AIBU to whinge about the SNP?

[SaucyJack]

I didn't vote for the SNP. Not because I didn't want to, but because I didn't have the option as I live in England.

Yet they now have the third biggest say on policies that directly affect me.

Is this fair and democratic?

"At least Scotland has a unified voice"

I don't feel like my voice has been heard in Scotland, or that my vote counted. Nor do I feel that my MP will be representing me.

Though, that last point applies to pretty much anyone whose MP is not from the party they support. The party whip system in the House of Commons, and the fact that most MPs vote the party line the vast majority of the time, means that MPs are generally there to serve the interests of their party, whoever they are, and not the interests of their constituents, unless they happen to be in line with the party line.

"At least Scotland has a unified voice"

I' sure Orkney and Shetland will appreciate you for saying that.

I hear what you're saying Float but think you're missing a nuance about her comments on Celtic. That's not just saying you don't like a football team, that's saying a whole lot more. But I don't want to derail the thread and yes, it is generally good to see young women engaging in politics.

Fptp has worked against the SNP for 80 years.

"So you don't think scotland should have a say in their own country? over half the english have a say on what happens in scotland! YABU! hugely."

No, you're completely missing the point. Scotland can elect who it likes to do what it likes in Scotland. They can paint Edinburgh Castle pink and lilac if they want to, 'tis no skin off my nose.

But this is the first time in modern political history that we've had a party holding significant power in the UK parliament that 90% of the electorate had no say in voting for, or whose interests are represented by.

It clearly isn't a problem for some (not sure I even care that much- NS seems to have more integrity than everyone put together), but it's Not Democracy goddammit.

It's a horrendously un-democratic result. We need electoral reform Ladies.......sign the petition
www.change.org/p/david-cameron-reform-our-voting-system-to-make-it-fair-and-representative-makeseatsmatchvotes?recruiter=41174545&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=share_page&utm_term=des-lg-action_alert-custom_msg&fb_ref=Default

The continual mention of Scotland as "they" through media and forums, saddens me. It always seems so passive aggressive.

Gosh, just wanted to say that the Northern Irish never get any say in UK elections, they just have to like it or lump it.

I find it bizarre that the English now want to blame the Scots because Labour didn't get into power.

I'm in Scotland and voted Conservative. I'm pissed off too.

Some of SNP MPs are laughable in their credentials. I almost voted Labour as a tactic to keep the SNP out, but realised that was going to be pointless.

I think the party have been hugely irresponsible in putting some of those candidates forward. I can't believe they can get away with doing that.

The SNP seem to take the credit for everything and the blame for nothing.

Whaa whaa whaa whaa

I'm so fucking fed up with this shit.

Scotland has 59 seats in Scotland. We could have elected 59 Scottish Labour MPs. Or Scottish conservative MPs or Scottish liberal democrats. But Scotland chose, fairly and democratically, 56 Scottish nationalist party MPs.

It's as simple as that.

59 out of 650 seats are all Scotland have to play with. Scotland chose who went into those seats. Democratically.

Get over it.

It is NOT democratic when 50% of the vote gets one party 93% of the seats.

Democracy means 'voice of the people'. This is 'voice of half the people'.

That's our democratic system.

I'm no fan of fptp, but that's what we've got and that's how it works.

This really boils my piss.

Scotland has had a parliament for only 16 years.

Until then, it was governed by ENGLISH decisions.

Yabu !!!

It is our system, but it is not democracy.

And we still are. Another 5 years of a Tory government which Scotland has clearly rejected.

It's the democracy we are under. So what happens within it is in no way undemocratic

"It is NOT democratic when 50% of the vote gets one party 93% of the seats."

36% of voters got one party a government...it's how FPT works, not well, which is why a lot of smaller parties would prefer PR.

Scots .....Indeed

Genuine question - what happens in the Scottish Parliament? Is it a different bunch of MPs? What decisions can they make?

Yabu this is fptp in action, if some scots shout loud it's because off attitudes picked up from our english cousins who would like to have us permanently gagged...

Those who are complaining that they feel they have been left without a representative in Parliament I would ask how different is it for those who felt let down after the Indyref?

It is a case of suck it up, we got what the majority voted for, but only for the next 5 years.

I agree silverdaisy, although I feel that it's tending more towards the aggressive than the passive.

Apparently democracy in Scotland should only exist if we back up English voters. Nevermind that lots of people in Scotland voted for the SNP because they've been doing a rather fine job of leading our government, or because of the lies, fearmongering and downright demonisation of the Scottish electorate.

The sad truth is that Westminster doesn't get it, the media doesn't get it, and as a result a lot of English voters don't get it. The SNP lead a positive campaign focused on anti-austerity, anti-trident and progressive reform, none of which seem to matter down south, but these are major issues which matter to a lot of people here. So we exercised our democratic right.

Maybe rather than blaming Scottish people for doing what everyone else did in voting for who they believed in, English voters should take a look at the system, their own political engagement, and decide if they are happy to sit back and let the same old elitist mob keep making things better for themselves and their pals while fucking everyone else over, or if they want to be part of a movement for change. Either be part of it or get over it.

see my link above to change the 'democratic' fptp system.....
change.org
It IS undemocratic in that the two main parties have continually refused to change the system to be more reflective of the people's vote.

I think it's fabulous that people are calling for electoral reform. It has worked against Scotland in many, many general elections.

It works in its favour once and suddenly everyone wants electoral reform. Not before time!!

CointreauVersial - yes it's MSPs and they're elected separately.

Health, education, agriculture and justice are mostly devolved (there are some things that are reserved matters and have to be the same as the rest of the UK) funding is set by Westminster but how they spend it is more or less up to them.