responding to someone who thinks that linking the Yes Campaign with the Nazis is "hilarious".

this clip has been doing the rounds and used for comparison of various people who act a bit big for their boots and are ridiculed. Its a film, with actors in it is. Its not really Hitler. Its no worse than constantly talking about socialism when in reality those policies are more akin to communism which caused the deaths of millions and ruined many societies.

I viewed it as a comparison of Salmond with a little shouty fat guy who inexplicably leaves more moderate, calm, well balanced people cowering in his wake.

For those that struggle with that but not with telling Scots they should aim to be more like Scanindinavians, I'd suggest you have a problem with taking things too literally and maybe a bit of CBT might help.

yes voters think that people should look after each other, that people need a strong welfare state, that hard work is often very poorly paid.

And Yes voters don't kick puppies either. My goodness talk about narrow minded stereotypes.

I'm not responding to someone who thinks that linking the Yes Campaign with the Nazis is "hilarious".

So you will be ignoring the poster who linked the No campaign to the BNP ( Oh of course she didn't really mean to say the BNP but some lunatic one man band nobody has ever heard of apart from that poster who I assume is pulling the splinters out that all the barrel scraping will have caused)

Re the term "white settlers", I'm not defending it but

Is that I bit like "I'm not racist/sexist/homophobic but...."

btw for those who are interested, Rory Stewart is from Crieff, and I believe he only moved to Cumbria to live in his constituency because, as a Conservative, he would have had next to no chance of becoming an MP in Scotland.

So he is an example of someone we need in Scotland who has been driven away by the political situation. You would need to ask him to explain why Holyrood didn't appeal. tbh I'd much rather listen to him than Alex Salmond blustering and bluffing.

It's not a bit of fun. It is offensive on so any levels.

Your damning indictment above of local communities in the Highlands is also not worth replying to.

I'm interested in positive, constructive debate.

Scone the white settler comments were made by my husband's relatives. The ones who think my accent is not "Scottish" enough and who told me I don't deserve to live here as I'm not " proud to be Scottish" Sorry I can't post their names and addresses on here.

weatherall you really do come out with some funny stuff.

Most unionised workers work for big companies

None of the ones I know do. I do know a lot of unionised workers work in the public sector though, and refuse collection doesn't always exactly benefit from it.

Jimmurphyshump- because the Scotsman is a unionist paper? grin

So we can add The Scotsman to The Telegraph and the Daily Mail to Papers We Are Not Allowed To read. Along with the BBC, which We Are Not Supposed To Watch. Is there anything left? Who polices this monitoring of the media, and why don't you do the same to left wing biased propaganda?

No wonder so many people in Edinburgh are no!

Well, you've written off most of the people in Edinburgh - those who work in the finance sector, those who own £265,000 plus homes, those who went to private schools, why not the rest?

Are you sure you aren't FannyFifer? She seems to hate and despise a sizeable number of her fellow Scots too. I mean, seriously. You've got a real problem there. Your argument in favour of independence seems to mainly consistent of insulting a large section of Scottish society.

Slightly off topic point, but bearing in mind a lot of the geography of the Highlands makes much of it uninhabitable/difficult to live on, is it not easier to run via a large commercial enterprise if it is to have any hope of providing a living?

Does anyone know if marginal land, by which I mean peat bogs and unimproved land full of stones, can be improved, even at great expense, to become arable land? Even if it can only grow one crop a year because its so far north? I'm not asking if its financially worth doing, I'm really interested in knowing whether its possible.

You know, if you ploughed and rotivated it, removed all big rocks, added phosphates and nitrates, whatever else it is you have to do.

LadyCordeliaFlyte Say something constructive then. How is the socialist utopia going to be paid for

I tell you one thing, it is going to mean people like Weatherall and Deeedeee working bloody hard in higher paid jobs, because its going to need a lot more tax to support it. I already pay a lot of tax, Weatherall has claimed she earns a salary which would imply it. Those of you on here who don't - you will have to get jobs which are well paid, failing which get two or possibly even three lower paid jobs, and spend all your time working for the Common Weal.

