To ask scots if they actually like Nicola sturgeon

[Karen85]

Just out of curiosity really because she and her voice make me cringe when i hear her on tv or radio.

Love scots though please don't get me wrong.

Is it a coalition then itsall? Nope, didn't think so...

Personally I think it would be better if it was a coalition, obviously from my username my opinion on independence is clear, and I have always, and will always vote SNP (unless their policies radically change) but I think a coalition will always protect against one party pushing through anything they choose. The Lib Dems tempered a hell of a lot that the Tories would have pushed through which wouldn't have been good, now they are in full control I dread to think what is going to happen.

Can't stand her. Marginally better than Alex Salmond but not by much. Can't stand the SNP in general.

Is it a coalition then itsall? Nope, didn't think so..

Eh? The SNP do not have a majority, so they have to work with other parties to get anything through. There is no formal coalition, but that makes no difference - the SNP do not have absolute power.

calyx 'project fear' is precisily what the SNP are doing with their 'blame everything on westminster' game; 'if you don't go for independence then Westminster will destroy us'. In the last referendum Salmond responded to every challenge with insult and name calling. The problems with education are not down to Westminster - they didn't insist on the disasterous "curriculum for excellence". It is not Westminster that is centralising everything and putting all funding to the central belt. It is not Westminster that are pushing through such huge business rate increases that threaten to push many business out of business.

The SNP do not have a majority

no they don't now but they did in the last parliament.

How can any 'proud Scot' want its neighbour to govern Scotland

Really Calyx72 ???

I'm a very proud Scot. I'm also a British citizen who gives a fuck about what happens to my fellow Brits in towns and cities around the UK.

Selfish much?

I'm English so not sure if I've a right to an opinion. But, while I admire her tenacity as a politician, I don't admire her 'independence at any cost' views as the Scottish people made their views clear in 2014.

The other odd thing for me is how she's managed to portray independence from Westminster as a noble patriotic ideal but the English and Welsh desire to have independence from Europe as xenophobic, racist economic suicide?

I have no issue with Scottish independence and if Scotland wants it then they should have it ( and as a voter who was on the leave side in the EU referendum I'm sure I'd want independence if I was a Scot).

She's looking for a statue of herself to be put up in Edinburgh one day.

I like her. I have met her and can say she is a very intelligent woman but down to earth with it. I used to live not far from her office in Glasgow. I have seen her frequently out and about, walking to the local shops for coffee or to pick up some lunch etc and she was always very approachable and would stop to chat to anyone.

Her voice is not particularly irritating to me. I think most strong Scottish accents are noticeable on TV as we are so used to hearing American or SE English accents the majority of the time. I think you do notice a strong Scottish accent more (as you would also notice a Welsh accent or a strong regional accent such as Liverpool or Newcastle).

She does tend to overuse the phrase 'dragged against its will' a bit too much but I don't dislike the woman.

Calyx72 instead of me telling you what I think would be better if we were independent why don't you tell us what you think would be better if we were independent.

SNP already have full control of scotlands NHS and have done for years - Westminster has absolutely nothing to do with it.

SNP already have full control over scotlands education policies and have done for years - why is education going down the pan so quickly when Westminster has nothing to do with it?

I like her and admire her achievements. I vote SNP but as a former supporter of the Labour party I'm dismayed that there isn't a stronger opposition in Scotland.

I don't get the personal 'hatred' and personal comments about her, it makes me extremely uncomfortable.

Ruth Davidson comes across well in the media but I would never vote Tory.

SNP already have full control of scotlands NHS and have done for years - Westminster has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Other than the fact that they give the Scottish Government the money to spend...

Other than the fact that they give the Scottish Government the money to spend...

yep but its up to the SNP as to how its spent. why did the SNP underspend last year? did Westminster give them too much? was the underspend down to Westminster? hmmm let me think...

yep but its up to the SNP as to how its spent. why did the SNP underspend last year? did Westminster give them too much? was the underspend down to Westminster? hmmm let me think...

Because they have a fixed budget. They can't go over budget - they need to shave some underspend.

Are you seriously telling me that you could write the budget for an entire country and would have no contingency whatsoever built into your budget?

They've underspent before though it's all going to be
When it happens once you give the benefit of the doubt. When it happens again it's mismanagement. Deliberate or not? You decide?

Again, how do you propose that they don't underspend? Do you really think they can write a budget that exactly spends the money they are given

ItsAllGoingToBeFine your having a laugh... whats a fixed budget got to do with underspend? you haven't answered the question but done what the SNP does - skirt the issue then as your own question to try and deflect any reasonable answer...

what about the delivery of the trauma centres that were meant to be delivered in 2016? now they will be delivered at least 3 yrs late - westminsters fault?

what about the 100s of millions of pounds poureed down the drain because of the failed IT projects at NHS24? wesminsters fault?

what about the 100million spent on Named Person then its thrown out of parliament by the SC? wesminsters fault?

tell me what success stories have SNP got about the NHS?

"celeste84

She's looking for a statue of herself to be put up in Edinburgh one day."

Oh, I have just realised why she has devoted her life to politics.
penny drops

whats a fixed budget got to do with underspend

So, to simplify. Pretend the Scottish Government is a household given £100 a month. There is no more money, that is it. They have no access to loans or overdrafts.

Now, they have to split that £100 pounds, again I will simplify for you. They could budget exactly £30 on food, £30 on electricity and £40 on rent. That way there would be no overspend. But what happens when their boiler breaks down? They have nothing set aside.... When budgeting it is always sensible to set aside some money for unforseen expenses, which is what the Scottish Government does.

It is worth noting, that unlike with previous administrations, the SNP government hands onto the overspend so it does get used, rather than handed back to WM.

*When budgeting it is always sensible to set aside some money for unforseen expenses, which is what the Scottish Government does.
*

apart from when they overspend?

Mintchoc yes really. It's not selfish to want Scotland to have all its own money to use to 'sort' its economy out. Your argument is that's selfish because some areas in England will be poorer. That's selfish against the Scots then. British sterling is pegged on oil and other assets (mainly Scottish) and we will have to negotiate that rUK get some of those when we leave as well as taking on some National (Westminster's) debt. Otherwise rUK will sink due to Brexit and Tory mishandling of the economy.

Also the democratic deficit is just breathtaking- look how Scotland voted for the past.. well .. for ever and look at the govts they have got. 'Shut up and eat your cereal Scots' - how can a proud Scot countenance another country governing them? And lying to Scots and demonising them in the media at every turn?

Peggyundercrackers. You don't say how Scotland are better off in the UK because they aren't.

Independence would be better as we could vote for and get whatever party we want. We could keep our whiskey export duties, our oil, get rid of Trident and spend all our money on what we want. I don't understand why anyone would want otherwise. Self determination and resulting self respect.

Also we can distance ourselves from Trump/May and decide whether EU or single market or Norway model or (etc) is best for Scotland rather than best for Tories in Westminster - I don't believe they work in the UKs interests at all.

But they have the power to raise the budget and have decided not to. They could have chosen to keep local services but decided to stick to a council tax freeze instead.

They do have financial constraints, but they get proportionally the same for the NHS per head as they do in E&W. In independence how are they going to even do that?

And yes, it's harder to budget in a proportionally smaller amount, much easier to plan for contingency in a bigger budget. Scotland would have bust or even higher in debt by now had it been independent. The assumptions in the white paper were and are ludicrous.

Can't stand her

Can't stand her.

There is a rush in our house to mute/ change channels when she appears on television.