onehundredineighty! kind of like a smaller better Europe you'v always wanted but where just to afraid to ask.
In 2004, John Prescott tried to introduce a system of elected regional assemblies for the UK. The pilot region was the North-East of England. A referendum was held there in November 2004 about it but the result was 78% against, so the whole idea was dropped. Of course it could have been introduced anyway, without a referendum - is that what you are proposing?
I wasn't proposing anything. I was just making people aware of possible alternative political structures. If people don't want them, that is their prerogative. I am glad that the people concerned were allowed a referendum on the issue, rather than just having it forced upon them. I thought that introductions without referendum were rather what you were proposing.
Yorkshire has a good a case as any. And we won more medals in the 2012 Olympics that many "countries" too.
and you have your own brand of tea. do it. bet you cant na na nana na. the sky gonna fall in and the ground is gonna boil. and you will contract syphilis.
sky news was in oban the other day asking for there opinion on the big question, 4 people i know where asked, one being a business owner and employer, they all support independence, none where featured in the report. who runs this country?
Alex Salmond doesn't want independence. He wanted DEVO Max. For those who don't know what DEVO max is, it is basically Scotland being financially independent within the union. Full control of of all tax and spend and all income streams, including North Sea oil, whisky, VAT revenues etc. David Cameron could have agreed to this being on the ballot paper, but refused Salmonds request. He did so because he didn't want to lose the cash cow that Scotland is. As a result, he is risking losing the cash along with His nuclear weapons dump His submarine base To quote John Major, "where will we get our army" Strategic control of the North Sea and the Atlantic Access to vast renewable power resources which the UK is legally obliged to adopt The UKs place within the EU. It is not clear if the UK would also have reapply for membership or not. Totally screwing rUKs balance of payments. Scotland is a nett exporter. The biggest gas field in the world is sitting off Scotlands west coast in the Scottish Atlantic Margin. Germany, which gets its gas from Russia, through Ukraine, is not going to let access to that evaporate by allowing Scotland to drift out of the EU. and a whole lot more. 99% of you English guys are genuinely nice people. Some of you I know. But really, you can't keep telling a whole nation that they are drunken, scrounging, ginger headed dole junkies, that rely on the welfare state, when the reality I'd Scottish GDP is 99% of the UKs GDP before oil revenues are factored in, at which point they are substantially higher. These are UK GVT statistics. You can't keep doing because people here will react in a way which does mean Independence. Many people here are getting fed up with losing the conflict which exists between finance and Industry. Thatcher destroyed industry and built a banking centre, whose goal was to make profit from investing, then selling. Industry makes profit from making, then selling. As a nation we are second to no one in invention. Some of you will wear disposable contact lenses. A Scottish invention. We had a factory employing 1000 people in Livingston, until some venture Capitalist came along, ran it for a few years, the sold it to an American firm, where over 10,000 people are now employed doing the same thing. We keep, losing skilled jobs and all we get is low paid call centre crap. Watch this and tell me he is wrong. Skip the first 90 seconds of intro. The UK needs to invest in science, technology, life sciences, shipbuilding etc as a base for industry and from that build an economy of high value jobs, as Norway, Germany etc have done. Basing your economy on banking, where a few earn massive bonuses and the rest who live in the regions of the UK are to be greatful for a call centre job is absolute lunacy.
So let me get this right 749er,Scotland wants all of the natural resources which have been there before any country even had a name and to disown a union which is based by location and proximity and much more and still to be a member of another union which can't even produce evidence or accounts to prove that they are above reproach despite being overtly encompassing and for the benefit of the so called members.On top of this,this vote is only available to a small percentage of the union.So glad that you're thinking of the other much larger percentage of the UK who do and have contributed and love the Scottish people for what you are and not what we can get from you .
Its like having UKIP in charge north of the border. Its all tweed, shepards and happy days. Its all jolly 'Whisky Galore'. The SDP are selling them good times on credit whilst ignoring the costs, to both nations. Or the risk of failures and once again we have Darien. As a scot, I am also fully aware of what the english get called north of the border. Every community has wankers. Additionally, I cannot tell you how may glaswegians seem to end up as drunk tramps down here. We've only got ourselves to blame for our own nickname. Besides its called piss taking. Thats what Brits do. I am 100% with you on the economy and industry.
I don't really understand your point Stu, but I can assure you that from this side of he border, its got nothing to do with nationality. I know many English people here and ALL are voting YES,bar 2 of them. I know you are very fond of Scotland, as i am towards England. Great place, great people. However, read through this thread and you will find many comments which are offensive and derogatory towards Scots. I shall give you one very personal example. My cousin is dead. He died an alcoholic in London weighing 6stone, though he was 6ft 5. I don't care who made that comment, they would never have said that to his face when he was in his prime. He would have buried them on the spot. In his prime he was a pilot in the RAF -seeing action in 3 wars. He knew what bravery was. My personal experience at school was that no one ever gave me grief as they knew we were related. He was hard as nails. Over 20% of rough sleepers in London are ex servicemen, so if people want to make derisory comments they can do so at the risk of looking like very small people indeed. We have no concept of what these poor people have witnessed and endured. There is a huge gulf between perception and reality. I don't really blame English people for having some of the views listed above. It is what the media constantly tell them. There are any number of UK government statistics which prove my point on Scotland's viability as an independent country. The problem arises from the media peddling the myth that Scots are scroungers when the facts are. 1) the Barnett formula gives Scotland £1200 per ahead above average UK expenditure 2) Scotland contributes £1800 per head above the UK average in tax. Therefore we subsidise the the UK. (As does London and the South East) 3) transport for London is subsidised at a rate £2600 per head. I don't hear anyone saying Londoners are subsidised do you? I don't hear anyone demanding that subsidy be removed? It is justified on the basis that the expenditure is required for business reasons as the City makes a lot of money for the economy. There will be more again when HS2 gets underway. So going back to your point about resources being kept and not shared, this is what happens in England already. The stark contrast in wealth generation and public expenditure is illustrated beautifully, by the fact that the North East of England has a transport subsidy of a whole £5 per head. Why should Scotland not be treated the same way as London in keeping the wealth it generates? Therefore, is it any wonder there is a reaction when people here see the same situation being portrayed completely differently. One group of people are scroungers and the others worthy. Perhaps if our role within the UK was portrayed accurately in the media, people wouldn't be so pissed off. People here bear no resentment towards English people, bar the usual idiotic minority you get all over the world. Unfortunately, the UK media whip up a whole raft of half truths and downright lies which generates a degree of resentment and division. Perhaps if we weren't shafted over Trident in that we didn't get the servicing jobs which were promised as part of the deal to house the weapons themselves we wouldn't be so pissed off. People here, have no problem with English people, its the Establishment which is the problem. It's taking the piss and if it doesn't get its act together, its going to get a very bloody nose, and everyone in the UK will lose in the short term. In the medium to long term, Scotland will be better of independent. So, where are you parking trident in 2017?
Good rant 749er and I agree with much of what you say. The issue for me is that the UK of GB and NI is greater than the sum of it's parts. Also Wee Eck has failed to answer many of the fundamental questions relating to minor details like what the currency would be. The idea that Scotland can split from the Union and carry on as before is ridiculous.
