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.

And the Middle East ..

@ThatAgileCoralBirdfor goodness sake, listen to yourself, just so narrow minded…that’s fine for you if you think that only a small number of people were affected…what about all the young ambitious young folk I know? To hell with them?

Thank you @EvelynBeatrice

@EvelynBeatriceand by the way Erasmus didn’t just fund language students exchanges it funded exchanges between youth football clubs, sport training camps, scouts exchanges, exchanges between colleges, culinary schools…and much much more… if you are unaware of this then fair enough, but you are very badly mistaken if you think working class kids aren’t affected by brexit. But then they don’t have a voice in the (very poor) British media, so no huge surprise there.

I also know a whole bunch of young people who have gone to Europe under Turing.

Yes and that scheme is much more limited compared to the Erasmus+

Nope not narrow minded, just do not think this is the huge and widespread problem it’s made out to be.
A few folks crying and having to make an effort now.

I’m convinced it’s in our Scottish psyche generally to not cross the border into another county or town let alone country. Maybe that dates back to our clans.
Even though the artist Ellie Harrison was berated for her Glasgow Effect performance I do think there was some point to her work here.
It would be interesting to know how many west coast/glasgow resident children attend a non Glasgow/west
coast institute of higher education. I’m prepared to be wrong.

Most graduates I know, and as both my children have graduated in STEM in the last five years that’s quite a lot, want to work in U.K. and not in Europe, even for a sabbatical. In academia it can be very detrimental towards a career working abroad in second rated university (of which there are lots), maybe a European branch of your company would be good but surely the company would cover the administration and costs.

I’m sorry I don’t value college exchanges; what for a fortnight, working in a charity shop or restaurant? That’s a holiday really. You could get much better experience in the uk. Or with regular volunteering or part time job.
Sports training camps abroad, no,
there are far more around now than when my children were at that stage, when we were in the EU. Culinary schools, really(?) I thought only posh kids went and did that before they headed off for a ski season.
Scout exchanges; nope they are loaded as a charity, membership is falling and I’m glad I’m no longer plugging the gap to fund their pensions (they should fund their pensions like our MSP in holyrood with Baillie Gifford: that was a surprise to me)

It’s always the jobless and lazy who think we should live in a radical new world where everyone who does work is forced to share their ‘wealth’ (totalling 30k a year) with them.

I’m English, I’m a Unionist. I think the value of our Union transcends financial benefit. Scotland costs the UK a lot, as does Wales, as does the region of England I live in… basically London pays for us all yet everyone acts in such a snide, superior way to the Capital. Make it make sense!

Please can the people who support independence have a Google and look at where most tax revenues come from! Remember 5.5 m residents in Scotland. More than 10m in Greater London alone!

Over half of receipts come from three main sources: income tax, National Insurance contributions (NICs) and value added tax (VAT). Together they raised around £649
billion in 2024/25
source: ONS. Public sector current receipts: Appendix D (accessed on 11

Remember that there are ONLY 6-8 per cent higher rate tax payers in Scotland. Many of them ( those not paid by the Scottish state) can move easily to England. Where do you imagine the money will come from to replace the loss of English tax revenues?

Scotland - certainly not in the short term - is not Denmark. Denmark doesn’t have one in ten of the population who have never worked, nor are more than one in five in some areas on invalidity benefit. It doesn’t have our numbers of drug addicted. It has a functioning health service that gets people back to work. It has social cohesion. ….

Many of them ( those not paid by the Scottish state) can move easily to England.

Being paid by the state doesn’t stop them at the moment…

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/04/02/scottish-civil-servants-living-over-border-to-avoid-snp-tax/

My husband and I are both top rate taxpayers. We work in finance in Edinburgh for international banking giants. There is no way we’d stay in an independent Scotland. There is also categorically no way we’d ever accept a salary in Scottish pounds. That idea is laughable. No one who knows anything about finance would. I can see top rate taxpayers like us leaving in our droves - who would hang around to see their living standards fall so far if you had a simple alternative like we do?

'We'? What do you mean by 'We' what ever is left of the Uk will be in a far worse position, at least initially when the Scots do leave.

I dont believe you, Barclays Bank has spent just over £330 Million Sterling on a state of the art campus in Scotlands Largest city; ENORMOUS investment, and commitment.

