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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think Nicola Sturgeon was never supposed to be so powerful?

55 replies

Mynameisjosiesmith · 29/09/2020 13:44

Scotland voted for a devolved government in the 1990s. A limited number of powers were develoved -e.g. health, education etc. Scotland has no second chamber, like the House of Lords. What the Scottish Parliament passes becomes law. Wind on to 2020 and Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish Government (not even the Scottish Parliament) can unilaterally decide to impose a huge amount of restrictions on the Scottish people, even stricter than those in England. Even if you think Nicola and the SNP are doing a huge job, surely the extent of their power was never anticipated and is really quite outrageous? Yes, we are in unprecedented times but for me, the Scottish Government (again not Parliament) were never supposed to have such power. Scotland voted no to independence, yet our very freedoms rest entirely on Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP. I understand the UK government are also acting without consulting Parliament, never mind the House of Lords. However, they are the ultimate government of the UK. That's what all democratic processes above determined - the devolution vote and the independence vote. Scottish people have to have the entire fabric of their lives decided upon people who should not have the power to make such decisions. You might think Boris has got it all wrong and Nicola is doing better (take a look at the fiasco with Scottish students though!) However, the nature of our democracy makes the power given to Nicola &the SNP plain wrong in my view. For the record, I couldn't vote in the independence referendum as I wasn't in the country and never fully made my mind up on what I thought. So this isn't a anti-independence post. I'm just concerned a devolved government with limited powers is suddenly almighty. Nicola Sturgeon's address to the country last week left me uneasy. It was like a broadcast from the White House!

OP posts:
Horehound · 29/09/2020 21:22

@FreshFreesias

Wee Jimmy is a wannabe dictator.
This is the kind of gutter trash comment you'd usually find in the comment section of the daily fail. Thick as mince.
ConstantlySeekingHappiness · 29/09/2020 21:31

Scottish people have to have the entire fabric of their lives decided upon people who should not have the power to make such decisions

So you think the Tory UK Government - who have never been voted in by Scottish citizens - should have all the power and make all the decisions for Scotland?

Silly silly silly.

Votesforpedro · 29/09/2020 21:35

I think NS has done incredibly well in leading Scotland through this pandemic. We're in unprecedented times and I feel she has shown compassion and has been upfront, clear and concise. I can't help but feel the folk that are waging juvenile comments about her are the ones that think that the rules and restrictions are ott, so nothing to do with NS actually, but the rules that they don't agree with.

Pluckedpencil · 29/09/2020 21:43

Yes,alright, but I think the OP was more than clear that this is not about "the super great job Nicola sturgeon is doing", but about the weights and balances in Scottish parliament. The trouble we have, is that the SNP is the de facto party for Scotland if you agree with Scottish independence. Every other party is deemed a puppet of England. So you end up with this little democratically elected fiefdom. Truth is, when democracy is out of order, it would be rather nice to choose a well organised fiefdom like Scotland rather than have your life in the hands of a guy who can't even be bothered to learn the details of his own policies.
And for all the Southerners doing Scottish impressions, you have no idea how absolutely grating your accent is on the majority of the UK.

nibdedibble · 30/09/2020 08:32

You could argue that Scottish Labour should be the de facto party of Scotland, and indeed was till recently: their abdication of all good sense, their council corruption (rife in every party I know), their refusal to engage maturely on independence when it’s actually something their natural supporters want to KNOW about...the SNP has taken these gifts and run with them! I’m not an SNP fangirl at all but I don’t blame them for that and I absolutely DO blame Scottish Labour for shitting the bed and depriving us of even an opposition.

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