Should scotland be independent?

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i_lowe

Yes.

Scotland and England are historically very different populations, which we are seeing the effects of at the moment. We have a Labour government that did not have a clear majority in England, supported from Scotland, and enforcing socialist policies that the English are not in favour of...

Which is exactly the same situation we had in the eighties, when Scotland had an English Tory government inflicted on them, and suffered financially as a result.

Clearly, Scotland and England do not vote in sync - they are at odds with each other. We also have wild disparities in finances - Scotland contributes more to the treasury per person than England by nearly double, in fact, Professor Gavin McCrone has suggested that in independent Scotland would have "embarrassingly" large tax surpluses... if the oil is included.

What people like Maddy and the unpleasant candidate for London Mayor from the English Democrats want is to complain about the (comparatively small) amount of extra money Scotland gets under the Barnett formula, and ignore the Billions of pounds flowing into England from the North Sea.

The only good solution for Scotland is Independencece.

anne b

If it's what the people of Scotland want yes. But they should be totally independent.

'Er indoors!!

Yea, go for it. Just as long as independant MEANS independant, which means the "handouts" from England stop too!!! Bets on how long they would last without the English taxpayers bailing them out????

Bubba Bob Dixie

Tempting, but it doesn't make much economic sense. You'll be poor but proud, I guess you could say.

Frankie Doodle x

Yes!

We could do well with our north sea oil and tourism, vote SNP ;-) x

The Tank

Scotland is welcome to their Independence providing that they are financially self-supporting and that they have no say whatsoever in affairs concerning England.

Whilst we have so many Scots in Parliament I can't see that happening.

Realistically, I think that Great Britain should remain united. It's the Northern Ireland part of the UK that should be cut loose. I can't help thinking that the province is a net drain on the UK economy and the behaviour of their (elected) politicians over the last 35 years or so doesn't give me confidence that they are really committed to the UK ideal (other than the money).

House

In answer to your question Yes..

In answer to the two prats who answered above 3 golds for the Uk GB or whatever were supplied via Scotland at the Olympics.

the_crumlin_kangeroo

Yeah go for it! Britain was going down the tubes until North sea oil (scottish oil) was found.
Create your own country and keep the oil revenues. William Wallace would smile down on ya!

Why When How

I do not believe the people of Scotland will ever vote for independence.

Ava-Scarlett x

well it is seperate, its, its own country. we are united which is a good thing. we help each other out, but all the countrys are seperate anyway. we all play are own football,rugby etc ..
but i think its good that we are all together:)

Live To Fish

Ask William Wallace, I'm sure he would have an opinion on the subject. Sean Connery is said to have the words "Scotland Forever" tattooed on his chest.

I should be doing something else

No - I simply think United we stand.

I am not from Scotland but I think it makes sense for us all to be united. We still have our own national identity but combined make a larger entity. I am from Northern Ireland and am proud to be associated with England, Scotland and Wales, both through being part of the UK, and my own ancestral lineage.

Angel - are you implying that the citizens of Scotland do not pay their taxes and have to be completely funded by England?

All your comments on this forum seem to be of an inflammatory nature as people are now noticing...

Zippy

Yes....Here’s why....
It would settle once and for all the mistaken view that England supports Scotland financially. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve seen the same mantra “Scotland gets money from English taxation” Sun-reading English people are unaware or prefer to ignore the fact that Scotland’s wealth supports England. They will find that if Scotland gains independence, they will be worse off, not better, as they seem to think.

The most recent report shows Scotland had a surplus of payments amounting to £9,632 million in the financial year 2004/05, the latest one for which figures are available. Therefore, Scotland is subsidising the rest of the UK to a figure approaching £10 billion annually!

Independence would give Scotland tax-raising powers, and would do away with the hated Barnett Formula, which denies it access to its own wealth. It would be much better off if it were to retain ALL tax revenue raised in Scotland (that's ALL tax revenue, not just PAYE, but Duty, Excise, Corporation Tax, Capital gains tax, North Sea revenues etc).

Mr Hyde – Contrary to your assertion – the rest of the UK will LOSE more than a few bob... when Scotland’s wealth no longer pours into the UK coffers. Don’t show your ignorance by using the archaic “Scotch” to reference to the citizens of Scotland.. In modern-day Scotland, we are known as ‘Scots’. Would you like us to call you ‘limeys’?

