300 years is long enough!!!

[Sheriff Fatman]

I must admit - I thought this thread was going to be a reference to the the fact that England finally beat Australia on a cricket pitch today.

Feels like more than 300 years though.

[MadYank]

If Scotland went independent could George Galloway be exiled back to his origins to leave everyone but The Scots alone?


On a different note, there are significant military/strategic issues which make full independence very difficult if not highly unlikely.

[happybhoy]

I'm sure Hadrian's Wall would be rebuilt quite quickly if the situation arises

[boldie]

I have lived in Scotland for a while now and always think it's quite funny when this is brought up.

Untill you have some decent politicians of your own I wouldn't really go it alone.
Hollyrood does not have a lot of powers at the moment and yet what it does it doesn't do very well. (A certain parliament building springs to mind)

Whenever I have met Scottish MP's (and met a fair view when I did my thesis) I always found a complete lack of understanding when it comes to Economics. I like Alex Salmond (SNP bloke for those who don't know) but in the chat we had even he agreed that, although Oil revenue seems decent now, the majority of Scottish oil is gone already and that it will be sorely missed when it's gone (which will be fairly soon)
Scotland has to do MUCH more to attract industry then it's currently doing. The reason Ireland is doing soo well for itsself is because it subsidised the living hell out of business to attract it. Scotland simply has no other choice but to do this if it wants to be successfull.

Ireland also made a joined cross-party effort to be successfull. Scotland is currently not doing this. All the political parties do here is nitpick and complain about how the others are all a bunch of liars. Nicola Sturgeon (yuck) is a prime example of how politics should NOT be done, especially by someone as Senior as she is within a major party.
The politicians shout a lot but I have yet to hear any of them come up with a viable economic plan for a future outside the union.

The Scottish people will also have to realise that certain things HAVE TO be done. Scotland will have to join the Euro. This really isn't a massive sacrifice (other then maybe to an inflated sense of pride being derived from the pound) and it is vital for the rapid economic growth Scotland would require if it's to be competitive with the business market in surrounding nations. I know Alex Salmond suggests this aswell I just hope the tabloids and the Scottish people will realise it's use.
One of the other things I think would be wise would be a complete restructuring of the military. Scotland doesn't need as big an army as it has now, there's simply no need for it. However it would be wise to continue to have a joined Intelligence and Military force of some kind. Whether this would be in a joint euro effort (as other countries are doing at the moment) or whether that would be in a British effort is open for debate. This also seems to be a sore spot with the Scottish.

There is no doubt it can be done. There is no reason why Scotland by itsself can not become a successfull nation. But to do so the politicians and the people in Scotland need to realise that to make Scotland successful they have to pull together and come up with a plan for the future of Scotland. At the moment they seem unwilling to do so and therefore breaking out of the union now would not be the greatest of ideas.

[Rod Paradise]

The whole point of the Act of Union was to stop you guys from getting too cosy with the French and opening up another attack route to England from the north.

Now that's not an issue I really don't see why Scotland shouldn't go it alone. It's not as if it's some tiny little country - the population is similar to Ireland's and they've done tremendously well economically over the past 20 years.

Well it didn't work too well... if the French had done their part the border would have been in the Midlands. (We got as far as Derby) while oor friends in the Auld Alliance ast at the Channel, waiting to see how we got on .

There was a lot of religion involved in it as well.

[tantrum]

Independent Scotland - monarchy or republic?

[Colchester Kev]

Why do you want independance ?

You will be running the UK soon enough.

Gordon Brown will be PM soon enough, and most of the top government positions are occupied by Scots.

I think you are planning to take over ....

[Woodsey]

I don't think anyone in England really cares about what Scotland do to be honest!

[Royal Flush]

I don't think anyone in England really cares about what Scotland do to be honest!

Well said.

Frankly i don't care, you all just move to London anyway.

My only concern is you would be destroyed economically.

[Rod Paradise]

I don't think anyone in England really cares about what Scotland do to be honest!

The government did at the time of the last devolution election (75) - keeping very schtum about the report that anticipated Scotland having one of the strongest currencies in Europe if Independence had been achieved, and the potential bankrupcy of the rest of the UK.

But we still get subsidies brought up all the time

Flushy - don't believe it for a second.

[Zebediah]

I personally think any devolution is a backwards step, this planet should be looking to having a single government one day.

But on the other hand, if Scotland go alone they may stop blaming us for everything and lose the chip lol.
I think the flat analogy is a good one.
But this would not be a painless manouvre by any means, armed forces alone...eek.

[kinboshi]

Who'd pay the taxes to support an independent Scotland?  Most seem to live in England.

[Ironside]

first off scotland's oil has been holding up governments in the UK since the 70s now that its nearly all gone would be a good time for the english to let the scots go and scotland will only be worhwhile tax wse for the next 8-12 years

2nd voting for the SNP in the scottish election is useless unless you want the loony left making important desicions for the next 4 years, voting for the SNP in a general election is the only SAFE way to get an independant scotland

3rd i cant see much dfference in being ruled from holyrood or westminster both will look after there votes in the built up areas and leave the countryside to rot with silly hunting bans while expecting farmers too look after the welfare of the lambs that those foxes whose numbers multiply nearly as quick as rabits mutalate

now i can expect some abuse from some city dwelling animal lover left wing loonies for my views so i will now refrain from making any more politic posts on this thread

[thetank]

My position is that it was 300 years ago, time to forget about it. If every nation held a grudge with what the British Empire has done to their country in the last 300 years, they wouldn't be too popular at all.

We are one country now, is it not greedy to say we want full independance? Use all our resources ourselves to achieve greater prosperity.

Why not independdance for Aberdeen aswell, could we not get on better without having to drain our oil and natural gas money to the central belt?

[thetank]

My only concern is you would be destroyed economically.

Not really the case at all, quite the opposite true if you look at the economy of Ireland as a model.

We'd no longer be investing in a high tech miliatary, and sending them all over the place. This would help the coffers a fair bit.

I just don't think it's a responsible thing to do, breaking up into smaller nations so that we can be richer. Ignoring the responsibility to world stability by no longer helping to buy the guns. Is iit not hypocritical aswell, trying to stop a civil war in one part of the word, at the same time we're taking a pair of scissors to our own country.