The Scottish Government

I think Scotland should be independent and a member of the EU. I think Scotland should control its own affairs, not least because we could get rid of the blight of Trident on our soil. 18 years of Tory rule from Westminster convinced me of this. This could well happen again in Scotland. We are hampered from making Scotland the way we want it by decisions made in Westminster. Let us be like other nations and control our own future, including striving to combat climate change, and aiming for social and environmental justice for everyone on this planet, rather than following blindly what the USA wants us to do in world affairs. Lets be a small country that contributes to world peace, rather than part of the posturing UK which fancies itself as a big player on the world stage, and has a ridiculously high "defence" budget.

To Mike King #275.
Spell out your hint of putting quotes round, "Independence from England".
Do you mean to indicate that the independence is from, "The UK of GB & NI", or the real fact that only Scotland and England actually signed the original Treaty Of Union? There were also two Acts of Union. One from the English Parliament and one from the Scottish Parliament. Thus both Wales and Northern Ireland signed with a entity that would be disolved and thus Scotland has as much right to claim their signatures as England has.

This may seem strange to current thinking but hear me out.
There is a misconception only an independent Scotland must apply to join the EU if the Union dissolves. However, historically Scotland and England signed a Treaty Of Union as EQUAL partners. They each then passed an Act Of Union in their own parliaments to form the political union of the United Kingdom. Wales was only part of this new union having been effectively under total English rule since the 1300s. All Ireland came in under the same banner but neither country signed the original Treaty of Union that formed the United Kingdom of Great Britain. The acts of Union that eventually brought Northern Ireland and Wales into the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland came later. These treaties were signed with the equal partnership then called The United Kingdom of Great Britain that had only the two EQUAL partners, Scotland and England.

Thus, when Scotland and England dissolve that union the Welsh and Northern Irish Acts of Union must become void as the United Kingdom of Great Britain they joined was now dissolved. Thus the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland that signed up to the EU is also no more. So the idea the remnant of The United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland after Scots independence forms a rump UK is utter nonsense. All four countries must re-apply to join the EU and England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland must re-negotiate if they wish any form of union with any of the now dissolved former UK members. Perhaps none of them would wish to re-join England and could form a treaty with Scotland instead. There could be several permutations. (Anyone fancy a Celtic Tiger of Scotland, Wales, The Free State, Wales and Northern Ireland?)

Scots who pull out their calculators on mention of their national independence are a sad lot.
Can you imagine English people asking with ashen faces "How could we cope without the Scots?". I don't think so.

NO,Mike in Birmingham i meant exactly what i wrote: "opinion" as in what we are giving in this national conversation. Correct me if i'm wrong, but i don't recall the Labour party in Scotland opening up an national conversation to hear our opinions!

gavin thompson! Hello!

A reply to your message.

I never said i wanted to be hanging onto the United States coat tails with Iraq. Was the counter attack on the Falkland Islands in America's interest? Kosovo? Err no.

When you say about the Size of your Economy, armed forces and nuclear stockpile doesn't really matter. It WILL matter if the Chinese or Russians decide to have a 'merry old time' and invade other countries. Now you may be thinking thats a bit far fetched, but is it really? If/when China becomes a Great Power on the World stage, they won't give a dogs b**locks to the Independent views of Scotland/England/Wales ALL seperated.

We would be just an easy target for their Nuclear missiles and rather large armies.

So wouldn't an Independent Scotland falter on its first steps?

Oh and about the 'best interests of scotland' thing, well let me rexplain it to you in another way. If a sector (Scotland) of a large Cooperation (UK) had more devolved power to it so it could perform tasks easier (Devolved Legeslature) which would produce optimum output (Best Interests of Scotland), then in turn the Output of the WHOLE company is increased (Best interests of the UK)/

Thats what i meant by that.

Plus, do you mean the special 'kudos' which will magically reappear once Scotland has left the UK, just like the special 'kudos' of Ireland when it left?

Im done :)

It's about time we Scots stood on our own two feet again. We are no less capable than any other nation on earth and yet many of us choose to believe the lies spouted by the unionist parties that we are somehow incapable of governing ourselves properly without descending into poverty and recession. This is utter nonsense. With the resources this country has at her disposal we could prosper.

Now's the day and now's the hour. Let us have a referendum and decide for ourselves whether we want independence, rather than let the other major parties decide for us by denying us that referendum.

The current BRITISH government contains 5 Scots, 4 of whom, including the PM, represent Scottish seats. Real political power lies with the government not MPs, so with so much power in the cabinet it seems Scottish electors have most influence over how the UK is run.

No problem in that for me - I’m a Unionist.

But it is a little tiresome listening to some nationalists complaining about the lack of democracy in Scotland. Comments such as “that government has never asked you for your opinion and never will” from Ruth in West Lothian are factually incorrect.

Like ALL governments including Alex Salmond’s Executive, the Westminster government asks for our opinions (I assume Ruth actually means ‘support’) via elections.

For the last decade Scottish people have returned a Labour government to Westminster, in which Scottish MPs have been over-represented both in the parliament itself & the cabinet.

Support Scottish independence by all means but lets stick to the facts.

I've got a family member who's not long back from Iraq, he was fighting to help bring democratic freedom to the people of that country. It's a shame that on his return he comes home to scotland, a peacefull country but with no real democracy either. Even greater the shame that all it would take to bring democracy here would be a simple stroke of a pen in the correct box. No one needs to kill or be killed to bring this about.

This consultation is excellent - I hope the government will consult in the years ahead on a whole range of issues such as welfare and taxes etc.

Regarding independence - I was always unsure about it and still feel we need to hear more about it. However I do feel we need to have a chance to vote for or against it. The problem with Labour and Lib Dems proposals are that they will only calm the independence argument down by giving more powers to the parliament BUT all that will happen is that the independence issue will crop up again a few years later.

We need to have this vote or referendum so that it will answer the independence question for the final time. Until that happens we will be talking about this for years and years and years.