to think some of the Anti Scottish rhetoric in the media due to the rise of the SNP is frankly shocking?

[ssd]

Scotland voted to stay in the UK, David Cameron and Ed Milliband wanted this, now it feels like they wish we hadnt.

Calm down folks! Until the voting system is changed to proportional representation it will always seem unfair if you get a government you didn't vote for.

You really don't like the fact there is only one Tory MP in Scotland do you Chandler. That's all I'm talking about, I have never said I want your taxes, your vote doesn't count or anything else you are ranting on about. Everyone's vote count - that's democracy for you, just so happens that same democracy is responsible for a single Tory seat in Scotland. Regarding returning MPs - well that depends on your constituency doesn't it, chances are if you vote Tory it won't matter towards who will win because the chances of a Tory candidate winning are slim.

Exactly that volupta!

Crystal, it does matter that so many voted Tory in Scotland last time round. the tories are not a total irrelevance here as the SNP like to make out. electoral boundary changes might translate that vote into more seats. It's pretty similar to the way the referendum played out, i.e. the Yes vote only had a majority in Dundee and 3 constituencies in Glasgow area, except of course that the referendum was first past the post.

I think the fact that Scotland is over-represented concerns many people - proportionally there are more MP's per person than in England.

People are scared that what they see as a minority, some of whom were very loud in their anti-Union rhetoric, are going to have an unfairly large representation and will cause chaos....

Well as I said we will soon see apintof how many Tory seats there will be in Scotland. My point was that it didn't matter to the number of MPs returned if 400,000 plus voted Tory - they still only had one seat.

I wish they'd gone too.

Who are "they" you are referring to manina?

The number of Scottish MPs at WM was actually reduced to 59 from 72 in 2005.

Chandler

Other than the football match nonsense, I have never seen any anti-English abuse here. I do have friends who are English (of course) and they say the same, although they naturally get a ribbing over football. And vice versa

Noone can argue that your experience was in any way good, but I think you are an exception. I have no doubt that you will come back ad say that this is not the case and anti Englishness is rife etc. There is no real way to counter conflicting accounts / experiences. Very different experiences.

You do sound very bitter about Scotland in general and I wish you better happiness in your new country

A very funny Paddy Ashdown on the at least equal 'danger' of the alternative coalition.

Still a great politician, far more credible than Clegg

www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AR-aBAIyaFI

starwarslegoboy You do sound very bitter about Scotland in general and I wish you better happiness in your new country

Err, thanks. Not sure what you mean by a "new country" as I flit between two different ones and have no long term plans in either, but its a nice sentiment.

I work in a city which is a bit of a mecca for Scots IT contractors, and there are various socials organised. And the main topic of conversation is how awful Scotland is becoming, how intolerant it is, and how glad we are not to be there at this moment in time. Whether or not that sounds bitter I couldn't say. I think its more a shock that the rhetoric about Scotland is always very pro this almost Utopia version of it, and it can be a shock to people who simply never hear any opposing viewpoints, hence they have to try and reason why that may be.

I think most people who are not pro-SNP tend to be much quieter than those who are.

Apologies, you give the impression that you have recently relocated from Scotland

'Quieter' is interesting.... I can't say I'm an noisier than I was as a Labour voter before I finally, and reluctantly 'switched' to Yes during the referendum campaign. Never been a Tory tho'. Are the Tories 'quieter'?

Where you live now seems not to be 'quiet' on the opinions front either, simply just that the opinions are more like your own now.

Isn't the 'quieter' bit just the middle class thing about not discussing politics and religion in polite society? Whereas 'the masses' do. Loudly.

Apologies, you give the impression that you have recently relocated from Scotland

I thought this too?

think most people who are not pro-SNP tend to be much quieter than those who are.

This I agree with. I think indy-supporters are much more visible than unionists, in a way that gives a false impression of their numbers. Going by activists, the referendum should have been a landslide Yes, but as the polls predicted the silent majority was a no.

I think this election is going to be a bit different as the polls are consistently predicting somewhere between 40-50% for the SNP.

starwars Why do your English friends 'naturally' get a ribbing about the football? In this united kingdom, why on earth is it acceptable that England's neighbouring and partner country will not support them when they are playing sport? This is exactly what I mean about it being so deeply ingrained that people don't even notice it anymore. People in Scotland will openly support whoever is playing against England at football. Or say 'anyone but England' (for goodness sake, I've even seen shops selling this 'slogan' on t-shirts!). It might seem like football 'nonsense' to you but it's entirely unacceptable as an attitude and it doesn't job stop at football but spills over into general comments and attitudes that I think most people don't even notice now. My mum is a lovely, clever person but casually tosses out racist comments about 'the English' all the time, like 'I'm not racist but it is true that the English are very arrogant'. She would never think of herself as racist and nobody around her would call her out on these types of statements (I do, obvs) because it's totally accepted in Scotland.

It's also got much worse since the nasty nationalists stirred up hatred and division. It makes me very sad that English people have had enough and are now feeling a bit anti Scottish but I can't say I blame them.

Not sure how you would like me to answer those particular accusations? Especially about your mum. Why don't you ask her?

As for Football, not that I am a fan, esp given the Rangers/Celtic thing but to 'rib' your opponent is certainly the way to go in the subculture of footie.

'Nasty Nationalists' is rather naive. Are you for real?

I always find it fascinating, that as a person with an English accent, I have never been subjected to any of this abuse which is apparently so common...