Nippin' Neon – Regrettably, you are right – Devolution CAN be revoked by Westminster – I’d like to see them try it though!! This is because the UK is a unitary state with a centralised tier of government, and devolution is only granted under sufferance by the Westminster government. That’s why independence is infinitely preferable.

MADDY- I won’t even dignify your answer with any comments, you are spewing racism in its purest form....

Jock – I would agree that getting away from the idiots would be blissful – I suggest we set up a border post at Gretna ... lol

Anne b – Yes, thank you, we Scots would like to be totally independent too – so glad you agree.

Seamus – You can believe what you like, you are deluding yourself, but I support your right to hold an opinion.

funky_lao_pi - you say "...doesn't make much economic sense" Do please explain how Scotland would be financially poorer..... I'm dying to hear more of your economic pearls of wisdom ....

Angel - We can always rely on you to come out with the same old claptrap... here's a challenge for you .... back up your point of view by quoting a source - and no, the Sun rag doesn't count..... Thanks, dear - glad to hear we can count on your support.
You say "It's not only the Scots who want Independence you know" - you're right - I've heard some Welsh people would like it too!

Angel

Yes, most of England's Tax Payers want an Independent Scotland,

England does not need Scotland, but Scotland needs the English Tax Payer.

MADDY

God yes! Let the tight twats get on with it without our english money and see how far they get! Let them all drown in their Robbie burns sweat. Him aside let them know how it feels to watch a loved one die through lack of funds, even though we know they are have but just been shifted to the other side of the border worse still to bloody africa!

Wullie

It would be better in terms of econmy if we were. Probably better all round. Maddy you ******* english ****. If i ever meet you you will regret making that comment. Dont ever show your face in scotland cos we'll have ye.

Mr Hyde

It would save the rest of us a few bob.

Edit :To" scottish"- By your spelling I can see you do not understand English ,so I will not bother explaining .An interesting fact is that Robbie Burns referred to himself as a Scotch man and others the same . He never said he was a Scot . Pick the bones out of that !
Edit: To "scaredy cat". You are an idiot who thinks he is clever . We call you a lot of things other than scotch !Call me a limey and I could not care less, I am confident enough to shrug off childish insults .Got you rattled though , haven't I ?!

Best answer usually the simplest

It is kind of , in its own way ( just like Ireland)

No it shouldn't, and what's more, it won't be. It just won't happen. If the SNP thought they could win a vote on this they would have done it by now. But the fact is at the election for the Scottish Parliament, well over half voted for pro-union parties. The SNP don't have a majority, they are a minority administration.

Summer...please come :(

You should shutup.

Jock

Yes, if only to get as far away as possible from some of the idiots that answered your question. You always get the idiots crawling out of the woodwork with their "non facts" when a question like this is answered. It's like they think insulting us Scots is going to make us more keen to stick with them in political union. Sad really.

Nippin' Neon

No. At the end of the day, Scotland is allowed to do it's own thing with some serious financial backing from Westminster. Granted, Westminster can take the autonomy of Scotland away at the drop of a hat if they aren't happy. However, with Scotland running itself, that should give the gov south of the border one less job to worry about.

Independence should only be considered in the instance
where Westminster takes its current power away, and things get worse in Scotland as a result. Scotland seems to have the best of both worlds at the minute. Lets hope it doesn't get f'd up - things could be a lot worse up here. Plus Scottish MPs get to vote on English matters but not the other way round! There's a bone of contention!

Edit: My facts are right, yours aren't. To reiterate, Westminster can take Scottish power away without the consent of the Scottish electorate at any time they want. Only if something was going hideously wrong for them would they do it. Doing politics at uni at the moment. Was news to me as well, but that is the case. I should back it with a reference but I cannot be bothered getting off the couch. I'm confident I know how it works. If you don't accept that, it doesn't make much difference to me.

scottish_lass

No Scotland should not be independent and i will tell u why...we no longer have anything of our own. everything we have is owned by the English now. i do not think e should be independent but i do think we should be recognised more as a country and not a region! If i didn't think the country would be skint then i would be all for Independence lol. As for the guy who said it would save the rest a few bob...what exactly do u mean?

spelling sorted now...in future i will check this just for you! now answer the question please.

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