Scotsnet does not represent Scotland

[kamalasshaman]

At a time when polls are showing unprecedented support for independence and even John Curtice agrees the polls are clear, why is Scotsnet such a bastion of unionist opinions? Is it just due to the demographic of Mumsnet? Why has this site become such a right wing enclave?

• marking

I'm looking forward to our political parties and government all being in Scotland and for Scotland, no matter where on the political spectrum they sit.

Also to being able to make our own decisions on EU membership, non-membership or somewhere in between.

I look forward to the days when we have full access to and knowledge of the accounts of our own country. Currently we can't even properly tell how much we export. GERS is full of estimates. Having the ability to use all the financial levers and deciding to go for growth, for example.

It will be lovely not having to pay billions every year in interest on the UK’s debt, more than £3 billion for “defence”, a share of the expenses of the London Underground system, the London Sewerage network, the House of Lords, HS2, new runways at Heathrow and lots of other areas of “national expenditure” that have nothing to do with us.

@Cismyfatarse I'm not going to unite behind the shambles of Westminster because some people can't take a wee bit of rigorous dialogue. We're too good at that in this country. Westminster is filled with callous people who don't give a shit and I'll do everything I can to separate from that shit show.

Again, not once in a generation. As many times as the electorate see fit. If the SNP don't get voted in then there's no mandate. It's very simple.

@Cismyfatarse I'm surprised at that tbh. It was made very clear to us in our authority that neutrality was expected and anything else was a disciplinary matter. It is hard to dob a friend in though I do get that and I wouldn't do it either truth be told.

[quote Cismyfatarse]@CayrolBaaaskin But elections are for 5 years and have an end to them. You are saying we should break up with the UK which is irrevocable. And for what? Sunshine, unicorns and the sunlit, oil filled uplands of the imagination.

How on earth can you oppose Brexit on the ground it breaks up one Union and then want to break up another.

Fewer borders. More unity. Less division.

[/quote]
This is my exact position.

More unity? I think we have to think carefully about who we choose to unite with actually,

@kurtrussellsbeard Who should we avoid? We are already united with three other nations? Who else should we avoid uniting with?

We are all liberal democracies with very similar goals and ideals and a shared history.

I hadn't heard of any plans to unite with any other countries.

Can you explain.

@Cismyfatarse the plan is to unite with the other countries in the EU in super national organization that is the EU. So more unity and less borders for an independent Scotland.

What other countries have parted from the uk that are entwined like scotland is
You can't compare a commonwealth country as that is nowhere near the same?

@kamalasshaman scotland got the chance to vote to
Brexit was also a one time only vote despite everyone wanting another
And yes if scotland joined eu ( although that will be at least several years so who knows what eu will look like or criteria will be, ) then it will be a hard border , it would have to be.

Also the whole, once in a generation nonsense. Did anyone actually say that? Obviously Nicola said about having another referendum if we were dragged out of EU against our will.

@donewithitalltodayandxmas - you mean like the hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland? Because there isn’t one.

@Cismyfatarse I'd like to separate from England, Wales and NI and join the EU as an independent country.

And I completely disagree that England and Scotland have shared goals. What utter nonsense. A look at our voting record dispels that.

I am not pro Indy but if there is to be another referendum I think it should be after Covid is dealt with and once we are more aware of Brexit changes. That won't be next year.

I worry how we will pay for things. Oil is on its arse right now an Covid has obliterated the tourism industry.

And @Cismyfatarse 2014 sounds like it was absolutely hideous for you. I'm glad you found your people here.

@titsbumfannythelot Thanks. I am finding so much that is stressful again this year. All this division on top of a pandemic and the costs we will have to pay for years to come.

Even talk of a referendum brings it all back.

I am going to hang out in my happy place now and leave this thread. I simply cannot see how we should break from England because we apparently have more in common with, for example, Italy and Hungary.

How do other countries pay for things? Other small countries (nearly all of them, actually) have better social provision than we currently have, better wage levels, better health service provision and definitely better pensions. Why would Scotland not be able to provide for ourselves when nearly all other countries can? Scotland has got better resources than lots of them. More than half the countries in the UN are smaller than Scotland. They have control of their own economies. In general terms they have fewer resources than Scotland.

@Nyx

How do other countries pay for things? Other small countries (nearly all of them, actually) have better social provision than we currently have, better wage levels, better health service provision and definitely better pensions. Why would Scotland not be able to provide for ourselves when nearly all other countries can? Scotland has got better resources than lots of them. More than half the countries in the UN are smaller than Scotland. They have control of their own economies. In general terms they have fewer resources than Scotland.

Agreed.

People worry about how independent Scotland will manage purely because Westminster, who control the media as well, have been telling Scotland for centuries that it's too wee, too poor to manage. There's a reason for that.

'GERS shows us that all sorts of successful independent countries would struggle if forced to become regions of the UK'

Robin McAlpine

Nope - not right wing, don't support independence (not for a good many years and with a lot more proof that it would be the right thing to do than we have currently, anyway). Don't 'hate' Nicola Sturgeon but I don't think she's half as good as people make out - she talks the talk, in fact she's very good at talking, but there are many instances where the Scottish Government has failed the populace, and tbh, these failures don't give me confidence that an independent Scotland is the right way to go.

I think many people who contribute to Scotsnet threads are intelligent critical thinkers, and that gives me hope!

I just wish there was a viable alternative. I'm thinking I'll have to spoil my ballot paper in May which will be a first.

Not right wing in the slightest would rather have hot pokers in my eyes than vote SNP

Also people seem to forget that over a million Scots actually voted for brexit.

In Glasgow, only 56% of registered voters gave an opinion either way about brexit. I'm a remainer but this supposed passion Scots have for the EU has been hastily manufactured as a political lever.

Also, as the SNP wrapped the Brexit referendum in with another Independence referendum if the UK voted to leave and Scotland voted to remain, anyone wanting another referendum would have voted against Brexit whether they agreed or not, so the Scottish result was never going to be a genuine vote on Brexit, was it?

Agreed. I think lots of people who had no idea what the EU actually was voted remain as a way of pushing up demand for indy.