Independence for Scotland
There is lots of talk in the media regarding Scottish
Independence, it’s true, you cant even turn around to tie up your shoe without
someone sticking a Scottish Independence comment up your arse. Referendum this
and referendum that, one question, two questions, 16 and 17 year olds to vote,
when to hold it, how many sugars the preceding officer has in his tea, who is
going to count the vote and all that, it
is a enough to drive you to drink, unless of course you’re Scottish because its
quite likely if you are, you’ve already had a drink!
That awfully bouncy Alex Salmond of the Scottish National
Party (clues in the name) wants an independent Scotland. The Jolly Toffs Party, by which I obviously
do me the ruling Conservative party don’t want an independent Scotland and a
break-up of the core part of the UK. Labour are not completely sure, but what
do you expect under simpering Ed Milibland’s leadership. As for the LibDem’s,
well who give two hoots what they want, nobody listens to them anymore
(including the coalition partners they are supposed to be in government with!)
I wish to level with you now, out in the open, and yes I’ve thought about
this, maybe not for long – there was wet paint to watch after all, but yes I’ve
given it a bit of thought and as an English person, I’m for it. I want Independence for Scotland, bring it on
I say and bring it on now. Stop all this
shilly-shallying
about when to hold the sodding referendum, hold it now, this year before the
summer, May, hold it in May, that’s always a good time for an
election. Let’s get it done and done
pretty damn sharpish.
I want Scottish Independence, now I know my cry, my non-aggressive, non-combatant
battle cry to give those northern souls them independence and freedom may sound a little odd, not least of all to my
Scottish friends, of which there are a few, so few in fact their number can be
counted on two fingers (I mean proper Scots, not those who once had an aunt who
had a fling with a caber tossing, haggis munching, kilt wearing lad from
Kilmarnock, called Jock) National stereotyping
much!
My friends will be saying,
‘ech, naahh Jasenn, you canny
believe thot’ but it is true, I’m all for an independent Scotland, if they want
it for themselves, of which the only way to find out is to knock on the door
and ask every single one of them, noooo,
I mean vote in a referendum.
If they vote in favour, I for one will be jumping for
joy, I’ll be glad to be rid of the
buggers, glad to see the back of them.to be honest.
However, there are some conditions which must be adhered to
for an independent Scotland.
1)
Buy back the national Royal Bank of Scotland
from the British Govt.
2)
Border wall to be built by the Polish along the
national divide with two border crossings, one in the east and one on the west.
3)
Border to be manned and passports required,
strictly enforced.
4)
BBC will be pulled out of any Scottish area, all
facilities sold off at commercial market rates.
5)
BBC transmitters will be switched off and
dismantled.
6)
All UK military bases, immediately withdrawn and
closed down, relocating to mainland England and Wales
7)
Immediate repayment of all current British Govt
funding.
8)
Immediate repayment of all current and former
(up to and including the previous ten years –((I really wanted this to
something like 50 years, but that’s just pushing it, 10 seems more fair))) of
all grants, loans, subsidies, funding, assistance, aid the British Govt has
made.
9)
The immediate payback of all the funding the NHS
has paid for the SHS in the last ten years.
10)
Immediate withdrawal of all haggis from English
shops.
11)
Scottish currency will cease to be legal tender
in the rest of the UK.
12)
The UK air traffic control centre will cease to
control any aircraft movements over Scotland.
13)
British embassies, consulates and other offices
overseas will cease to represent, assist or repatriate any Scottish national in
difficult abroad.
14)
The DVLA will cease to handle any Scottish
registered cars.
15)
Trade agreements that currently stop English
companies from competing head on with Scottish companies overseas, will be
scrapped.
16)
No Scottish athlete will be able to join the
British team.
17)
Nobody wearing a kilt will be allowed to cross
the border, unless they can prove a right to wear such a tartan and have
something under it (Yes I mean undies)
18)
Edinburgh Rock shall have the ‘rock’ part of its
name taken away because we all know rock is hard and crunchy and not soft,
powdery and crumbly.
