The elusive case for the Union.

[JennyPiccolo]

Pissing myself. This is dead crap. Also, what is this boy a student of? Greggs?

Better Together viral advert

Is there a version with subtitles...?

Love it;
We may have different names for sausage rolls but we are one people

Surely it would be better to point out the obvious holes in the SNP plan - like to stay with the pound (a decision that would actually be made by the remains of the UK and not an independent Scotland in any case) - interest rates set in London to suit the remains of the UK with teh Scots government having no input into the process.

If that's the argument that the pro-union camp is putting out, we might as well say our tarrahs now!

I have to say I had trouble with his accent, but am I right in thinking that he was saying that because Scots use the term wee to mean little (as in wee dog) and have a different name for a sausage roll, we can celebrate our diversity and therefore must stay together? As arguments go, it is tangential to say the least.

Following this logic, I look forward to the UK annexing Western Samoa because, although we don't use the same words for the same things, we both share a deep love of sitting on our arses and scratching our nuts when we have time to spare!

More proof, if any were needed, that governments exist to waste our money.

I saw that too - very entertaining.

What is even more entertaining is that the Better Together campaign has taken it down :) apparently the rest of their ads are equally as poor, but I couldn't bear to look.

That was a pretty poor advert. I wonder if the Scots understood him because I didn't. And I regularly work with Scots.

A case for the union because we share sausage rolls? Seriously?

hahaha after watching that I wouldn't blame the English if they put up a ruddy big Glastonbury style fence at the border!

Even I struggled with understanding what he was saying and he speaks like bloody Irvine Welsh by muttering and hardly moving his lips. Why was he gibbering on about sausage rolls and a roll and sausage? These are two completely different things.

One suspects he is the poster boy for the independents. If they keep rolling out people like him, Connery and other annoying characters, the English will be fervently cutting the guy-ropes. That Hadrian bloke had the right idea.

It might take a whiile for English people (+ the Welsh) to tune into the Scottish sense of humour, but the N Irish probably get it.

On the whole, the Scots don't take themselves too seriously - with one or two exceptions. Has anyone ever seen Alex Salmond or Nicola Sturgeon rofl??

In a way, it does all boil down to the level of 'You say tomato and I say tomayto'. With no solid evidence that we'd be better off financially, politically, socially or culturally either way, it really is just a matter of preference. Do you call yourself British or Scottish or both?

At the moment I'd say life is better for the ordinary Scots because we have fewer people, fewer cuts to the NHS, Social Services and Education, no tuition fees, free care for the elderly, more mountains, better air - but as soon as you vote in a Socialist Government south of the border, you can have all that too ...

And the serious point that the young man was making in the video was spot on, imo.

Solopower It depending what evidence you look at :)

And how does voting in a Socialist government get England more mountains? :)

You just need a bit of imagination, ItsAllGoingToBeFine. Vision. Idealism ...

"And how does voting in a Socialist government get England more mountains? "

I'm pretty sure there's already an extra hillock or two, created when the steaming piles of BS Blair spouted fossilised....

Solo,
The reason why Scots can have no tuition and care fees is because of the Barnett formula arranged by the Labour government in the 70s (the last time independence was a likelihood). I don't know if you would call the socialists or not. Under this formula, Scots get more allowance per person from central government than other parts of the union. This arrangement (in effect a grubby behind scenes deal to appease the nationalists at the time) strikes me as profoundly wrong for all sorts of reasons - Scotland is either in the union with all its faults or not - and should not be treated differently to other regions.

ElBurro Scotland contributes more to the Westminster government than it gets back.

We have free prescriptions, tuition fees etc because the Scottish Government chooses to spend some of the funds allocated to it on these things.

Wales also has free prescriptions. The devolved government simply have different priorities to Westminster like looking after their people rather than themselves and their cronies

You have sort of proved my point with your answer. If Scots were truly committed to the union why would anyone either side of the border be bothered whether Scotland contributed more than it got back and whether it was getting good value for it etc.. Londoners generally do not think like that despite contributing far more to Westminster than they get back.
It's like being married to someone who keeps their own bank account and reminds you all the time at they are paying for things. If Scotland is really in a union then it is for better or worse and it should not be viewed as a bargaining stance to get Scotland the best deal. Given that this sort of 'seperatist' view has been around now for about 40 years perhaps it would be better for both countries if the union was dissolved.

I completely agree! :)

I agree with ItsAllGoingToBe Fine - it is a question of priorities. Tbh I don't know if the Barnett Formula can still be justified, but we might as well get the money, since we do spend more of it on the people who need it.

I think it's interesting that the Govt has gone easy on the Scots when it comes to cuts in the Armed Forces. Why is this, I wonder? Scotland must have a higher proportion of members of the Armed Forces to members of the public than anywhere else in the UK. Is this in order to keep nationalism out of the Army and keep them on the side of the British Govt?

Solo, I am not sure why you think that the money given to local government in England is not spent on the people who live in the area. It is just that we get less of it per head so cannot afford all of the things that Scotland can. I really wish that we could have free tuition fees (or a graduate tax for that matter) - anyway of making education free at the point of contact and admission to universities based solely on academic merit.

I am sure that the govt. has made that decisions on the armed forces partly not to give the nationalists any more ammunition as you suspect. Part of the announcement was to move a regiment from Kent to Scotland for ceremonial duties - like guarding Edinburgh castle (presumably for the tourists - wtf!)

ElBurro, are you sure? Why would they need a regiment from Kent to guard the castle?

And I agree that ordinary people in England also need to have more money spent on them. The way to make that happen is not to vote for the Tories in 2015.

Yes, as reported Argyle and Sutherland regiment currently based in Kent (not sure why?) being cut from 800 to 125 and moved to Scotland for ceremonial duties.
You do not need to tell me not to vote for the Tories - it just the other 10 million or so.
But in reality there is very little choice at the ballot box these days - is there really any great philosophical differences between any of the parties nowadays - all have moved to the centre. Don't like the current generation of career politicians - most have no experience of anything else. Even more spooky - Clegg Cameron and Miliband all studied the same course at the same university (PPE at Oxford).

But they are a Scottish regiment who will be relocated back up here