ultimately will it make any real difference? the no vote will get it next week, the bankers,the oil men, rupert murdoch and the others will be back to the business of running this country on our(their) behalf.
don't know, think i am on a bit of a downer at the mo. there's no doubt it's wearing me down a bit. edinbro will get more powers but not enough for me. i fear the rise of ukip almost as much as i fear those in controls are taking the piss. wont stop me voting yes tho.
A few open questions to all, If Scotland does indeed vote YES,will the rest of the union expect the Westminster government to have their best interests at heart with any negotiations ? Will Scotland be able to vote at the UK's next general election if they vote YES ? Will A.S keep on blaming the Westminster Government if he doesn't get his way ? Is their any reason why the EU would not allow Scotland into their ever expanding empire and therefore control via legislation? And finally,will the Conservatives even have to worry about ever losing another election when the Scots cant vote in ours?
If there had been no Scottish MPs at Westminster, Labour would still have won the general elections of 1997, 2001 and 2005, the Conservatives would still have won the general elections of 1979, 1983, 1987 and 1992. So even without Scotland, the parties would still have to fight it out in England and Wales as before. The notion that there could be a permanent governing majority for one single party is extremely far-fetched.
Scotland might well be allowed to join the EU, eventually. But there is a well-established process to be gone through before accession, and a queue of countries which having already applied to join are working through the process - some more quickly than others. A candidate country has to meet over 30 categories of preconditions (known as "chapters") before they can join, plus all the (currently 28) existing member states have to agree to the accession. For Scotland to be allowed to somehow jump the queue is a very tall order, especially since some member states (e.g. Spain) are definitely opposed. A new country with new institutions would take two or three years to meet the acquis, at the absolute minimum. Also, various opt-outs which the UK negotiated to parts of earlier treaties (Maastricht, Lisbon, Schengen) would not be available to a new state acceding - Scotland would have to accept the whole package. Alex Salmond seems simply to assume that all the EU institutions, all 28 member states, and all the existing candidate states would happily agree to whatever he wants whenever he wants it. In his dreams. What you oddly describe as "control" is of course mutual - each state has a slight degree of "control" over all the others, which is why current member states are quite cautious about permitting precipitous accessions. Turkey has been waiting 30 years and is still not close to accession.
in your opinion how many of the 30 chapters do you think scotland meets already? i can only assume scotland can vote but i havent read the edinbro agreement, who would the negotiations be with should there be a change of government.
Aplogies Pete, I may use the word 'toff' as a different meaning which may or may not be factually correct, non the less I'll stick by that or say it another way.... 'Posh Eaton Boys'
Ok, Perhaps a slight over exaggeration but yes they did tend to increase somewhat in lots of European countries having switched to the Euro. Thats not me judging that on the fact when i visited the exchange rate wasnt as favorubale thus making them more expensive for me to visit, thats basing that statement on having spoken to numerous people through business in europe and whilst on holidays as i was intrigued to know what happened following the switch. They simply told me that their wages were converted across from the previous currency to the Euro by a lower factor than what day to day goods and services were. You do that and it puts up prices / costs of living. Perhaps some of our European (Euro paid) members on the forum can correct me as i may very well have gotten the wrong end of the stick?
I presume they'll be a narrow motorbike lane with a Nurburgring type barrier through this wall with easy access?
just got to wheel out a load more 16 year olds to vote......you know like they normally do in elections......