The Scottish Politics thread

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Indeed, as Boris is viewed up there as the devil incarnate, who has fucked up the virus response,
the fact that wee Burney is doing even worse at it will require a deflection overload to adjust
the situation.
Especially when the UK gets the blame for winding back furlough whilst Scots are behind England in unlocking.
 
The SNP constantly duck accountability for their woeful record in govt by diverting attention to the indy debate and sabre rattling with Westminster. It's similar to the 'it would be worse under labour' or 'it's the fault of the last labour govt' distraction tactics used down here.
 
The EU will always welcome Scotland, but it will do so as a potential Member in its own right which shares the ideals of the Union and can contribute to its development; the EU would benefit strategically but has no need to accept Scotland simply to antagonise Westminster.

The harsh reality now is that any future membership of the EU would be markedly different from that envisaged before. The EU is likely to move to greater and faster political union in the next 5-10 years- its Members simply have nowhere else to turn- and that will increasingly require nations to conform to Brussels, both economically and politically. If Scotland still wished to join, it would have to go through extremely painful changes and surrender much more of its ‘independence’.

Similarly, the post-Brexit world envisioned by those currently in control of Westminster no longer appears to exist. The United States and China are entrenching and using rhetoric that sounds eerily like that of the Cold War, and the idea that there will be international free trade and great deals to be had seems fanciful. The deepest ever depression looms, a No Deal/Bad Deal Brexit awaits, which will exacerbate the economic situation, and then a weakened U.K. will find that it needs to cut deals with much more powerful entities.

Scotland will get its share of any benefits but it will also get its share of the pain. Its people will look back wistfully to what could have been in 2014 and look forward to what might be one day, though I agree with you not any time soon. Tragically melancholic, alas, but then that’s what Scots know most and best.
I wouldn’t argue with much of that mate. The question is which politics will feel more like home to Scotland? An EU that increasingly will require political and fiscal integration for its members with a decrease in sovereignty that members currently enjoy or a Westminster biased U.K. that is massively out of touch to Scotlands hopes, aspirations and politics. Pour on top of that the trauma of any divorce and the path is not going to be easy either way.
 
I see an interesting discussion has suddenly been flushed down the toilet by the usual suspects posting irrelevance . I’ll leave it there.
 
I'm on record as saying I support the SNP response to covid and think she has acted admirably during the crisis but I'm sorry chaps, you can't just dismiss her parties response to the crisis as unworthy of discussion whilst many of you pile in on other threads for remarkably similar issues and problems.
 
I'm on record as saying I support the SNP response to covid and think she has acted admirably during the crisis but I'm sorry chaps, you can't just dismiss her parties response to the crisis as unworthy of discussion whilst many of you pile in on other threads for remarkably similar issues and problems.
No but as soon as this becomes about personalities as those posts did we know how the thread is heading it becomes a point scoring exercise where it was up until now a fairly rational discussion on the general feelings of Scottish voters and politics rather than all the ‘wee jimmy’ rhetoric. It also will take over the whole thread with a who did best on covid slanging match.
 
No but as soon as this becomes about personalities as those posts did we know how the thread is heading it becomes a point scoring exercise where it was up until now a fairly rational discussion on the general feelings of Scottish voters and politics rather than all the ‘wee jimmy’ rhetoric. It also will take over the whole thread with a who did best on covid slanging match.

Agree but that should apply to all the threads.

I'm serious though the hindsight on display in the Scottish parliament the other day was spectacular and disappointing and imo, no one would have done anything different or better in response than she has.
 
Indeed, as Boris is viewed up there as the devil incarnate, who has fucked up the virus response,
the fact that wee Burney is doing even worse at it will require a deflection overload to adjust
the situation.

Your opinions and the facts don't add up. Scotland has 2.4k deaths compared to a national 40.4k, which equates to just over 5%. Not to mention 74% of excess deaths related to Covid compared to 54% for England, suggesting a much more accurate level of recording.

With regards to PPE, that shows a fundamental failure of the hedge fund owners who run these care homes. Clearly they have not provided the equipment necessary. They are not the responsibility of the NHS.
 