After all, socialist eutopian Scotland is not going to provide all that free childcare for nothing!

Phaedra if it makes you feel any better, being told to go and live in another country or to get out if you don't comply with someone else's rather entrenched political viewpoint is something that is said to just about anyone in Scotland, whether Scottish or not. Theres a real inability in some people to tolerate other political views. Its pretty much been a one party Labour state for years and years, many people are so entrenched left wing that they cannot actually conceptualise that anyone else might not be a communist socialist.

Again, I think its a real indictment on our Scottish education system that they are churning out people like that. You don't tend to get it in other countries. Its such an embarrassment when people behave like that. Its not an attitude that will tend to foster hard work, entrepreneuriship, philanthropism, or ironically even a common weal. More likely a common poverty or a common whingery.

Phaedra - I'm very sorry if you have had that experience. I said quite clearly in my post above that I was not defending the use of the term, and also said quite clearly that I was glad that the current revival in Highland culture and confidence is shared by people up here regardless of their roots.

I was trying, however, to explain that there have been many injustices over the past 300 years in the Highlands arising from the landownership system. Particularly in the 1800s when mass-scale evictions took place, a large number of estates were owned by English people or members of the UK establishment. I personally don't see it in terms of race but as a socio-economic problem. The system of land ownership in the Highlands is still a major block to encouraging sustainable communities (whatever their origin) and economic development in the Highlands. I personally hope that an independent Scotland would want to take steps to address that.

Yes it's possible with the planting of lupins etc and fencing off to protect from deer/sheep. Lupins being legumes are nitrogen fixing and can be used as animal fodder, green manure and as human food.

Well said statistically

Sorry, that was in reference to post from 9.03am

Chelsyhandy

You have to provide the conditions for local small businesses to prosper in the Highlands. You have to give local communities the opportunity to make the most of the natural assets nearby - whether it's forestry, fishing, small-scale agriculture, added value food processing, sites supporting tourism etc. Increasingly, skilled remote working using the potential of ICT is part of the equation but also needs public support to help it happen.

At the moment, most land and natural resources in the Highlands are owned by individuals and corporations who have the final decision as to what development can take place in an area.

Perihelion thanks for your reply. Do you think after planning lupins it can then be turned into, or rotated as arable land used for planning of say barley or oats? What I'm trying to discover is whether there is more land in the Highlands which could be farmed, as opposed to used for shooting, sheep grazing, etc.. Or is it use pretty optimal at present.

But even in arable rich East Lothian or in many other countries of the world, most land is owned by a few people or companies, isn't it? Small farms aren't generally that viable?

Thanks Wildthong

I understand that remote rural areas have potential for development as golf courses.

Perhaps the FM has a useful contact?

Ditto wildthong, I also think that was an excellent post. Thanks for that. Sorry if you we're hurt or offended, I understand your position now clearly and can respect it. I still don't agree, but as you say that is probably due to our different views of risk. I apologise for saying that you mainly seemed to talk about losing your job as your main concern. Have a nice day x

"I am the sort of person who doesn't believe promises and idealism"

Gosh - you must have a lot of trouble voting in any election. What do you do, vote for the current government every time?

"I can almost predict what side people are on. Most of the people I know who went to private schools are no voters. Most people I know with comfortable lifestyles are no voters. Hardened labour loyalists are no voters. Most of everyone else is yes."

That's not my experience at all. I know lots of affluent people who are planning to vote yes, and low income voters who are planning to vote no. If I were to try and identify a trend, I'd say that very low information voters are more likely to vote no - but that's just my personal experience, can't claim it's representative.

"Personally I've never knowingly met anyone who was in it and I'm not aware of there being any link between Better Together and the Orange Order."

Err, the fact that you, personally, don't know anyone in the OO is irrelevant. There are plenty of people who associate themselves with, or have a cultural attachment to the OO. They are an officially registered No campaigner. There are a lot of people who will vote No for nationalistic reasons.

"I haven't heard anyone from BT condemning them."

Jim Murphy has condemned them vociferously. Just goes to show that he there are troublesome parties on both sides.

The BNP and Britannica are also registered No campaigners. That's just a fact.