Scottish Separatism

[Pavlos]

33% of Scots (a rather sizeable chunk of the 5 million people there) are in favour of breaking up the union and a minority SNP government now flies the flag of victory over the Scottish Parliament - if winning by one seat can truly be called a victory. It's been over one hundred days now since Alex Salmond and his boys took power at Holyrood and - contrary to what we were told by the Labour government - the country has not fallen to pieces, all hell has not broken loose, and the heavens haven't rained blood. As a matter of fact, it's been awfully quiet 'north of the border' - Brown seems to be doing his best to simply ignore the issue as he, with remarkable skill, guides the UK from one biblical style plight to another (terrorism, floods, foot and mouth); he's rather like a small child placing his hands over his ears, yelling "lalala!" and pretending that Labour still holds power in Scotland and the SNP will just disappear if he ignores them.

 

The SNP is the paragon of popularism, it's part of the change that has taken place within that party over the past decade or so. It no longer stands for independence; it's a party that stands for Scottish interests and just so happens to like independence. A vote for the SNP, for the majority of Scots, seems not a vote for independence but actually a vote to kick Labour up the arse and get them to wake up to the fact that they are not in power because they have an unquestionable right to be but because the Scottish public wanted them there and now they do not. The Labour party needs to make itself stand out again in Scotland, examine what the people want and need, and then attack the SNP with it if they are to ever regain power.

 

And there is something particularly frustrating about the current government (to a greater extent than the previous Labour administration); they announce spending reforms (abolishing prescription charges and meeting the demands of nurses for pay-rises - all very sensible policies that I'm 100% behind) without really thinking about the costs because the majority of Scotland's money comes from the rest of the union - mostly England with its 50 or so million people - wired directly to Edinburgh from the treasury. I think the total amount of money 8% of the population gets is about £38 billion per annum - a formidable amount to be sure. In fact... an unfair amount when one considers the fact that more densely populated areas such as the north west of England receive far less money in relation to the size of the population.

 

So I've spewed drivel in a largely nonsensical manner for long enough. What's your opinion on both the SNP and Scottish independence? Does Scotland get an unfair emphasis? Should we federalise the union, give England, Wales, and Northern Ireland the same powers as Scotland has?

 

Discuss...

 

Edit: Woah! Not sure how this ended up in the Outlander Club. Er... would a moderator mind moving it, please?