SNP lay their stall out - vote for them next May, they will start negotiating to separate.

[RandomGeocache]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgknlj3vr76o

Because they have learned nothing from Brexit. I mean, it's sort of their raison d'etre, banging on about independence and it does resonate with some of their fans who believe that should Scotland separate, we'd all be loads richer. They do appear somewhat confused though - a majority in parliament is a mandate, the biggest number of MSPs is a mandate, a vote for "pro-indy" parties is a mandate.... Anyone would think they were either making it up as they go along, or hedging their bets.

Are we supposed to forget all about the incompetence, the failing NHS and education, the scandals and all the other fuck ups?

So if you don't want to separate, don't vote SNP or Green in May.

Well you have to admit what you wrote was hilarious.

Iran also thinks it is an attractive enough proposition to invest their time in supporting.

Scotland has the best performing NHS in the United Kingdom
can you link to that please, I would be interested to read that?

DHs family have always been very pro independence, they also believed they would all be wealthy from oil money if the English didn’t steal it etc.
Every conversation he has now with them is how shit the NHS is up there now. DH and his sibling have the same issue and the difference of care for it is significant.

I want Scottish Independence, and I will be voting SNP next year, barring something unforeseen that changes my mind. Scottish Labour are an absolute shit show, and imo so are the Lib Dems and the Greens.

I do not want Scottish independence.

I also do not want to rejoin the EU: more corrupted and a magic money tree for those chosen few than any U.K. parliament
https://www.politico.eu/article/european-union-corruption-pfizergate-ursula-von-der-leyen-impunity/

EU funding for NGO has again been heavily criticised by its own auditors.
https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/news/news-sr-2025-11

The media thinks right wing is so very very bad in the U.K. but there has been a huge shift by all U.K. parties to the left so this needs reframing: any right wing party is nothing compared to those in Europe.

Critically analysing many EU countries immigration policies would be considered right wing through our U.K. lens: Denmark.

Going on holiday is a luxury and really I have no sympathy for those bemoaning they no longer have free movement in EU: that’s a middle class First World problem.

As a nation we have far more in common with England, Wales and Northern Ireland than any country on the European mainland: I say this as someone whose grandparents were from Central Europe and whose son-in-law is from southern Europe.

According to Swinney he'll be employing GPs to work 1200-2000 7 days a week - that'll be time and a half on a week day evening, double time on a weekend I expect. No detail on the cost (huge) vs benefit (won't improve secondary care or social care) or where on earth all these GPs are coming from - maybe he'll be cloning them like Dolly the sheep?

What normally happens when the SNP give funding for things like more GPs or teachers is the ones we already have move to posts in the central belt and the NE and Highlsnds suddenly find their recruitment difficulties get a hundred times worse.

Countries that are more left wing tend to be happier and have less divisive financial policies with less of a difference between top and bottom

given a choice between reform or independence it would have to be independence

but generally the bigger a union you are part of the better - better for trade, better for security, and better for holidays!

I’ve lived in a famously left wing country. Excellent public services and high taxes. Very happy population. They do this by having no nil rate personal allowance and everyone paying at least 30% tax on even the very first penny they earn. Kids are expected to be put into nursery from 1 and both parents are expected to work full time. Benefits are high but you are expected to have worked full time in order to receive them.

Scotland in a country where half of the working population don’t work would not cope with this regime. We don’t have anywhere near the required work ethic and the amount of people claiming disability in this country is a joke.

Our taxes on our holier earners in Scotland are very much comparable with those in other left wing countries in Europe. It’s the lower earners who aren’t paying nearly enough income tax in comparison.

given a choice between reform or independence it would have to be independence

Why do you think it would be one or the other? Do you think if the SNP got independence they would set up a dictatorship? Though Reform and the SNP are both nationalist parties, just Reform mostly defines the nation as the UK.

Our taxes on our holier earners

Tax on church ministers? 😂

One is left wing and one is right wing and that’s quite a difference

Are left wing countries happier due to high taxes? I think there is more to it.

The happiest European countries often have the highest antidepressants useage. There is stigma to being unhappy in the Scandinavian countries.

also, I found the societal conformity in Scandinavia to be very different; honesty, morality and equality upheld even if it disadvantages you individually:
good luck trying that in Scotland. So many honesty boxes broken into round here.

SNP has moved to the left but used to be pretty much on the right. I don’t think Reform has actually worked out what its position is. People call them right wing because of their position on immigration but actually they have very little idea what they stand for beyond Nationalism. And neither does the SNP apart from embracing transgenderism too, which though embraced by the left is actually very much about individual freedoms which makes it more right wing.

Then they would want England to pay the difference no doubt!

Absolutely this.

Brits seem to think we can have a high spend, high benefits country with a lot of people out of work.

Yeah, that's what made the snp sinister under Sturgeon, toe the party line, or else. Bullying, insidious zealots.
Let's get rid of the fuckers who are intent on destroying oor proud n brilliant nation.

Just Engerland eh. The centre of Britain 😂
What about Wales n NI? No!!! just middle England.
This is the attitude that made the SNP 😂

It reminds me of a thread a while ago where an OP was despairing of the left wing boyfriend who thought he shouldn’t have to work but should be given an income anyway. He left a job specifically because of this political position. There is this idea amongst many on the left that ‘the rich’ must pay for everyone else to live as punishment for being rich.

Wales wouldn’t because it’s not a net contributor to the UK.

These are facts, but go ahead and spite them anyway!

I do not have a problem with your opinion - you are completely entitled to it and I understand where you are coming from. Just one comment - freedom of movement was not about holidays for many of us - it was about work opportunities and social mobility and also about the freedoms to pursue cross-border passions (architecture, music, culinary) and even romance! The possibilities of working seasons in the Alps, staffing ski schools, pubs, for example, or as language assistants, au-pairing, nannying, hosting/hostessing, Dj-ing, working at festival, medieval re-enactments, etc etc are long gone…and mores the pity. If you grown up in the Highlands of Scotland, being able to travel to the continent for a job opportunity can be life changing and allows to you to earn and learn valuable skills, which you can later return home with. Sure you can go down to the central belt, or down South, or across to Ireland, but then you won’t have the opportunity to become fluent in another language or integrate into another culture - to the same extent.

Before you come at me - it’s not that the above is totally impossible now, but it is much much harder and involves a significant amount of paperwork and money and your parents would have to be involved and motivated to make it all happen. It can’t be denied that brexit has created barriers to opportunity for youth.

@Yolo12345 this is a tiny proportion of people who had the money in the first place to indulge their hobbies and lifestyle. Parents were always financing.

Hardly any students went on Erasmus outwith language degrees. I know of only one electrician and one chef who went and worked at a ski resort for one season. Yes plenty of privately educated chalet girls and boys though have written about their experiences. I thought all the snow was disappearing on the alps due to climate change.

it’s not that hard to get visa to work especially if you are young.

It’s exceptionally hard to get a visa to work in Europe now whether you are young or not.

Opportunities previously available to our young lawyers, accountants, finance professionals etc who work for large firms and institutions to work in Europe are harder to come by. British nationals without a European passport are facing barriers to recruitment in the first place with cross border companies. why engage them when you could recruit that nice Irish guy who can work anywhere without paperwork the same as at home?

It’s unwise to say this doesn’t matter and affects only the privileged. These are the people who are or would have been the higher rate taxpayers who are responsible for the bulk of the income tax revenues that keep us afloat. It scares me. I hear of so many young people moving to Australia and New Zealand