The Scottish Government

An Independent Scotland

Friday, November 30, 2007

The White Paper says: For Scotland to achieve full independence, the UK Parliament must cease to have competence to legislate for Scotland and the UK Government must cease to have competence in respect of executive action in Scotland. Correspondingly, the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government would assume the full range of competence, duties and responsibilities accorded to sovereign states under international law.

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• 381. trevor swistchew - edinburgh

  Wednesday, January 23, 2008 19:12

  there are people who say the Union keeps this country in money even if that were true scotland will do well when full independence rises.the unionist will defend the union point of view as is their right but that takes nothing away from the drive to freedom.insults and negativity are the growing pain of independence and like the rain independence will not stop.there are many people who have very little in scotland no money home or job.to create a nation where the welfare of the many takes priority over the greed of the few must include freedom to plan and work out the destiny of this nation.cherishing the union and saying there is no other way is to ignore the fact that young people in this land want to be free.labour and tory had their opportunity over many years to bring social and financial fairness to the people -they failed.if they had won there would be no move for full independence.finally people have woken up and know the lies that were dumped on them by unionists.

• 382. G Goodall - Glenrothes

  Thursday, January 24, 2008 15:15

  #380 Donna Elliot
  
  Maybe you haven't been paying attention Donna, but we've had a devolved government for the last eight years. If you feel that being governed from Westminster has been bad just wait!!
  
  How many dollar billionaires does Alex Salmond have to suck up to to replace all the projects financed by Westminister?
  
  After that fiasco do you think Scotland will be more or less free than it is now.
  
  You apparently equate 'freedom' with a state of independence for this country, when in fact it is what we already have. Freedom to act independently, travel, choice and so on are already part of my experience and have been since I was born 66 years ago. The SNP do not hold out the promise of more of anything, in fact they hold out the promise of LESS. They are unable to deliver on their own manifesto commitment, and can't even guarentee that they can hold out out on their climbdowns!!
  
  If The First Minister can't recognise that the decision on Trumpton is a decision for the people of Aberdeen, and that the decision on nuclear power is a debate of interest to 80% of the people of Scotland, then so much for the Quote 'Governments ignore the will of the people, at their peril' Unquote. Nicola Sturgeon 2007
  
  Whatever the status of Scotland it looks like we will be governed by a bunch of self seeking individuals who care little for the majority opinion.
  
  
  

• 383. Its People that Progress not Countries - Scotland

  Thursday, January 24, 2008 17:17

  #382 Trevor Swistchew
  
  Let us be clear on one point, all of us who live here have the right to be called SCOTTISH or, if we choose, BRITISH. Beyond that we may wish to stress our affiliation to our place of birth, say Aberdonian, Glaswegian, Highlander, Lowlander or whatever. Our uniqueness is that we are first and foremost SCOTTISH, whether we are 'joined' to England, Wales and Northern Ireland by a treaty signed over 300 years ago or not. If we all work together we will make a success of our lives and our communities, whether we are part of the UK or, as the minority government would have us, a member of the European Union.
  
  Personally I do not think ditching the UK for the promise of another unknown partnership with a bunch of people with whom we may find difficult to communicate is all that promising, but then it is a free country where we are able to express ourselves.
  
  If you are so downtrodden that you can't make a go of your life here under the current arrangement then the problem may lie with you, not the arrangement. Let's not replace the Catholic / Protestant invective with SNP / Unionist diatribe.

• 384. ge - Wishaw

  Thursday, January 24, 2008 17:54

  I was born in 1966, when i left school at 16 in 1983 Thatcher and her tory government were in full swing. No jobs, no hope and this lasted for over 8 years for me personally and for a significant part of my fellow scots.
  In all these years of voting labour in Scotland we found ourselves in the hands of Thatcher and her successors, it got us nowhere. Now we have had a Labour government which we all dreamed of and hoped for would changed our country for the better, undo the wrongs of the past, no such luck, they are no better, the trappings of power in london corrupts the mind of even the most principalled person and they always resort to type. We need to be able to make our own destiny, our own mistakes, our own success.
  
  I stopped voting for Labour after devolution when it became clear we were still being ruled by London, we need independence as a nation to go forward.
  
