What now for Scotland?

[baldelectrician]

After the election of the SNP (the party that want Scotland to leave the UK) what comes next?

I ask this as the mood up here is upbeat.

The only sense of dread came from the young waitress today who said if we left Britian she would miss Britians Got Talent- her mate burst out laughing.

I ask this here as we can express views here that the general public do not see.

Some see the Scots as subsidy junkies, others value the union.

Discuss

 

[rocker]

As a person born and living in Wales, but who classes himself as British above Welsh, I don't see the point of devolution other than for some petty squabbles from centuries ago.

Let's be honest, England is where the economy is.

Mind you, I do like the free prescriptions.

Vive la difference, don't argue about it.

 

[mogga]

Im Scottish first british second but FFS I know we are all intertwined and rely on parts of each other we CANT go it alone but SNPs policys seemed to gain more popularity than the rest

 

[Mark_Burgess]

Fence up, border control, passports!

 

[alarm man]

im a geordie first british second,id quite happily bring the border down a few miles to be scottish,but what if scotland had to fend for itself without subsidies then we'd be in trouble by a good few million evey month

 

[Adam W]

I can't help thinking there are a lot of Scots who if asked why they voted SNP would reply "because I hate the English" which seems about as reasoned as someone voting BNP just because they hate immigrants, or voting Labour because they don't want to be called a "racist".
A bit like giving turkeys a referendum on Christmas.

I reckon we can all benefit from pulling together and pooling our resources, although I think the idea of the EU is a step too far.

 

[mogga]

its more likley to be the reply" we hate Torys Libwishywashys and Labour havent delivered " looks like the no cooncil tax rise was the winner

 

[Marvo]

I'm not really up to speed with this issue, are there any links to the SNP manifesto....preferably in English, the google results I'm getting are somewhat contradictory or maybe some are out of date.

 

[DaveyD]

somewhat contradictory or maybe some are out of date.

Nope, that's about right.

 

[pushrod]

I'm British first, English 2nd and have a Scottish origin last name and parts of the family originate from Scotland. Personally think that devolution is/was a mistake and is just another round of expensive civil servants paid for by tax payers. Think that it would be a real retrograde step if Scotland left the UK. Would they then join the euro to sever links with the bank of england and try and resurrect the gaelic language - what a farce that would be.

 

[Adam W]

its more likley to be the reply" we hate Torys Libwishywashys and Labour havent delivered " looks like the no cooncil tax rise was the winner

I think council tax rises are specific to the particular council, as are local issues - on a local level I want the council to stop wasting money on surf reefs and imax complexes on the seafront, but the candidate who agrees to that might not necessarily belong to the party I want in power in Westminster, so in that respect I think the electoral system needs reforming, AV not being the answer.

Similarly local SNP councils might be doing a fantastic job on a local level, maybe in the Scottish parliament, but is that a reason to sever ties with the rest of the UK?

 

[Marvo]

Is Scotland financially viable to go it alone without the UK. I'm not sure, there's obviously lots of history involved but it sounds like it could be cutting off your nose to spite your face.

 

[baldelectrician]

SNP Manifesto.

I think we could go it alone for the following reasons
No more decisions influenced by the powerhouse economy in the SE of England
Local decision making- we can set our levels of corporation tax to bring in outside investment (worked for Ireland- they only went pear shaped when they lent money to anyone that asked for it)
Control over oil revenues- Scotland is entitlied to > 80% of UK oil and gas revenues by geographic area
Gas is just about to be brought onstream from west of the Shetlands aswell (this revenue will go down south aswell)
Scotland has been in surplus in 5 out of the last 6 years (when taking into account non-trident defence and proportion of oil revenues due). Figures based on data from UK government in westminster treasuary, not from the Scottish government which may be biased.

We can run our own affairs and make decisions that affect our economy

 

[pushrod]

Is Scotland financially viable to go it alone without the UK. I'm not sure, there's obviously lots of history involved but it sounds like it could be cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Depends on who you believe - the SNP would say yes and that North sea oil revenues should have all been going into Scotland's purse. On the other hand i think Scotland gets a subsidy from Westminster/parliament of something like £4 Billion(?) every year from the Barnet(?) formula.

It would also be a total mess with regards to the UK's nuclear deterrent as the submarine bases are in Scotland's Lochs!

 

[baldelectrician]

From that wild and dodgy newspaper

The Independent