The general Election

And what happens ifwe dont get the referendum for another 4 years? or never? we just live under there rule and suffer?

 

i suppose. but im sure we will get the referendum in the next 4 years, he promised. The people wont keep voting for him if he dosnt deliver a promise as big as that.

 

The thing is, it's not just up to the SNP. If all the other parties vote against having a referendum then we won't have one. Salmond is going to have to persuade one of the other major parties to go along with the idea of having it.

 

Based on that, does that make independence fairly unlikely in the near future?

 

I have a hunch that somehow, someway the SNP will manage to get the referendum to happen. However when it actually happens I don't believe for one second that the people of Scotland will vote for Independence.

So I suppose the answer to your question is yes Independence is unlikely.

One of the major problems the SNP are going to come up against is the number of institutionalised Labour voters in the West Coast and Central Belt. In parts of Glasgow and areas like Lanarkshire etc.... people will just continue voting Labour ad infinitum no matter how bad things get. These people just won't vote for Independence when it comes right down to it. That's my opinion anyway.

 

Aye, thats what i mean. Its all part of the plan. Torries win
= more support for the SNP in next Scottish election = more seats for SNP = referendum.

My theory anyway.

 

You could be right but that's a very risky strategy. If Labour went on to win the next set of Holyrood elections then that would be the SNP out in the cold again and their hopes of holding the referendum sunk. I think they'll want to try and get it through before the next set of Holyrood elections.

 

I don't think that full independence will happen any time soon at all. I actually lean more towards staying as part of the union although I'm no-where near fully decided yet. There are things about the union I don't like and in an ideal world, Scotland would be independent. But I've still got a lot of reading and learning to do before I ever cast a vote on it.

I'm a patriotic Scot, but I'm not one of these people who have a problem with being called 'British'. In my opinion, we can still express our Scottish culture freely as part of Britain and we share tons of similarities with the English and Welsh. While there are major flaws with the UK, there are still a lot of things to be proud of as a country and there's a risk of losing those things were we independent. I don't think a huge amount would change if we were to become independent soon, but I do believe (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) that there would have to be huge cuts in public spending were we an independent country.

 

Idealogically and fundamentally I think the Union is wrong. I believe it subjugates Scotland as a country because many people in Scotland now don't believe that we could stand on our own two feet. I believe this loss of confidence stems from hundreds of years of living off the scraps from England's table. I also, unlike you, do have a problem with being called British. I'm Scottish not British. I don't recognise Britain as a country, I recognise Scotland and England as two separate and sovereign countries.

Anyway, that's enough of the idealogical stuff.

One of the fundamental flaws of the UK will become all too apparent if the Tories win the election in May. The Tories will, in all probability, only win 1 or 2 seats in Scotland in this election and yet at the end of it all they will be governing us. That is just fundamentally undemocratic and not right. It's brutally obvious that the vast majority of the people in Scotland hate the Tories and do not want to be governed by them. But be governed by them we will.

As for the public spending thing I'm really not qualified enough to give you specific, detailed answers. What I will say though is that if the referendum ever does happen then the SNP are going to have a far harder job on their hands than the Labour Party will. Labour will scaremonger the population with stories of how Scotland will collapse without the Union and that is a far easier case to make than the one the SNP will have to make is. The SNP will have to come up with some pretty convincing numbers and arguments to get people to vote for Independence.

I agree with you, I just don't see it happening any time soon either.

 

But it's fair to say that Scotland has benefited greatly from the act of union. You could also argue that we're part of the union as equals, we're not below England in any way.

I agree actually and I do actually think the Tories will win the election.

In amongst the obvious scaremongering tactics, there are facts. It's a likely possibility that things like council tax will have to rise in an independent Scotland and we'd lose things like the Job Centre as they're from England. I always think that it's much easier to argue for change rather than arguing for sticking with what we've got so I've thought that Labour had the harder job of asking people to remain as part of the union. According to my mother, support for Scottish independence seems to be a bit more prominent now than what it was years ago but she states that she doesn't undestand why, she can't imagine what would be better about not being part of the UK.

One advantage of being independent that immediately springs to mind is that we'd (apparently) be a neutral nation if we were independent, which means we wouldn't go to war for oil, case in point: Iraq.

This last point might sound ridiculous, but there's a possibility we might be invaded as in independent nation. We have oil lol.

 

I agree, and as a nation i dont think we could defeat the vast majority of nations which may decide to invade us, plus places like Faslane Naval Base which is a major base for the British Navy will be packed up and * off to England, resulting in job loss.

 

They say that dreams often display a kind of mirror image of the truth.

Mibbe you're going to shoot Thatcher in the *...

 

SNP for me, I think everyone should vote for them and vote for independanc ein the referendum

 

That's one of the more puzzling things about independence. What would happen to the Scottish people serving in the armed forces?

 

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Labour/Libs/Green Party/Monster Raving Looney Party

i dont care, i just hate thatcher


Ever read the monster raving looney partys manifesto, it actually is the funniest thing i have ever read, everyone gets a mars bar if they win, and many more

 

snp....would be ssp but waste of time cos they have no chance at all so snp for me

 

To be honest, I normally check who the MP's are in my area and then decide.

Remember, ultimately that's the person that will represent your area at parliament, no matter which party they represent.

Labour tend to put their dummies in most parts of Scotland as they reckon they have many safe votes up here.

I always voted Labour in the past as John Reid was my MP.

 

i used to do this also until sarwar represented labour in the govan seat and someone quizzed him about being a millionare and his answer was but im the poorest millionare i know.that just bugged the * right out me.i think ill vote with my eyes shut bcoz they are all corrupt * who are only interested in lining their on pockets.they should all be told no expenses this is your set wage and if you cant live on that then get another job.as for the tories these * arent in touch with the working man of this country they are all born with silver spoons in their gub and wouldnt know a hard days graft if it bit them on the *.

 

SDLP for me.

I actually think Labour will end up scraping it in the end as they will hammer it home that the Tories are elitest and basically worse than them!

Scottish independence would be an interesting development, would you'se not be worried at being a catholic minority at the mercy of the prods or would you say Scotland is well beyond that now?