  The union as it stands today holds us back as a nation, it does not take us seriously enough, the fact there is so much animosity between the SNP government in Scotland and the Westminster parliment says it all, the Scottish goverment is trying to do whats best for Scotland but they dont see that, they only see an irrelevance and will continue to block us at every turn. The signs are there that within a couple of years England will vote in an new Tory government, where will that leave us, the devolution settlement will be eroded and for all we know we could go back to the days when i left school and another generation will lose hope, we cant go back to that we need to go forward, yes there are issues that need to be addressed, the economics, EU, monarchy, national debt, defence etc. its all been thought thru what the concequences will be but is there anyone out there who thinks we as a nation could not overcome these problems and solve them? The Scottish parliment is more than capable of working out the fine detail of any problems we encounter on the way to independence, you have my vote Alex and thank you for giving me hope that my children will not grow up the way i did.
  
  
  
  
  

• 385. trevor swistchew - edinburgh

  Thursday, January 24, 2008 19:32

  independence will come
  and belittling the snp
  will do zero to change that
  the union is the past
  independence the future
  like the dodo the union is gone
  it cannot be revived
  its past
  finito
  kaput
  i want independence
  yet i have never been a member of the snp
  there are plenty of people in this nation who want independence
  it is not about tartan or haggis
  it is about the right to work out the future without having to go to london
  that is how it is
  arguing for the union is too late
  unionists had their day
  they did nothing to help people who are not part of british prosperity
  independence is the future
  you can hate the idea of freedom
  nonetheless you cant turn time around
  devolution then independence
  that is how it works.

• 386. Alan Thomson - Falkirk

  Thursday, January 24, 2008 21:48

  I don't want independance and if all nationalists were honest they would say that most people are very happy with how they have it now. It is only because they do not shout about being part of the union that they are not heard. Nationalist are a minority but they have always shouted.

• 387. Alan Thomson - Falkirk

  Thursday, January 24, 2008 22:00

  To respond to #376
  
  If you want to talk about history then an independent Scotland was poor and disregarded as a country around the world. The United Kingdom of GREAT Britain however has an extensive history and we have achieved far more together than we ever did apart.
  
  If you look at the Scottish identity - it is now stronger and more renowned around the world than it has been. There are many celebrations around the world for Scotland and the UK.
  

• 388. Kev - Edinburgh

  Friday, January 25, 2008 12:57

  385. ge - Wishaw
  
  Very good post, the union is holding us back and the thought of another ten years of English Tory rule sends a shiver done the spine.
  
  Why is the gap between rich and poor at its highest?, why is the national wage 23% higher down south?, why do we not have our own TV corporation? why do we get treated as a region of England?
  
  Alan (387 388),
  
  Sorry son read a bit more about your history how was Scotland disregarded? and surely Scottish identity and celebrations would be greatly increased by becoming Independent, just look to our Irish Cousins.
  
  Stop living in the past, and in case you have forgotten the SNP got more seats than Labour, minority get out more.

• 389. Dave Eastabrook - Largs, Ayrshire

  Friday, January 25, 2008 19:24

  383. G Goodall - Glenrothes: "Maybe you haven't been paying attention Donna"
  
  Donna didn't sneer at you, didn't ridicule you or your point of view, didn't imply you're stupid, didn't say that her opinion was the only sensible one, didn't try and bully or insult you or any unionists. She simply stated her own opinion and her wishes.
  
  Mind you, with so many second homes in Scotland having sent house prices thru the roof, (same as Wales and parts of England), there are many can't afford to buy their own home, and have to live with mummy and daddy. If they're lucky!

• 390. RAD - KL

  Friday, January 25, 2008 21:17

  #388: Alan Thomson
  
  Scotland's identity stronger?
  Prior to the Union Scotland had formed alliances, traded extensively (Baltic states) - was renowned for its education system.
  
  Scotland's identity was virtually eradicated by the Union - and today "Britain" equals England to many outwith the British Isles.
  
  You state: "There are many celebrations around the world for Scotland and the UK". Please elaborate, we are not living in the time of the Empire.
  
  
  

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