Barclays Spend ££30 Million Pounds Glasgow

As for you working in finance, I do too. What would you care if your salary were in Sterling, USD or Nok? You sound somewhat racist against the Scottish as they regularly accept England notes there.

I dont believe you work in finance at all and you are attempting to scaremonger (unsuccessfully)

Apart from the Barclays Campus in Glasgow, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Lloyds of London and the Student Loan Company all have enormous buildings within a block of one another, in that city and that area of Glasgow is Scotland's new financial district, 'Buchanan Wharf'

As for 'top tax payers leaving;' that is their prerogative. They most likely will NOT be able to live in the EU though, due to the calamity that is Brexit. Something again which the Scottish voted against.

When the Scottish leave, they will take their resources with them and rejoin the EU.

Scotland is the wealthiest country in Europe. Its oil and gas underwrites the English Pound Sterling and 80% of Scotlands GDP (north of 1 Trillion) is kept by the British Treasury in England. Scotlands GDP was confirmed by Mark Carney when he was Governor of the bank of England. Mr Carney is now President of Canada.

Since 2023 Scotland produces 133% of its energy from renewables, it is indeed a very wealth little country with low population.

Scotland costs the United Kingdom ZERO. But it finances England and the rUK.

Without Scotland England will struggle, and the Scottish (from what I have read) do want to leave.

Scotland is worth a fortune to the English Treasury/

Why do you think they are trying to stop Scotland from leaving? Its not because they value or respect the people of that nation.

You can use a google search. It is widely known at this point and the Scottish Government manage that on around 20% of Scotlands own wealth.

Scotlands NHS Outperforms

It is not in itself a surprise to see so many comments made with so little knowledge of the subject at hand.

I have been to both Scotland and England many tines in the last 4 years. Scotlands NHS is better.

Russia? It is true in fact that Scotland is indeed Militarily under-defended, as a part of the Uk though. It is the Uk Government that is responsible for that situation. The Scottish will most likely be better defended as EU members and with its own Military Forces to protect its territories.

Likewise N. Ireland and also Wales of course.

I wonder where all of the Uk money has 'vanished' to?

MOD Spending Black Hole

UK Unprepared for Conflict of Any Scale

Major war could destroy UK army in six months

How Can We Trust The MOD?

I am surprised people in England put up with this sort of thing, I am unsurprised the Scottish are leaving. The Welsh most likely too.

Brexit Negative Impact

Major War Could Destroy Uk Army in Six Months

This would especially worry me as a British Person.

😀

Not sure I am understanding you but the European Erasmus Scheme was highly successful and socialising aside, it opens the doors for working in the European Mainland, though now it is far harder for Uk students/graduates to do that if at all.

Thats from 2019 if you use google search you can see the up to date performance which isn’t as glowing

From what our mansplainer writes he’s not even British and doesn’t live here, just visits.

Yes you are correct - EU don’t want Scotland they want a united UK back. Scotland is one of the poorest countries alone without the uk so couldn’t do anything for the EU

Who learned nothing from Brexit? Scottish people voted over 60% to stay in the E.U. and they were ignored. It begs the question, why were they were even given a vote if they were just getting ignored anyway?

The same as London, then?

It was a decision for the whole UK and it was one vote per adult, and the majority vote won - whether you like it or not, or whether you got your wish, that's how democracy works.

Without being a separate country, how exactly do you propose that the majority Scottish vote should have been carried for this UK-wide decision - presumably ignoring the votes of everybody else in the UK? Do you feel that you're being deliberately ignored every time there's a vote and you don't vote with the majority? That's quite an egocentric outlook to have.

Whatever your opinions on both, I will never understand how people voting for Brexit were automatically bad - insular, xenophobic, stupid and narrow-minded not to appreciate the benefits of being a part of a greater oeaceful union; but those wanting Scottish independence are, by stark contrast, good - brave, determined, positive freedom-seekers.

That's some mighty cognitive dissonance there.

Scots still feel hard done by by the Highland Clearances (though the ones that got to Canada and US probably did v well) and how cruel King Edward's army was (though it was probably full of Irish and S Scottish mercenaries) - but why let some facts get in the way of the giant chip the Scots carry on their shoulder.

They need to get a life, stop blaming others and get off benefits and drugs. And that is what a gov should be doing - helping businesses to make jobs and people to lead healthy lives - but then no one would vote snp.