I wouldn’t argue with much of that mate. The question is which politics will feel more like home to Scotland? An EU that increasingly will require political and fiscal integration for its members with a decrease in sovereignty that members currently enjoy or a Westminster biased U.K. that is massively out of touch to Scotlands hopes, aspirations and politics. Pour on top of that the trauma of any divorce and the path is not going to be easy either way.
I think the SNP are massively out of touch. Their entire plan for post indy Scotland is based upon a fictional oil price and none of the problems of a hard border with England existing. A truly independent Scotland would be another net recipient of EU funding which the EU can't presently afford, and I doubt they would get membership. The SNP are fortunate that no one takes them seriously or they would have a lot of tough questions to answer on their current/past performance as well as future plans. I'm saying this as someone in favour of Scottish independence btw.
 
Agree but that should apply to all the threads.

I'm serious though the hindsight on display in the Scottish parliament the other day was spectacular and disappointing and imo, no one would have done anything different or better in response than she has.
Yes, it obvious mistakes were made on a UK and probably worldwide scale when all the numbers are known as far as care homes go at the start of all this, and questions will need to asked on how prepared we were.
However since lockdown which we all entered together I think Scotland, and from the little I know Wales and N.Ireland have handled it far better than England. As you know I have been inclined towards the SNP before this but been particularly impressed with how she’s stood up in the briefings every day and those I know not so inclined to supporting her, like yourself, have been equally impressed by her performance. Even if they don’t support her general politics.
 
The SNP are fortunate that no one takes them seriously or they would have a lot of tough questions to answer on their current/past performance as well as future plans. I'm saying this as someone in favour of Scottish independence btw.
How am I supposed to respond to this? It would appear that the Scottish people take the SNP seriously enough. What a stupid thing to say.

They certainly will have a great many tough questions to answer in relation to Independence. Probably less so for the forthcoming Scottish elections when you look at the paucity of their opposition.
 
I think the SNP are massively out of touch. Their entire plan for post indy Scotland is based upon a fictional oil price and none of the problems of a hard border with England existing. A truly independent Scotland would be another net recipient of EU funding which the EU can't presently afford, and I doubt they would get membership. The SNP are fortunate that no one takes them seriously or they would have a lot of tough questions to answer on their current/past performance as well as future plans. I'm saying this as someone in favour of Scottish independence btw.
Not out of touch, I don’t know how a referendum would go but I do know it would be very close, so around 50% would support or at least think about it , and they will win next years election, with I suspect a bigger vote share than last time. Partly due to the tories not having Ruth Davidson , any progress the tories had made will die back and Labour and Liberals are still nowhere.
 
Your opinions and the facts don't add up. Scotland has 2.4k deaths compared to a national 40.4k, which equates to just over 5%. Not to mention 74% of excess deaths related to Covid compared to 54% for England, suggesting a much more accurate level of recording.

With regards to PPE, that shows a fundamental failure of the hedge fund owners who run these care homes. Clearly they have not provided the equipment necessary. They are not the responsibility of the NHS.
Don’t forget Scotland population is around 10% if anyone wants to do simple comparisons.
 
How am I supposed to respond to this? It would appear that the Scottish people take the SNP seriously enough. What a stupid thing to say.

They certainly will have a great many tough questions to answer in relation to Independence. Probably less so for the forthcoming Scottish elections when you look at the paucity of their opposition.
They are currently riding the crest of a wave of anti-tory sentiment and labour ineptness. They just keep banging the indy drum and whipping the populace up without any real plan. Sturgeon & SNP = Farage & UKIP down here. Single issue knob heads with no coherent policies but lots of popular traction.
 
I wouldn’t argue with much of that mate. The question is which politics will feel more like home to Scotland? An EU that increasingly will require political and fiscal integration for its members with a decrease in sovereignty that members currently enjoy or a Westminster biased U.K. that is massively out of touch to Scotlands hopes, aspirations and politics. Pour on top of that the trauma of any divorce and the path is not going to be easy either way.

True. With closer integration on the ‘mainland’, the situation will see political changes and more homogenization. These changes could be quite radical, and I’m not convinced it’ll simply be a case of Southern Europeans being forced to become more like Northern Europeans. Whatever happens, the European Union will evolve, and as Scotland remains outside of it, people might actually identify less with it. Alternatively, they might see changes in the EU that resonate with them and attract them even more.

Presumably, where possible, the SNP will continue to create domestic policies that mirror those acceptable to and operating within the EU. That will signal to Brussels Edinburgh’s intentions and reduce, somewhat, the trauma that any future shift would entail.
 

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