ChatterBank1 min ago
Scottish Referendum....
145 Answers
if they vote yes then do you think they should be allowed to vote in the general election next year?
Answers
There is no need for any change to the name of the United Kingdom. If the Scots (hopefully) choose to leave that is their affair. They have made it clear that the remainder of the UK should have no say in the matter. The Scots are proposing to leave the United Kingdom; it is not a proposal from the remainder of the Union to evict them. If a member of a club chooses to...
22:09 Thu 05th Jun 2014
And just how much "better off" would you be in the long run? The part of the North Sea that would be England's in the event of Scottish independence is the part where oil and gas-finds are rapidly dying out. In addition, England would have no access whatsoever to the North Atlantic, where discoveries ARE being made. Given that the Irish Republic actually extends further north than Northen Ireland, England would lack that access even "by the back door".
I suspect the two points above are part of what makes Cameron & Co so vociferous in their determination to keep Scotland in "the UK". Of course, they may decide to frack most of England, just as they've been "fracking" Scotland for generations!
In response to the "Best Answer", if the residents of Scotland do vote for independence, they WILL do so 'hopefully'...ie full of hope for a future free of Toryism and rule by "posh boys". (I borrow that phrase from an English Tory MP, of course!)
I suspect the two points above are part of what makes Cameron & Co so vociferous in their determination to keep Scotland in "the UK". Of course, they may decide to frack most of England, just as they've been "fracking" Scotland for generations!
In response to the "Best Answer", if the residents of Scotland do vote for independence, they WILL do so 'hopefully'...ie full of hope for a future free of Toryism and rule by "posh boys". (I borrow that phrase from an English Tory MP, of course!)
As you know, QM, I wish the Scots well should they free themselves from English Toryism, or any other "..ism" they feel constrained by which stem from south of the border). Most English people wouldn't mind being freed from the current version of Toryism themselves. Of course I'd also be more than happy to see them pay into the UK coffers their share of the present national debt (round about £100bn by my reckoning, not taking account of any adjustments made under the "Barnett formula). But there's little chance of that.
I just wish they'd get on and do it.
I just wish they'd get on and do it.
As TTT keeps on telling us all, NJ, the population of Scotland is only 7% of the total UK's, so presumably on that basis theirs will be only 7% of the national debt. In addition, I trust you will take into account all the current jointly-owned resources that would inevitably - because of geography - belong to the 'rump' of what remains of the UK in the event of Scottish independence.
For example, the current Palace of Westminster was created as the British, not the English, parliament; clearly, however, Scotland will be unable to 'uproot' its 7% and drag it away to Edinburgh! Similarly, the so-called Bank of England is actually the Bank of UK and, despite what Gordon Brown may or may not have done to the gold therein, there is still some left, I'm sure! Apart from these two, there is a multitude of similar joint possessions. So, obviously the Rump, as I choose to call it, will have to "buy the Jocks out", as it were, from all of those, won't it? That should offset quite a chunk of what you choose to call "their share of the present national debt".
For example, the current Palace of Westminster was created as the British, not the English, parliament; clearly, however, Scotland will be unable to 'uproot' its 7% and drag it away to Edinburgh! Similarly, the so-called Bank of England is actually the Bank of UK and, despite what Gordon Brown may or may not have done to the gold therein, there is still some left, I'm sure! Apart from these two, there is a multitude of similar joint possessions. So, obviously the Rump, as I choose to call it, will have to "buy the Jocks out", as it were, from all of those, won't it? That should offset quite a chunk of what you choose to call "their share of the present national debt".