19)
Scotland can have about 8 per cent of the UK
reserves.
20)
Scotland will have to pay about 8 per cent of
the UK national debt.
21)
North Sea oil and gas, split at the national
border divide. (Scotland to pay back a proportion of the British exploration
costs)
22)
I’m sure I’ve forgotten something.
23)
When I first thought of this post it seemed
rather fun, now it seems to have taken a less tongue in cheek feel and more a
wiggly fingers with thumb of same hand right on the nose and a nar nar nee nar
nar sound coming out.
I’m sure there is more, there has
to be, but I guess that’ll do for starters, so come on you Scots, take your independence, you do deserve
it, you should have it. Oh I say, Jason on a political rant….well I never did.
Wanna help me eat next week? Buy some DVD's! press here.
23 People had their say.:
So, Jase - I see you've given the issue a bit of thought, then? ;-)
Jason, It's an interesting and current subject. And if it did go through then would The BBC really also cut the ties by cutting off the transmitters. Hang on, wouldn't that mean Scots would no longer have to pay for the extortionate annual tv licence.
Interestingly there seems to be quite a heavy presence of Scots working at The BBC (tv presenters, weather presenters and an endless amount of political and other tv commentators). You've surely noticed how regional accents are now dominant at The BBC, not the Southern accent. And it's been like this since 10 yrs ago when they sat down and decided to think of ways to to appeal more to northern folk and Scots.
I guess that The Scots outright rejection of The Conservative Party must have been the start of things.
In a way I hope like you that it does go through, although at the moment I'm casting my eyes more on Britain quitting Europe so that amongst many things we wont have to house and feed hate preachers and terrorists that are quite happy to preach hatred of The UK but are quite content to live on our benefit handouts.
Churchill would be spinning in his grave if he could see what a mess being part of The E.U has caused.
But if Scotland do get Independence then you do feel that it will come at a price and they will surely lose out on certain things. Understanderbly some Scots are keen to break away but perhaps nervous at the same time.
Dee.
Your fatal error is making a false distinction between Scottish and British. British does not mean just English. The word includes English, Scottish, Welsh, and Cornish. So, for example, it would be one thing to demand that the EBC (if there were one) stop transmitting to Scotland, but baseless to do so regarding the BBC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA6cnXFiE6I
or, for the full song, in a more reflective mood, from The Corries themselves
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vyx1xeZo_tk
word verification: psych — I wonder what that's all about.
Yes, Ray, just a little thought here and there. You know, tongue firmly in cheek.
Dee my darling, the talk I'm told from north of the border that if the Scottish people do vote for independence, then part of that would be to no longer pay the TV licence fee. Which is why I boff on about BBC pulling out and so on.
(I also have to disagree, as poor as I am, I think the licence fee is damn good value for money considering the quality and service we get for the dosh)
The Beeb had for a good long while had a active programme of positive discrimination in regard to regional accents, they are or I should say were seen as way more attractive than the old dodgy Queens English upper class accents of days gone by.
Yep I think we've got more chance of the UK coming out of Europe, than dear old jolly Scots becoming a free and independent land.
Thanks for coming over, I was starting to get jolly worried about you.
One really cool thing if Scotland became independent would be that the Duke of Bavaria would be king.
naturgesetz, thanks for the comment, I'm not as completely thick as I may seem, or indeed look, I do know full well what the word British means and what is or not included in that expression.
With the Scottish independence, they will be, according to many sources, stop paying the licence fee, thereby no longer qualifying for the service, hence my rather tongue in cheek post.
The BBC would still be broadcasting to all the other parts of the Britain so would still be called BBC not EBC, unless of course with the independence of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and those other rocky bits all disintegrated from the union at the same time.
But thanks for the comment
Maybe if Scotland goes indie they should call it the SBBC. ;)
For your further enjoyment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0I9_mTX0lg&feature=related
and this cheerful little ditty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nN9I_7djgo&feature=related
I'm liking the videos, ohh that last one was just a tad naughty.
