Scotland To Vote On Independence In Late 2014

[Sheilbh]

It'll be fun watching Salmon crush Cameron tactically. I don't like Salmon but he is a world class politician, one of the best the UK has ever seen, while Cameron is inexperienced and inept and this kind of stuff.

I like Salmond and I think he'll be especially impressive in the campaign he's always dreamed of against the dream opponent.  They'll probably get Rifkind, Scotland's Portillo, into the campaign too.  Salmond could win it, especially if the papers are right and George Osborne is leading the cabinet on this issue.  It's extraordinary that they're being led on this by someone who looks like an effete, sneering English landlord about to clear his tenants off the land. 

The Tories really seem to rate George Osborne as a political operator, but I don't see it myself.

Tory bumbling and Lib Dem irrelevance wouldn't normally matter in Scotland, because Scottish Labour would do their job.  I imagine Murphy, Darling and Brown will do well, but it's difficult to see Miliband or Lamont making much of an impression.  It may not be enough.  The dearth of talent, with the exception of Salmond, is incredible


Edit:  Also I'm sure the SNP will be able to do something with the 700th anniversary of Bannockburn a month or two before the referendum.  Given that they used to hand out leaflets in the lobby of cinemas showing Braveheart they won't disappoint

[Neil]

Is it really that surprising?  Politics doesn't attract talented people the way that it used to, because talented people aren't really required.  These days, they're just filling seats in the Commons and following orders from the PMO.

[Sheilbh]

Is it really that surprising?  Politics doesn't attract talented people the way that it used to, because talented people aren't really required.  These days, they're just filling seats in the Commons and following orders from the PMO.

Actually the Commons is more rebellious than any point in the post-war era and getting more rebellious.  Lots of MPs now have a personal relationship with their constituency, they're far less in thrall to the party leader.  There are some very impressive MPs now, certainly far more than in recent years.

What I really mean though is that Scottish Labour's best politicians want to be in a UK cabinet, that's their burning ambition.  For the SNP, on the other hand, all they want is to be in the Scottish government pushing for an independent Scotland.

[Josquius]

The trouble with politics isn't so much that it doesn't attract talented people but that it has gotten too professional.
People go off to university with the plan of one day worming their way into being a politician. They use mommy and daddys money and connections to go off and do fancy internships and all that sort of thing and steadily squeeze their way into this desirable job.

The way it should be, the way it was, of course is that it is what some people go into because they want to improve the country/fix a particular thing, often after having a career actually doing something.

I think there's still a trillion quids worth down there, 90% in Scottish waters. There's also, I think, a lot of exploration going on around Shetland that looks promising..

I always love it when the SNP use the "Its Scotlands oil!!!" bollocks.
Why is the small area of the whole of Scotland entitled to it but not say the small area of the whole of Shetland?
Shetland could make a pretty penny if they were to go independent....

[Admiral Yi]

I always love it when the SNP use the "Its Scotlands oil!!!" bollocks.
Why is the small area of the whole of Scotland entitled to it but not say the small area of the whole of Shetland?
Shetland could make a pretty penny if they were to go independent....

Probably because of the way all countries' Exclusive Economic Zones are mapped.

[Sheilbh]

I wonder if the government want to lose this.  So far they've chosen George Osborne, Michael Gove and Nick Clegg to speak about the Scottish issue

The Welsh First Minister says there'd need to be a UK convention if the Scots go, to avoid England dominating Wales.  It makes sense, we'd probably need a more Federal system.

[Richard Hakluyt]

If Scotland goes then England may as well quit as well, Wales and NI are insignificant and a bit of a nuisance, better off with a unitary England.

[Sheilbh]

If Scotland goes then England may as well quit as well, Wales and NI are insignificant and a bit of a nuisance, better off with a unitary England.

I agree.  Independent England with home rule for Cornwall

[Valmy]

I agree.  Independent England with home rule for Cornwall

Why shouldn't every county have homerule?   Why should Cornwall get special privileges?

[Sheilbh]

Why shouldn't every county have homerule?   Why should Cornwall get special privileges?

I wouldn't object to that.  But many counties aren't really set like US state (Cornwall is clearly defined) so the town I lived in was once in Berkshire but then was moved to Oxfordshire.

Plus the Cornish have a language, that counts for something.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Mebyon Kernow only got 4.3% of the vote in the last set of Cornwall Council elections, I think you are going a bit overboard here Sheilbh 

[HVC]

Sheilbh, why do you hate civilization so?

[Valmy]

Plus the Cornish have a language, that counts for something.

...why?  Are people who speak different languages better and deserve political rights others do not?  Why should they have a larger say in how their county is run than any other region?

[Gups]

The Cornish (I'm half Cornish) do have a stronger identity than most parts of England (Yorkshire being the possible exception). But nobody speaks Cornish and the rise in Cornish nationalism relates almost entirely to the desire to make Cornwall out to be a region so it can secure EU objective 1 funding. As it stands Cornwall is pretty poor but it is lumped in with the otherwise prosperous south west.

Home rule for each counrt, Shelf? Have a word with yoruself.

[Sheilbh]

Mebyon Kernow only got 4.3% of the vote in the last set of Cornwall Council elections, I think you are going a bit overboard here Sheilbh 

True enough I am mostly joking.  Though I do generally like the idea of massive decentralisation, including for the Cornish. 

They are my favourite nationalists though. 

...why?  Are people who speak different languages better and deserve political rights others do not?  Why should they have a larger say in how their county is run than any other region?

Indicates a sense of separate identity behind the county which makes it more than just an administrative convenience.