If the majority of the Scottish people want and vote for it then they should have it these Islands aren't a dictatorship. Well that was what I was told anyway.
I still think England/Wales/N Ireland should be able to vote for whether they want to keep Scotland....
Sorry but I don't understand that, If the Scottish people want independence then they should have it we can't own an entire race of people this isn't the dark ages we live in.. Scotland isn't ours to keep.
A Union suggests equality and if one of the constituents wants to leave firstly they must vote to that effect and secondly the other members of the Union should be allowed to voice their opinion.
I would suggest that, that depends on how the union came about in the first place if it was hostile (which I believe to be the case with Scotland) then it was a forced union and not legal and so should be terminated, if it was by consent then both parties have the right to withdraw that consent but with due process just like a divorce, but forced continuance of the relationship in either case is not an option... But then I'm just a miserable sod without any morals, so what do I know.
Thank you for posting that Greenlantern101. We now await, with interest, an equally eloquent case put forth by the opposition.
Certainly do Mephistopheles. I'm just intrigued to know what the opposition to independence can possibly come up with to counter attack. I won't have a vote (unless my Scottish ancestry through a distant chain of great, great grandparentage counts for anything) so I can only observe from afar. Meanwhile, I may just rewrite my CV as I'm sure I have transferable skills that may be welcomed by one of my homelands.
I don't think the government will like it as long as the oil still flows. but isn't that just the way with the British powers that be human rights will always play second fiddle to Mammon...
Slyboogy Well you still have 2 years to come to the correct descision. For me it comes down to one thing. There is only 1 Tory in Scotland yet we have a Tory as Prime Minister. That is not a democracy. At the minute we are being forced into a government that Scotland did not vote for. We have the right to self determination. The only people with a say in what happens in Scotland should be the people of Scotland. I don't need another reason. I'm voting YES.
The Unionist campain launches 'later' this year. it will be interesting to see if they can have a positive campain like the YES campain or if they resort to negatives and name calling.
Greenlantern101 the trouble with you argument about their only being 1 tory MP in scotland is that the election was for the UK and not for just scotland. It was a vote to govern the whole of the UK. You can start taking that logic by saying that if most of the south of england have tory MPs but labour have a majority overall in the UK its not fair. you could say " Why can't the south a tory government as we didn't vote for labour" The same could be said of the north of england currently where large parts of labour under a 'mostly' tory government.
But Scotland is a separate country from England not a county of England they have their own laws and they finance themselves differently so why should they be told what to do by us sassenach's. I don't like being told how to run my life by our government and I live here...
If you want to leave go ahead. Build your own national defences and NHS system and **** off. You have more to lose than we do.
In effect the country is the United Kingdom, England and Scotland are both states within that country (just google united kingdom england scotland). Some of these states have a certain amount of autonomy, the odd one out is England who have all their laws made centrally (the West Lothian problem). As for having only one Tory MP in Scotland how about County Durham where there are 6 MPs, all of them Labour. Can they declare UDI? There are many things which have to be sorted out if Scotland is to become independent, will they be allowed to be in the EU, will they join NATO, if so will they have their own armed forces? being just a couple. I still suspect that the vote may well be a majority in favour, but a significant amount less than 50%, with possibly more autonomy coming top of the poll.
Come on chaps. Get a grip. What Greenlantern101 is saying is that the party that is effectively governing the country has only one MP in Scotland and that pees a lot of Scottish people right off. It demonstrates a gulf between the political leanings of the vast majority of Scottish voters and the political ethos of a government that supercedes their own devolved assembly. That is a perfectly fair point to make. As for telling them to build their own NHS and defence . Good one. Considering our current government is dismantling both as an austerity measure that's probably very good advice.
Tacitus we already have our own hospitals and army regiments and with Scotland subsidising the rest of the UK to the tune of £510 per person I would say we have everything to gain not loose. p.s. thanks for so quickly resorting to negatives and name calling.
