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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Comments

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• 651. Neil Anderson - Glasgow

  Tuesday, July 1, 2008 17:37

  In response to previous postings the question of Scottish independence goes beyond simply party politics. People might vote labour and support independence or in contrast vote SNP but actually are against independence.
  
  Besides the fact that opinion polls state that the SNP is a popular administration which I clearly admit it is, I ironically believe that they are doing the right thing in standing up for Scotland however it does not mean that the majority of people support independence.
  
  In reference to Scottish independence it is not effectively going to deal with these serious socio-economic issues that affect Glasgow. As a citizen I care more about improving living standards than about Scotland being independent.
  
  I strongly believe that Scottish independence will magnify inequality in Scotland and other areas will become more powerful including Edinburgh in which I believe would be disastrous for Glasgow.
  
  Until there is sufficient evidence to illustrate that more power and autonomy given to those in Edinburgh or anywhere else in Scotland can benefit Glasgow in any particular way then I will not support the notion of independence.
  
  More revenue from North Sea oil reserves which are diminishing all the time is not simply going to resolve the severe social problems of low life expectancy or shocking levels of poverty in Glasgow.
  
  These are the issues that are important to me personally more than the independence debate.
  
  But whatever happens in the future this debate has effectively illustrated how Scotland is independent or not a strongly divided nation. As history has shown it is those nations with strong political and social divides never succeed.
  
  It is this strong division that will be Scotland's biggest downfall in whatever it decides to do in future.
  
  I respect those people who support independence but I'm not convinced by it and I believe those nationalists should RESPECT those who want to remain within the union.
  

• 652. PMK - Ayrshire

  Tuesday, July 1, 2008 20:40

  It is "selfish" to want to spend your own money, apparently. Everyone remember to hand your pay-slip to your neighbour and ask them to spend it on your behalf! Clearly us Scots are nothing but children and cannot be trusted with anything but the pocket money offered by devolution. That one’s right out of the Lord George Foulkes playbook – "the SNP are trying to make public services in Scotland markedly better than those in England ... they are doing it on purpose".

• 653. SG - East Lothian

  Wednesday, July 2, 2008 14:33

  [651] An argument in support of the 'political status quo' of the Union does not seem to ring true when the relatively poor social and physical health of much of Glasgow's population that has persisted over recent decades is recognised. Unless one is generally content with this situation, why would one not wish to change things, and perhaps significantly improve things for those who are most vulnerable?
  Coming from ‘West Central Scotland’ myself, I can understand misgivings about an Edinburgh-based parliament, but surely even those with the most pessimistic outlook would concede that given the large section of the Scottish population living in West Central Scotland, the people of Glasgow will have a much more direct say in how Scotland's resources are managed and targeted in an Independent Scotland than they will ever have in the Westminster Parliament?
  Perhaps subconsciously, if not consciously, some may fear that the majority of English MPs in London will make better decisions for Glasgow (and Scotland) than Glaswegians (and Scots) themselves, but personally I harbour no such fears!

• 654. OWL 282820 - East Lothian

  Thursday, July 3, 2008 18:47

  What ever happens, the SNP cannot lose. It is in their very culture, understandably, to fight for everything Scottish, Independence included. Any other party arguing against such avid support for their country is on a road to nowhere. This is why things are going so wrong for Labour and the Lib Dems at the moment. Its not a master plan, but it feels like one! Bring it on!

• 655. L Ryder - Ross-Shire

  Saturday, July 5, 2008 17:44

  Speaking of poor health, as of late statistics have revealed that there are now more drug addicts in Scotland than there are Gaelic speakers. This speaks volumes about the dependency culture which we have unwittingly inherited.
  On many levels it's so easy to just swallow the junk that gets peddled to us daily. On the other hand, a healthy and confident Scottish culture will lead to a strong Scottish economy - but before that ever happens we need to make the effort to find this out for ourselves as individuals and to make more of that which is priceless and uniquely ours. Independence is about self-esteem.

• 656. Christopher - Glasgow

  Tuesday, July 8, 2008 02:04

  Independence is an important issue - and an issue that has not only my backing, but the backing of the majority in Scotland. There is no doubt that under the SNP an independent Scotland would flourish. What makes me angry is that the other three political parties may take not only my voice away - but hundreds of thousands of voices across scotland away. It's the people's choice, so let the people vote.

• 657. Trevor Swistchew - edinburgh

  Thursday, July 10, 2008 22:27

  Independence will come. Devolution cant give Scotland the future people want.Unionist followers know it now you know it too.

• 658. Trevor Swistchew - edinburgh

  Thursday, July 10, 2008 22:30

  Neil 641
  What did the UK lot do to fix the points you outlined?

• 659. Neil Anderson - Glasgow

  Tuesday, July 15, 2008 16:32

  In response to my previous postings what has the Scottish Parliament or indeed the city of Edinburgh ever done to tackle the serious issues that affect Scotland's largest city? The answer is nothing.
  
  Although I would strongly agree with nationalists that yes the UK government has systematically failed to deal with the socio-economic problems that have affected the city of Glasgow for many decades.
  
  But as I have pointed out both the Westminster and Holyrood governments have been completely ineffective in tackling these issues.
  
  And as a results an independent Scotland would make no difference to improve the lives of people living in Glasgow.
  
  In addition I was watching the Question Time Programme a few weeks ago and I was shocked at the reaction of the audience. When Nicola Sturgeon voiced her support for Scottish independence nobody in the audience applauded? Likewise there were several members of the audience who actually showed strong opposition to the notion of independence with applause from the audience.
  
  The significance of this is that even according to the latest opinion polls the majority of Scots are opposed to independence despite there being a popular SNP administration.
  
  In fact support for Scottish independence has declined from 45% to 35% rather than increased with the vast majority of people wanting more devolved powers like me.
  
  In reference to the city of Glasgow, support for Scottish independence declines even further with the vast majority of Glaswegian's not supporting independence. (Contrary to Chris 656 posting)
  
  So how can Scotland achieve independence when it's largest city does not support it ?
  
  However if there was strong evidence to prove that independence would improve Glasgow or indeed Scotland in anyway then it would receive my full backing and support.
  
  

• 660. PMK - Ayrshire

  Tuesday, July 15, 2008 22:29

  The last question time audience in Scotland was packed with Labour Party members just as surely as the one prior to the May 2007 election was overwhelmingly populated by SNP supporters.
  
  The 35% figure is based on a different question to the previous 45% support of independence. Indeed, the same poll showed 61% support for eventual "independence in Europe" within the respondent's lifetimes.

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