And while we're at it , freedom for Brittany!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nN9I_7djgo&feature=related
And let's not forget the Channel Islands. lol
Youre on a roll now...
Unfortunately, I had to leave to go to Boston. Suffice it to say I hope you've seen the lad with the sheep during the singing of "Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMI5wpwXTCY&feature=related
Well, as long as we're touring Celtic anthems, here's "Amhrán na bhFiann" in its original language.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfgnVMFtd7E&feature=related
word verification: broriar — looks vaguely Celtic
Of course if Jane and Lance happen to be reading this, they'll admonish us this very second for having patriotic songs and anthems on the blog, in the comments and all over the place.
Plus of course, we havent mentioned all those lives lots in the various struggles from each of those different parts of the UK that make it great, to either be part of a union or break away from it, over the centuries.
Well! I hope the Scots do become independent. Don't know about all this repaying this that and the other. The Scots have also been taxpayers in the United Kingdom, and their taxes have been propping up England just as English taxpayers have theirs. It might just be best to call it quits. If you start demanding they buy back this that and the other, they might demand back for example their North Sea oil revenues so shamefully wasted by English governments, or that English landlords compensate tenantry so disgracefully cleared from the Highlands, or demand compensation for the shipyards and industry wasted by the foul Thatcher. I mean how far are you going to go back with all this economic sour grapes. I'd willingly hand over royalty, who apart from being German are otherwise mostly Scottish. Don't let's bring Bavaria into this. He might equally take the English throne as the Scottish. His claim is the same for both. So far as we can we should stand by decisions taken jointly in the past, and otherwise gently tease us apart if necessary, should the vote be for independence. I'm half Scottish. Which half gets Scottish citizenship? Will I be gently teased apart. Hem, hem! ;P It will all be so confused, but who, apart from the ghastly Cameron, and some red nosed Tories in a few ghastly Surrey golf clubs, cares. Love Alec xx
p.s. I'm a bit puzzled as to what sort of a mess you think we've got into with Europe. The Eurozone may be in difficulty, for a variety of reasons, mostly because some nations central banks have been underfunded, but we aren't part of the Eurozone. That may have some knock on effect if they start to import less. Our association with Europe has provided us with more or less half of our export market. It continues to do so, in spite of Cameron's best efforts to sap confidence in us. It was under Mrs Thatcher, in spite of the silly anti-European rhetoric, that the single market legislation was drafted, by her officials, and initiated, which led to the deluge of European regulation which is so hated by the Little Englanders. It's an aspect Thatcher's supporters conveniently forget, as they do the fiasco of the famous 'rebate'. Thatcher supporters gloss over the fact that other nations, particularly France, achieved better rebates than she did.
As a matter of record Churchill was in favour of European union. Indeed, in WWII he offered full political union to France, going considerably further than current politicians of a Europhile complexion would dare to, just before France fell to the Germans. His motive may have been to prop up France, but he did not lack vision.
Alec, thanks for those views, interesting, although I knew most of what you'd say.
I'll not go into your points in great details, save for example, tax, Scottish taxpayers have never propped up England's reserves in any way, check it out with the tax office if you have doubts about that.
Look also at the amount of money per head spent on the population and you'll see that Scottish people get roughly three times the amount spent on them by the UK Govt than any other area in the whole of the UK (yes including London)
As you are half a Scot, we couldn't split you down the middle, so we'd have to look at where you were born to find your nationality - hang on, that sounds oddly familiar....maybe someone already does that......
On the plus side, you really could say you were going abroad when you take a trip up to Glasgow. Plus you'd be able to spend your left over Euro's...
Jase, I commend to you Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/06/21144516/8
for all sorts pretty daunting statistics. I'll just identify a few areas where you're a bit adrift:
Total Scottish expenditure 2009/10 was £59,170m, total UK expenditure was £602.100m.
If you look at social protection expenditure, the welfare end of things, you'll find in fact that in Scotland in 2009/10 it was £20,189m compared with £221,818m in the UK generally. This is more or less in line with the population share.
