The Scottish Government

Good point Andrew, you make the reason for why we need to have the referendum. I too believe Scotland's interests are best served within the Union. But by not calling Salmond's bluff is to play into his hands. For this is one vote he knows he can't win.

1413. It is a bit of a hassle googling to get these answers but I got there in the end. You apprear to be right and it is sad that they were made. I would like to know if there has been remarks of this kind by other parties.

I have no interest in independence. I see myself as British and I want to remain British. I cannot believe you are wasting public money on a ridiculous referendum in which people will clearly vote to stay part of the union.

Are there not more important priorities to be looked at???

Health?
Education?
Knife crime?

A debate on independence
Debate on a vote on independence
At least in Scotland’s devolved government
The debate is open and political will is returning to the Scottish people
The political apathy generated firstly by the Thatcher years, and then by the disappointments of new labour, seems to be being slowly washed away as we return to our socialist roots
on independence well a sizeable amount of Scottish people at least want a vote on it then it is only fair to have one, simply put if Scotland’s majority vote yay or nay at least democratic will is done and the debate is over.

Scotland’s people have always had a great love for freedom
Which I believe will always continue
Our political freedom will hopefully never be interfered with

Respect for our cultural independence
Has never been fully supported in Westminster

The Scottish parliament was a great step forward no matter how much it cost or ugly it is

I don’t believe independence is necessarily a solely nationalistic matter in Scotland at the moment more an economic and social one, it is not the English that are holding us down but the rise of international capitalism as
Most people in the rural north of Scotland can never hope to afford to own there own home when major amounts of houses are bought as second homes/holiday cottages .we should not have to move to London just to get a fair wage

You don’t have to be a nationalist to see the advantages of independence to stemming the flow of gross capitalism &
Improving cultural identity
Our native Gallic language is in danger dying out even with devolution it has not received enough help

I think I have just convinced myself that if there is a vote I go for independence

always open for debate though

#1436. Dave Coull - Balnabreich
Friday, August 31, 2007 00:53

The Iron Lady was forced to turn, and at the height of the miners' strike too.

During 1985-86 the tories announced plans to strip students of their Student Grants.

The various student bodies decided to embark on a policy of letter writing to Conservative MPs and prospective MPs, particularly in the Tory Home Counties and marginals.
If they persisted on this course of action then students, their friends and families in those constituencies would vote tactically to ensure they were defeated at the next general election.

It worked.
Within weeks, tory back benchers were inundated with sackfulls of mail from unhappy potential voters.

The whip's office was full of these MPs in a panic, and as the Iron Lady was trumpeting loudest that she was 'not for turning', proposals to abolish student grants were quietly dropped.

Maggie the milk snatcher's first U-turn.

I was one of those students.

It took Tony Blair's New Labour to do what Maggie couldn't:
Enforce the concept of Higher Education for all those willing and able to pay for it.

#1439 Chris: Please inform us when the 'referendum on independence' was held - are you trying to start an urban myth? Also, the Scottish Parliament has passed 128 Acts since 1999 - I reckon it's proved its worth.

#1445 Alex: Media reports state that this site had 20,000 hits in its first week - a bit more than the '1,000 actual Scots' you estimate.

#1445. Alex - Largs
Saturday, September 1, 2007 10:40

I've been looking for this forum and having bother finding it.

Navigation to here is not so clear as on some other bloggs.

Have you any figures Alex for how many have been just reading the blog rather than posting on it?

The country's top civil servant in Scotland Sir John Elvidge does not share your views on the government's use of public money to open up this national conversation, saying this is no different than any previous administration's policy initiatives.

Perhaps the novelty of a government actually canvassing your opinion and printing it for review by your peers is a bit disconcerting.

In Scotland we're used to being told what's good for us and what we want, so it is only natural that for some this adjustment may take longer than with others, particularly for a few of the older electorate.

I can imagine how all this may be confusing and a little scary, but give it time and I'm sure they'll find that it's alright really.

For some such as those from outwith our shores this forum may be the only way to have their hopes, aspirations or reservations for Scotland known and shared with their fellows.

Frankly I am so impressed the new government has made this available to friends and opponents alike without fear or favour.

G.Craigie of DUNDEE (1442) wrote "Scotias'" - if you mean something belong to Scotia, G. Craigie, the apostrophe goes after the "a", like this: "Scotia's".

"Scotias' banner of freedom shall ne'er be unfurled until the last central belt Labour MP has been choked to death by the last copy of the Daily Record" - so, G. Craigie, does this mean you are advocating the murder of political opponents and the suppression of newspapers which print views of which you disapprove?

Personally, I happen to think the Daily Record is a terrible paper, but I also happen to believe in freedom of speech.

Somehow, I don't think Alex Salmond will feel you have made a helpful contribution to the national conversation, G. Craigie.

Neither do I, come to that, and I am neither a member nor a supporter of the SNP.

In fact, your contribution is so unhelpful, I have to wonder about your possible motives for making such a statement. Such an obvious "own goal" raises a question about which team you are really playing for.

I am very glad to see this whole debate going on in Scotland and I just wanted to let you know that people from other European nations are closely following it. The way you choose your future in Scotland will determine how other EU nations which are in the process of gaining powers will soon choose be representated in Europe and the world.

There has been a proposal to hold an independence referendum in Catalonia in 2014 and one in the Basque Country by 2009. For this reason, the celebration of a referendum in Scotland and its eventual outcome will set a precedent on how can adult nations in Europe choose their own future in a community framework.

I just want to wish you a lot of luck in whatever you choose and I hope Scots are aware of the international responsability they carry as a true Europe built out of nations could soon be a fact.

Alex @ 1445

I'm not at all sure how you can extrapolate the number of posters thus far and say that it demonstrates "no interest" in Scotlands constitutional future.

People can be interested and indeed discuss the subject without having to post a comment to this board. I am sure that there are statisticians who can extrapolate the level of national interest based on the volume of comments here.

One example might serve to highlight why you are incorrect.

Let's take the fabricated poll that newsnight's Jeremy Paxman confronted Alex Salmond with during the recent election campaign. Now, the BBC probably received hundreds of complaints from SNP supporters when the ruse was uncovered. However, this is nowhere near the number of people who were outraged at this disgracefull display of BBC bias. In other words, strength of feeling (or interest) amongst the general populace is always many magnitudes greater than the number of phone calls of complaint.......or in this case number of comments posted.

It could be that you, like the Unionist parties, seek a conversation that excludes voters of Scotlands largest party as well as independence supporters that don't vote SNP (there are many)......now that really would be meaningless.