01 Nov 06
Originally posted by ShallowBlueExcellent.
Oh No!!! Scottish asylum seekers!!!
We'd better get started on the Carlisle reception centre.
No, wait! - We can send them to Kent and load them onto cross-channel ferries in a sweet twist of revenge upon the French.
So long as you don't deport them back to Scotland, past the electrified Hadrians Wall II.
01 Nov 06
Originally posted by princeoforangeI guess then, in the course of your studies, you will have adopted the English means of funding and paying for your course rather than the Scottish one?
Well because Scotland is currently heavily funded by the English and has a population so heavily reliant on the benefits system that it is not sustainable by Scottish taxpayers.
And thats just the economic side.
Or are you Scottish when it suits you?
01 Nov 06
Originally posted by kmax87funnily enough, we already have that duplication.
As an outsider it would seem that any breakup would lead to new bureacracies being spawned and a duplication within each nation of what currently is served from Whitehall.
The Scottish parliament and the Welsh Assembly, and, currently suspended, the Northern ireland Assembly.
And the government wants further duplication with regional English assemblies.
01 Nov 06
1 edit
Originally posted by princeoforangeYes I must agree. The ideal solution would of course be for independence to be granted to the lowlanders of Scotland, leaving the Isles and the highlands united with England.
I have to disagree with you here Philidor (wow, thats two issues now, religion and devolution, where will it end?!) From a Scottish perspective independence would be disasterous in every sense; economic, social, political; you name it. In fact, this is so serious that, were Scotland to becomeindependant, I would move to England.
The Redmikers could then declare Glasgow as the capital of the new Socialist Republic of the Gaels, and realise their dream of a communist Utopia where everyone except the rulers is equally deprived and miserable.
Edit. But rest assured that if it came to it you and others of likemind, would be warmly welcomed here in England. We coiuld then trade in an equal number of our disgruntled misfits so as not to deplete the population of the newly independent Scotland.
01 Nov 06
Hmm, I remember a while back that Edinburgh had some of the most affluent post codes (ie richest areas i guess) in the UK. Having said that, I don't know how many of the people who live in those parts of Edinburgh are English.
If there was independence, where would most of the money from the North Sea fuels go?
01 Nov 06
Normally i would be happy to debate this issue, but i can already see the way this thread is going to turn out.
An independant country in europe could give us a voice in the world, and a common defence force would be the sensible option. I do although , fear that sensible is not something that could be associated with a debate in this forum, and i see that the mud slinging has already begun.
01 Nov 06
Originally posted by welsharnieNow, Taffy, are you in favour of Welsh independence?
Hmm, I remember a while back that Edinburgh had some of the most affluent post codes (ie richest areas i guess) in the UK. Having said that, I don't know how many of the people who live in those parts of Edinburgh are English.
If there was independence, where would most of the money from the North Sea fuels go?
01 Nov 06
Originally posted by catfoodtimYes, and it's not just Ireland...
Ireland, with a smaller population than Scotland, seems to do alright for itself these days with its economy. The Isle of Man is not part of the UK, and is not a member of the EU. Yet manages self-governance pretty well, albeit with trade agreements with the UK admittedly.
Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg, Iceland, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland can all be called small Western European countries and every one of those countries has a higher standard of living than Scotland. Norway aside, none of the aforementioned countries have oil in their territorial waters currently worth £13bn in taxation per year. Of course, that money is syphoned off by the London treasury for the "greater good", which makes the following quote by London Nick in this thread hilarious: "...each nation gains more through being united e.g sharing north sea oil....". See http://snp.org/press-releases/2006/oilwealthhidden/
Scotland also has the greatest potential for renewable energy in Europe, which isn't being exploited at all. Scotland also has a highly educated workforce, many of whom have to leave Scotland to find jobs. The British government sacrificed the Scottish fishing industry as part of an EU deal. The former governor of the Bank of England stated once that unemployment in the north was a price worth paying for prosperity in the south. We have to help pay for, via money and people, expensive illegal wars that the people don't want. We have to pay our share of the disgustingly expensive (and soon to be upgraded) nuclear deterrant that sits just outside Glasgow. And yet, the Scottish Quislings and their gutter press cronies peddle the lie that Scots are somehow being subsidised by England and claim that Scottish independence would be a "disaster".
I for one am not content with my country being run for the benefit of London with the aid of the Vichy parliament in Edinburgh, which is led by a man who makes George W. Bush seem like Confucius. I am sick of unionist careerists chipping away at Scottish confidence with their outrageous and unqualified lies.
If Scottish independence is such a bad idea, then why is it that every comparible small and sovereign country in Western Europe is doing much better than Scotland?
01 Nov 06
Originally posted by sylvanderTo be fair though, all those countries have a higher standard of living than England too.
Yes, and it's not just Ireland...
Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg, Iceland, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland can all be called small Western European countries and every one of those countries has a higher standard of living than Scotland. Norway aside, none of the aforementioned countries have oil in their territorial waters currently wort ...[text shortened]... mall and sovereign country in Western Europe is doing much better than Scotland?
01 Nov 06
Originally posted by sylvanderBecause none of them have had their treasuries or resouces linked to Englands for the past few hundred years.
http://snp.org/press-releases/2006/oilwealthhidden/
If Scottish independence is such a bad idea, then why is it that every comparible small and sovereign country in Western Europe is doing much better than Scotland?
Scottish oil wealth is a mirage because only the cooperation of oil cartels operating on a fair amount of signalling out of that fair old city of london will ever allow one drop or watt of energy of that precious North Sea shangrila to be pumped for profit.
Having the resource is one thing, getting it to market is another. Just ask the Papua New Guinians in our neck of the woods if the would rather have a miniscule percentage of a grand fortune or 100% of SFA.
01 Nov 06
Originally posted by kmax87Thanks for your remarkable insight.
Scottish oil wealth is a mirage because only the cooperation of oil cartels operating on a fair amount of signalling out of that fair old city of london will ever allow one drop or watt of energy of that precious North Sea shangrila to be pumped for profit
Meanwhile, back in the real world ...
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1615112006
01 Nov 06
Originally posted by kmax87Eh?
Because none of them have had their treasuries or resouces linked to Englands for the past few hundred years.
Scottish oil wealth is a mirage because only the cooperation of oil cartels operating on a fair amount of signalling out of that fair old city of london will ever allow one drop or watt of energy of that precious North Sea shangrila to be pumped fo ...[text shortened]... of the woods if the would rather have a miniscule percentage of a grand fortune or 100% of SFA.
Nobody is proposing to change the ownership of the North Sea oil fields.
The only difference in an independant Scotland is that the tax take comes to Edinburgh, rather than London.
The oil companies aren't interested in where the tax goes, just how much they pay.
01 Nov 06
Originally posted by RedmikeI would willingly do so, then I wouldn't have to pay a graduate endowment after I'd finished to pay for everyone elses education, I'd just be paying for my own.
I guess then, in the course of your studies, you will have adopted the English means of funding and paying for your course rather than the Scottish one?
Or are you Scottish when it suits you?
Unfortunately, however, under the socialist government we have here, its not possible.