i'll live the burger king i had on edinburgh waverly was Marmite anyway other than that carlisle is close enough to get a feel for it.
Rest assured, if (as I suspect) the good people of Scotland vote No, then Westminster will be bending over backwards to appease the nationalists. expect huge concessions, questionable awarding of contracts (eg. The Clyde) and a plethora of additional subsidies...all funded by the tax-payer...Cheers Alex Wales and Northern Ireland will no doubt follow suit (and I wouldn't blame them) Scotland is ideally placed to develop Hydro electrical, Wind and Wave power....The Union should invest in it's future, rather than open the flood gates for speculative short term enterprises, foreign nuclear installations, fracking and the like....We're joined at the hip, both geographically and historically...we share more in common than there are disimilarities...we should treasure our common heritage and celebrate our respective cultural identities, but work together, in Union, for the greater good.
I know a bloke who is a bookie, he was in the pub last night and said he would put his shirt on a no vote, he says the polls are misleading, he thinks that people when asked would say yes but behind a curtain would tick no!
Wasn't it a Scots king who brought about the Union? or did I mis understand that bit in history lessons. (Did go to a Comp) BTW that Salmond just wants to be the next de Bruce. Wouldnt trust him with me grannies teeth. Good luck to the man though.
Weve sleepwalked onto the verge of a potential constitutional crisis that may define our society for hundreds of years and the balance of which may be decided by schoolchildren fed fairy tales about a land of plenty. The damage already being done to the nation is no less than treason and the people responsible should be taken to account. Im sick to death of flag-waving jingoistic racists on either the right or the left and its about time the people of all our isles stopped pandering to the egos of career politicians. Equality is the key and decentralisation of power from centralised government to the regions and a system that feeds the appetite for change, challenges voter malaise encourages people to vote and gives power back to the people and ecourages them to engage for the good of us all. Not those self serving excuses we have for politicians now whos only interest is self! Unfortunately this involves dismantling the establishment and I dont think they are ready for that. I will be surprised if there is a yes vote but if there is the fall out will severely affect us all which ever side of the border we inhabit. UK sans frontier!
The problem with regional assemblies in other parts of the UK is that they are simply adding another layer of politicians and associated cost (i.e. taxes) to an already bloated system. When English regional assemblies were suggested, the idea was rejected by the electorate for precisely this reason.
I i expected that answer and in not promoting the introduction of another tier of quasi centralisation. I mean real involvement of the people in your neighborhood and working up from there Multi layered and tiered with real representation. Thinking regional is not going far enough. Think local.
But we already have local councils, who seem to have difficulty managing their (our) affairs in a small town like Gainsborough. Give them more money and responsibilities and they'll just have more things to screw up.
Good analysis Dicky - as a descendant of a refugee Scot I can see that many would think all was rosy north of the boarder but clearly my ancestors didn't think so - and not a lot has changed except maybe tourism!
Andy Stewart and the White Heather Club was justification enough on its own for invading Scotland, in my view.
The other problem with local Government is the party system. At local level, in most areas one party dominates and gets the vote regardless. That means the appointed people from that party get the vote, not based on ability or policies but based on who they're mates with in the local and national party. Look at the elected police and crime commissioners - when you hear most of them speak, you wonder how on earth they got elected, but then realise that they got the Labour / Conservative nomination and got elected by people who vote on party lines and don't consider the candidates on their merits.
Yes- its a problem - you dont get my point - kick it all into the long grass - you are talking about an establishment that doesnt work at all of its levels. It needs fixing. WE have the technical ability to debate on line where we cant meet - to vote on line when we cant attend lets have DEMOCRACY - not the crap version we have now. Get normal people involved, engaged encouraged empowered and to be responsible. You never know we might be able to actually construct a society where people talk to each other about things that matter to them and shape their lives.
