to be sick to death of the BBC covering Scotland and the SNP?

[BorisJohnsonsHair]

Why do they think it's such big news? I'm sure if you live in Scotland then it's interesting. But as 92% of the UK don't live there, why go on and on about it? It's the second time today I've had to turn the news off because I was so bored by it.

I dont agree with you. I don't think, on a personal level, that I will be affected. I don't think I will be. I dont think the wider world will care if there's a break up. If the Scots want independence I'm all for them getting it.

Christ you're condescending Presumably it was too boring...

If you pay tax you would probably be worse off. If you would like the government to have time to legislate for things you care about, you would be disadvantaged.

You are wrong. Do you think that when a married couple divorce it only affects one of them?

It's not even a question of whether the wider world cares- do you not even understand the economics issue ?

Have you even heard of the national debt?

Cake Exactly- years of time would be wasted on dealing with the "divorce settlement"

Comments like "I'm in south east England and what goes on in Scotland has no direct affect on me" are a gift to the SNP

We'll see if I'm wrong. You cannot say with any certainty how it will affect people in England and Wales and NI.

I would have no say. I have no strong feelings either way. Scotland can stay or go, as its nationals wish. I feel like a bystander, which is what I am.

I'd be happy to see curentbLabours demise. They aren't a viable opposition.

The conservatives rising in Scotland is a protest against the SNP. I wouldn't expect that to be necessarily replicated in a general election.

Anyway, I'm probably best out of the thread. I'm clearly winding you up Lass with your fgs etc,. Not my intention. But I don't agree with you,

Well it's a logical consequences thing tbh.

You may think we are wrong but I will tell you I have spent sleepless nights thinking about all this! There wouldn't be any bystanders in Great Britain if the union were to break up.

The conservatives rising in Scotland is a protest against the SNP

Not so much a protest, more a vote for the person/party who will be strongest in opposition.

The fgs were with reference to my spelling mistakes, not you. Cake has put it succinctly there would be no neutral bystanders. At the very least do you not understand an independent Scotland would be entitled to demand a share of UK reserves?

I can see that the 'no's' will be thrilled about Ruth Davidson SirCh she's a strong woman , an equal to the other strong woman in Scottish politics. The Greens are pro another ref. Labour non existant.

I'm just not convinced that Scotland will vote for her in a General Election, I'm really not. It goes against the grain too much. You see that from all the passionate threads on here, for example. I would bet there will be another ref in the near future; even nearer if we vote leave in June.

Scotland isn't a homogenous mass as you know - many people will vote for her, others won't. What I do find interesting is that many young people are voting for her.

The odds of another referendum have decreased actually.

Ok, well maybe there will be stability over the issue for a while.

Lass-what reserves? Gold, foreign currency etc?

Another snp bashing thread, what is this 'SNP bad' bingo?

The OP didn't mention the SNP in the body of the post. Most SNP voters want you to think that SNP = Scotland, but us sane people know that's not the case.

The elections for London mayor have attracted just as much news coverage today, and they're pretty much irrelevant to anyone outside the M25. The Scottish elections have many other elements which are very relevant to the rest of the UK - the complete collapse of Labour here will have a huge effect on the next general election, there is always to possibility of another referendum on independence (god forbid) and the fact that the Conservatives are doing well up here is big news.

There were no similar "big shock" stories from the English council elections.

No, not stability - a tapering off demand for another referendum, 2 totally different things. As we progress along a Scottish taxation route, with a strong opposition leader asking the very difficult questions and holding them to account, the demand for years of further instability will wane.

The 'upset' result has been the tory resurgence. I'm glued to the coverage and have been talking about it all day!

So have I and my family. And we're American. These are indeed interesting times in the world of politics.

The link below is to an article prepared by Nat supporters of all the assets the Nats claimed Scotland would be entitled to (and therfore should not be taken as accurate).This would have been strongly contested and resisted by Westminster.

The ensuing legal arguments would make Jarndyce-v Jarndyce look like a disputed parking ticket.

Independence will generate a £109,000,000,000 asset windfall for Scotland : Business for Scotland.
www.businessforscotland.co.uk/independence-will-generate-a-109000000000-asset-windfall-for-scotland/

Seneca have you come across Janet Daly? She is an American ex-pat journalist, pretty right wing . She compares the mess the Labour party has got itself into with Corbyn with the mess the Republican Party is in with Trump. I can't tell if her analysis works for the Republicans but it does for Labour.(and I never thought I'd agree with Janet Daly)

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/07/labour-is-stuck-with-jeremy-corbyn-and-british-democracy-will-su/

I'm not sure I even want to start trying to pull apart that "business for Scotland" article as it's so hideously and hopelessly naive that it's painful. They seem to think they can demand a proportional share of all assets but pick and choose which ones, and ignore debt. I particularly like the part where they say
" Scotland does not need all the assets currently stationed in Scotland. For example the Trident nuclear submarines are valued at £2.1 billion. This will strengthen Scotland’s position in negotiation as UK politicians are desperate to move the missiles."

Really? I thought they were pretty keen to keep them exactly where they are given that alternative locations down south would be a very hard sell.

These assets aren't things we don't already have in most cases - many of them in Scotland. We're not going to get a £109 trillion bank deposit.

Thanks for the link, Lass. I think she does have some very valid observations about Trump's rise. I just hope she's right in her belief that he will lose the general election.

And of course, Trump has strong ties to Scotland. It will be interesting to see how that plays out.