The Union

[Ric.ror]

How important is it?
I live in England and I don’t see how devolution with any of the 2 nations will make any great impact on my life (I appreciate NI is a different situation).

[Untitled]

Indeed Sunk... and apparently it is anti-British to view the collapse of the union of Great Britain as a negative out come...

Delusion - convince yourself!

[ToraToraTora]

sunk: "If Scotland leave the Union (UK), then that is a massive betrayal, and he wishes them ill, and economic collapse. " - show me where I have ever wished them ill and economic collapse.

[ichkeria]

Strictly, on NI:
It has never been part of the Republic of Ireland.
And the Good Friday agreement does not allow for a referendum "at any time". Only when there is a likely majority in favour of the two irelands uniting. I still think that prospect is some way off.
Nonetheless, there is absolutely no doubt that Brexit, both the prospect and the reality, has been a hugely destabilising influence on the whole of ireland and consequently, like it or not, on the union of Great Britain and N Ireland.

[ToraToraTora]

untitled: "... and apparently it is anti-British to view the collapse of the union of Great Britain as a negative out come... " - err no, it's anti British to continually claim that 8% of it leaving constitutes "collapse", "humiliation" etc, I don't want them to leave but if they hate us so much then I'll understand but It wont affect UK very much at all, in fact we'll be a lot better off.

[Untitled]

"I don't want them to leave but if they hate us so much then I'll understand but It wont affect UK very much at all, in fact we'll be a lot better off. "

... and he calls me anti-British... you think we'd be "better off" if the UK split up.

What a hypocrite you are.

And I've told you this before but it's not just about population we'd lose 32% of our territory if Scotland left.

[ToraToraTora]

I said the remaining 92% of the UK will be better off financially, but I'd prefer them to stay.
"And I've told you this before but it's not just about population we'd lose 32% of our territory if Scotland left." - most of which is uninhabited and uninhabitable. Areas of land are are largely irrelevant to this discussion.

[Untitled]

Losing 8% of our population in one stroke would be a pretty terrible outcome tora and so would losing a third of our territory, "irrelevant" though you conveniently decree it to be. Then there is the less tangible but no less important splintering of a political unit that has unified the island of Great Britain for centuries. That's not important to you, but I think that institution is fundamental to being British. Without it we're just English Scots Welsh... little but interesting countries becoming ever more insular and irrelevant, not to mention bitterly divided amongst ourselves as this future would surely leave us. I don't want that for my country. So take your "anti-British" bully boy tactics and shove it.

And yes I do think - if it happens - that it would be humiliating for Scotland and NI to leave our ancient Union and run into the arms of the EU, from whom the UK government worked so hard to leave. I hope that this doesn't transpire but I do not see any serious effort to stop it and suspect it might be too late.