The Scottish Government

i think the main reason for Scotland to be independent is CORRUPTION, not of course the legal type, but political corruption, where what is said in Westminster and Edinburgh is totally different by the time it gets to the people it is supposed to serve.
examples in this area must be;
NHS Glasgow - if 90% of the people in Glasgow city centre are either shopping,working,or visiting then why was Glasgow royal infirmary not the site of the new ACAD instead of Stobhill which is more central to the people it serves?
i myself waited nine months for an MRI scan with Glasgow NHS. on arrival this place was mobbed and my two hour scan was done in just ten minutes far as i was concerned this was the politicians in Edinburgh putting pressure on the NHS to get waiting lists down,and Glasgow NHS were only too willing to oblige. I lodged a complaint with my GP and a year later it was done properly - only this time i was a NEW client.
local councils- this area was run by one of the most corrupt councils for many, many years. it was eventually overthrown by a lib/dem dictatorship. obviously, with the alliance in Edinburgh,nothing was done about them until this last election when the largest single party on the council was SNP. the LABOUR PARTY made an alliance with the CONSERVATIVE party to overthrow the elected SNP.this council has always put house builders above the electorate and accept 'gifts'(read as bribes)of new roads or buildings for allowing vast construction sites that are all private housing.
DSS - Westminster has said for a long time that it wants to help those on incapacity benefit back to work.in my experience what the meant was that they would impose a quota system. a certain proportion of new claimants are automatically rejected. once every two or three years existing claimants(except those with drug or alcohol problems)are ordered to attend medicals and a proportion of them are ordered back to work. if you appeal, again a proportion of them are rejected. the end result is a vast money saving exercise for the Westminster government.
there are many, many more examples of these practises going on daily all over Scotland and I for one feel that in an independent Scotland these would not be allowed.
alternatively, should the labour,tory,and lib/dem parties decide to break away from their London parties and design their rules from a totally Scottish perspective, then I feel that they would have greater credibility with the electorate.
it would not surprise me that an independent Scotland could be governed by a labour or lib/dem government, but they would have to ditch their anti Scottish policies first

#34 Tom
I dont want independence for Scotland because i hate the English i work with a lot of English people and like any other nation it has good guys and bad.
I want independence for Scotland because i struggle to understand how a country that has sold so much oil over the years as well as Whiskey still has so much child poverty so i ask-where has all the money went?
I grew up in a very poor household with a basic education, i became a Father when i was 17 and as i could not get a decent job i joined the British Army at 20, i have served 4 tours, 2 of them being Iraq and Afghanistan(back 2 weeks ago).
Why are we spending all this money helping other countrys when our own Country is in dyre need of investment be it Transport, Education, health WHY is the money going to the middle east when we need it.
Just go to the poor estates in Glasgow, Edinburgh or Dundee and ask them if they like there money going to Kabul im pretty sure of the answer you would get.
I want a Goverment making decisions good or bad for Scotland!

And again where has all the money gone??

no.34. tom mcmaster, why don't you tell us why you think Independance is a terrible idea?

Does anyone else see a bad fit between a Minister in the Scotland Office at Westminster - wbo is not in the cabinet either - laying down the law on Westminster having no intention of devolving authority on Scotland's oil? These guys really have no idea of their place and no idea who they're talking to.

#52 Moderator

In point of fact we now have several notice boards. Granted this is a slight improvement but a more responsive tree architecture would be better. I am no techie but I have seen better discussion forums. e.g. I should be able to add to an existing thread or start a new one.

It has been suggested here that it would benefit contributors if there were specific strands for discussion of issues. In fact there are five such strands in the Down to Detail section at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/a-national-conversation/Tell-us/commentIssue/

#42 Lyn Jardine, Aberdeenshire

This idea has been proposed on at least two previous occasions, as have other suggestions to make this more like a conversation than a notice board. So far these pleas are falling on deaf ears. I trust this does not indicate a cynical political exercise. It could certainly be painted in this way by the opponents of independence.

Come on SNP, extracte digitum, tempus fugit.

It is time we got our oil and gas money! Would successive westminster government's have been so anti the nationalist movement if we didn't have that asset? I think not. That says it all really!

what a cheek'westminister telling alex salmond to keep his hands off 'britains' oil,90% of all the oil is in scottish waters and scotland does,nt see any of the revenues by international law the oil revenues belong to scotland.on the bbc news it stated that the revrnues were worth £11 billion per year.the only way for scotland to get it.s riteful share is by becoming independent because under devolution westminister will never give us more power no mater what nicol stevens or hurricane wendy says.just think what even half the revenues could do for scotland.

For Ant in Argyl.

Which would you really prefer the strong voice that does not reflect your opinion or the small voice that is respected for honesty and compasion.

What makes you richer, the cash in your pocket or the knowledge that you live in a decent and compassionate society