I'm English and live in Scotland. I actually have quite a few English colleagues. Is English seem to manage just fine in the frozen north . Some of us even vote SNP.

I don't recognise the intolerant totalitarian picture of Scotland being painted here. I think anti English feeling does exist but I don't think this attitude necessarily correlates with voting SNP. Sure anti-English sentiment will exist among some SNP voters but it also is evident in people who support the union. Which is odd.

The 'Anyone but England' football thing...meh. I'm English and arrogant enough to not give a fuck. And tell people so.

In my part of Scotland it's very cosmopolitan and I've never witnessed any racial abuse towards anyone be they English, Asian, Muslim, Indian, Pakistani, Chinese, Polish, African, West Indies, you name it. No-one seems to bother and we all get on great. I love it. I've lived in many parts of Scotland and find that this is replicated all over. I've lived here all my life. Can't abide the sectarianism but that's small beer and the majority of folk in Scotland would agree.

Starwars and Itsall Apologies, you give the impression that you have recently relocated from Scotland*

I thought this too?

Well, yes, I have. It was just the description of "my new country" that confused me. I haven't changed citizenship and I've not signed some pledge saying that I will spend the rest of my life here - I'm merely abroad working, as are tens of thousands of people, from all over the world. Its no big deal; its not like I've emigrated to Australia! I just don't get all this nationalistic stuff, sometimes it feels utterly irrelevant to me what country I'm actually in (its Europe, so I have the luxury of saying that). That said, I sold my house in Scotland around the time of the Referendum, and I don't think I'd buy another one there, despite being born and raised there. Why, when you have a whole host of other countries to choose from, including England? I don't really see it as a big deal - surely you go where the best jobs (and best standard of living) are?

That said, day to day life is better here, the people are nice, and its really sociable in our mix of differing nationalities, so I might well stay.

I would classify the intolerance as mainly political in nature (the nationalists will take anyone who supports them), and that in fact seems to be quite a British thing. It seems really strange when you no longer live amongst it. I also find it really strange that people insist there is "no Conservative support in Scotland" or similar, when quite clearly there is. But yes, I was actually assaulted a few years ago by a very dyed-in-the-wool Labour supporter for saying I voted Conservative, and I've been harassed by a well-known cybernat for a matter wholly unrelated to politics!

starwars Where you live now seems not to be 'quiet' on the opinions front either, simply just that the opinions are more like your own now.

Well, I hardly speak for them all! But that's the general nature of the banter, quite critical of a lot that's going on in Scotland, from an outside perspective. But that to me seems simply a normal part of the spectrum of views on a country by its natives - this idea of pretending everything is Eutopia is very odd. I remember my granny being critical of Scotland in the same way and talking about "the Scottish Nationalists" as a bunch of lunatics who would try to bring the country to a standstill a long time ago!

Another observation is that, being British gives you quite a lot of credos, in a mix of nationalities. Those from the smaller countries seem to suffer a bit of an inferiority complex and get pushed around a bit, and those from the poorer but still large countries seem resentful/envious. Generalising hugely.

What nationalistic stuff? It's you who is has a problem with the Scots it seems.

You know very well the argument re the Tories and FPTP, stop being obtuse. Noone said there were no Tories in Scotland. But the Tories def were against changing the electoral system as I recall.

The personal stuff is grim certainly and I can understand you having a big problem having been assaulted and abused. That's awful. I'm sorry though, I can't subscribe to the idea that we are all anti English bigots, although I have no doubt that some exist. There are many wankers about, including those women slapping tossers in George Sq in Glasgow after the referendum, which was ignored / or misreported by the media as being YES voters. As opposed to organised uber right wing scum.

As I said, there are always wankers but that need not cloud ones's judgement of an entire country

Calm down folks! Until the voting system is changed to proportional representation it will always seem unfair if you get a government you didn't vote for.

Jesus Christ. Do you not understand how our political system works?

My constituency MP represents me and his other constituents. If he (and by extension these days it will also be his party) keep voting for things which I affect his constituents badly and they don't like they can vote against him.

The point is that with Scottish MPs they can vote on issues which will not affect the people who vote for them so they can vote for things they know would actively harm their own constituents (if it applied to them) safe in the knowledge they will never have to face the consequences of that action via the ballot box.

It's actually almost a kind of political Apartheid. Black people couldn't vote for representatives in Apartheid South Africa so those representatives felt secure in passing laws which were punitive against black South Africans. Scottish MPs are in much the same position, being allowed to pass laws against people who are not allowed to respond via the ballot.

It's totally undemocratic and it makes me so angry that people who claim they are intelligent will ignore this because it gerrymanders to their own political preference.

Do you? I refer you to having a mandate to govern in Scotland. Try googling or looking at the many threads on here, I can't be arsed explaining again. I'm going to bed

Erm yes Wizard I'm well versed in the British political system, there is no need to be quite so confrontational about it. And you are correct in stating that an MP represents his/her constituents. But you are contradicting your argument. Yes MPs represent their constituents in Westminster, that is what they are elected to do. However because the UK general election operates on a first past the post system people will say "I got a government I never voted for". Similarly, many will get "an MP they never voted for". PR is a much fairer way of getting a broader representation of the electorate but traditionally the FPTP system is favoured because it makes things easier to administrate.
And you seem to be sensationalising things a bit. Your making out the SNP to be a bunch of monsters.

It makes me angry that people can so casually compare our imperfect but trying its best system with fucking apartheid

FFS