Per capita expenditure in Scotland was estimated in 2009/10 at £11,370 which was £1,050 (10.2%) higher than in the UK generally. Yes, higher, but not the 'three times' higher you seem to believe. There are a number of reasons for this, such as lower population density which increases the cost of provision, relatively more students, etc. etc.
Where the UK economy has benefitted (quite properly, of course) is from North Sea oil and gas.
Total Scottish non-North Sea revenue 2009/10 was £42,201m - 8.3% of the UK total (£505,669m), broadly in line with population share.
Conventionally the UK continental shelf is treated as a separate region, and isn't allocated to a specific geographical region within the UK. If it was assigned according to the international maritime rules which govern these things then Scotland's share of the oil revenues would be 97% of the UK total, and the gas share 55%, which would have amounted to £5,931m in 2009/10.
So you see as it is the UK doesn't pay disproportionately more to Scottish citizens, and if Scotland's oil and gas was included as part of their contribution to the UK's revenues you would see that the 10.2% extra they are getting per head is more than compensated for.
Just saying. There's an awful lot of misinformation floating around out there! Love, Alec xx
p.s. You're forcing me to be more Scottish than I feel :(
Thank you indeed for the numbers and the research effort you've been putting in on this issue for me. Although, I do note that you pull your figures mostly from one source and you also don't mention the various grants and enterprise financial awards etc that go to Scotland, of which there are a surprising number.
Yes, there is a lot of misinformation out there, but on both sides. I'm sorry you seem to be digging more on your Scottish side, however, do we not want the same thing?
Oh and thanks for the 'crap' reactions - yet I can see who you are!
I'd hate to disagree with you too much over this whole thing, but most of the misinformation seems to be coming from those who insist what a burden Scotland is on the UK, whereas in fact in recent years, admittedly through oil and gas revenue, the UK gets and has got far more out of the Union than Scotland has got back. This could all change as the oil runs out. Revenues from oil and gas between 2008/09 and 2009/10 actually halved!
The various investment grants and financial incentives you mention, if they come out of taxation, are accounted for in government statistics in the document I used. If they are private finance initiatives then Scotland can hardly be held to blame if private finance chooses Scotland :D I would agree, however, that those wanting to invest in Scotland, and a few other regions, did get tax incentives. This isn't an unusual practise, and probably makes us more caring and responsible for wanting to help regions of our country harder hit than others. In the long run if it makes people more prosperous that improves things for all of us.
In some English regions, and in Wales, spending per capita was higher than in wealthier regions of England, for much the same reasons that it's higher in Scotland. I hope you don't begrudge them as well?
I still urge the Scots to go, and think they have a good chance of making it.
I think I'm an inveterate defender of anyone or anything under attack, sometimes even the undeserving, not that I think Scotland is undeserving. I'm finding it hard to defend Fred Goodwin, but I'm prepared to give it a go.
xx
Alec, thank you for the comment, I'm not going to reply to your individual points, there is little point, we'd only disagree further.
This post has already caused a friend to 'unfriend; me on facebook and 'unlike' me -
Regardless of what you keep saying to me, we both urge the Scots to go (if the majority of them want it) so we are on the same side.
I love the notion that you see yourself defending the whole of the Scottish Population from me!
"I think I'm an inveterate defender of anyone or anything under attack"
Good luck with your defending of Fred Goodwin!
We've probably ground to a halt on this one, only to discovere we were arguing fiercely for the same thing. Brilliant! I can't believe some silly friend unfollowed/unfriended *whatever it's called* you on Facebook! You don't hold unreasonable views - wrong views, but that's different :) - on this, unless you're motivated by deeply racist views about the Scots which I've missed :)
I'm a bit ambivalent about Facebook anyway. Rufus left it recently, mostly because the people he knows best either don't use it, or use it very little. He says one guy he knows who used it a lot and has stopped, finds he uses texts, email, and the phone and as a result just communicates with his real friends. And all the conventional ways of making new friends are still out there. I'm still fearful of its potential to stalk so I won't be signing up for it anytime soon. And now Facebook is about to float so you can expect the commercial side to increase! Love, Alec xx
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