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phil

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  1. Haha, I missed that thread. When I had a really bad back I used to get all my hard cover Beano, Dandy, Oor Wullie, etc, annuals (I'm that old), and lay them on my bed. I was right as rain the morning. Blaming Ruth Davidson for you back problems might be going a bit far. BTW just to clarify, most folk on here are fine, and people can write whatever they want. But, and I hope I'm not being prissy, just saying the tone of debate must put people off sometimes - e.g. posters arranging to meet up in a pub for a fight, and the board suffers as a result.
  2. Board is not what it was as it's now run seemingly as a pro-independence propaganda outlet. There's about 6 people with about a million posts each who seem to live on it, and set the tone. I'm practically the only anti-SNP voice on here, and that can't possibly reflect the views of the TA as a whole - I reckon there's plenty who have drifted away. I get some choice responses to my very occasional posts, and I genuinely don't care, but I can see how it would put others, who might have a worthwhile contribution to make, off. Raise the level of etiquette a bit, and don't just tell people to GTF just for saying something that goes against the majority opinion. At the moment it's not so much a forum, more of an echo chamber.
  3. Agreed. Some powerful performances from old Boothy - superb in Deadwood, and Nixon. And you had to respect the way he absolutely refused to accepted his thinning locks. It was Trumpian. Sad day.
  4. You’re still not really getting my point. I’m not talking Scotland down. I’m sure as many talented people are born in Scotland as anywhere else, the problem is they don’t stay…… it's estimated that 30,000 young Scots leave every year for England or abroad. Of course, it's good that our young people go to live and work in foreign countries. It's the time of life to see the world, broaden the mind and develop new skills. It's just a pity that, in the main, Scotland won't benefit. Most of the 30,000 probably intend to return to Scotland. Few of them will. So many will find that it's much, much easier to leave Scotland than to return. Once a job is found elsewhere, a career path beckons. Training opportunities are offered, promotions gained. Alternatives in Scotland are limited or non-existent. http://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/13183494.Ten_of_thousands_will_still_leave_Scotland_forever/ I oppose independence for mainly practical reasons – though the flag waving ‘wha’s like us’ stuff leaves me cold too. The above trend won’t be reversed, but probably accelerated, by independence. Setting up the new/renewed nation will be ruinously expensive. That and the loss of revenue from the UK government would have to be made up from hefty tax hikes on the rich, or massive borrowing. Neither is attractive. If it’s the former then the wealthiest could just up and run. It’s not as if they’d have far to go. If it’s the latter, the interest rates would be crippling. You’ll say this Project Fear propaganda but I’ve seen these points put to SNP spokespeople many times, and they never have a convincing answer. The UK works in the sense that the least economically productive areas, e.g. remote parts of Scotland, are subsidized by the wealthiest, which, like it or hate it, means the City of London, home incidentally to 800,000 Scots. Can’t see these hard facts changing anytime soon so……. Far better to argue for more local decision making – if that’s what you think is needed – within the existing UK structure.
  5. A pre-qual at the polling station ! YES, what a great idea. We could have a couple of burly SNP 'information officers' at the doors of the polling station 'advising' people who might be confused about who to vote for. That kind of thing has worked very well in Zimbabwe, I believe. Anyone who insists on voting for parties other than the SNP, and especially the Tories, could have their names and address taken, placed on a register, and 'dealt with' later. Progressive politics in action! Jesus.......
  6. How does supporting the union automatically make you a nationalist/extremist? I’ve never waived a union jack in my life and would feel embarrassed to do so, and I’d guess most NO voters would say the same. The union was a grubby compromise put together by hard-headed pragmatists, or a ‘parcel of rogues’ if you prefer, at a time of crisis. It was not the work of starry-eyed idealists or die-hard nationalists. And like it or not, and probably for that reason, it has worked. It makes sense in a small monolingual, monolcultural island to pool resources and run things centrally. You can argue endlessly about how much local power should be devolved to the regions, but the basic premise is sound. A truly independent Scotland would, presumably, mean a separate treasury, parallel civil service, Scottish embassies around the globe, probably a new currency, and maybe even a new independent Scottish army. This mad process of ‘Scotification’ would duplicate what we already have, at enormous cost, in what would be an impoverished state, just to make some people feel good, for a short time. It’s bonkers, and opposing it doesn’t make you an extremist – just sane and rational.
  7. I wrote starting to 'crumble' advisedly, as in the beginning of a process over time. I agree they are likely to stay strong for the foreseeable future, but significantly down from their 2014 /15 highs; and I think they'll have a very hard job getting anywhere near that level again. I agree with you though that there is real potential for an SNP that downgrades full independence to a vague aspiration sometime in the future rather than a realistic short term goal. It scares people too much, and they underestimate the genuine feelings of kinship and sympathy people in Scotland have for the rest of the UK. And I also think people are getting fed up with the constant phoney outrage and special pleading.
  8. I think the results gives credence to that 60 - 40 poll on independence a while back. SNP remain a solid, formidable minority but they are starting to crumble, and the floaters that were drawn to the cause in 2014 boosting the YES vote are now floating away again. It must say something about the independence issue that so many Labour voters were willing to vote Tory, probably for the first time in their lives. If it were just a reaction to Corbyn they'd be more likely to just stay home surely? The bloom is off the rose for the Nats and there have been a number of causes: Calling for a vote on Independence at the worst possible time for the UK seemed treacherous and opportunistic and put off a lot of people - see online poll. Their Europhilia just didn't connect with the public mood, even among ardent remainers - I can't imagine anyone being 'dragged out of the EU against (their) will' apart from maybe John Claude Juncker. Their piss poor record in government is becoming increasingly apparent and that tax payer funded vanity tour of the US showed worrying signs of megalomania. Add to that, Ruth D has been superb despite the avalanche of vile abuse that rains down on her; and Theresa May has handled Sturgeon adroitly, making her appear shrill and desperate by comparison.
  9. Quite right. Clear message of the night - the overwhelming majority of Scots don't want independence, and want to make clear their rejection of a party some of whose supporters call anyone that disagrees with them 'scum'.
  10. Ruth has got the SNP rattled and regularly outclasses Sturgeon, so they are jumping on anything they can to discredit her, the more emotive the issue the better. Whatever you think of the rape clause, deliberately spreading misinformation about it - Sturgeon will know perfectly well that the 8 page form can be filled in by a healthcare or social worker but chooses to suggest otherwise - for political gain is truly shameful.
  11. You are absolutely right, and I am not pretending for a minute that the vow wasn't made. It was and should be honoured. My beef is with the SNP leadership putting it about that the vow was the only reason they lost, and since the vow is bound to be reneged on, the nation had been conned, the result was invalid, and we need a rerun. It's pretty obvious what they're doing. On the referendum night itself Sturgeon, with an eye on the future, was spouting her 'Scotland has voted for change', nonsense, when the only thing we knew for certain was that Scotland had done precisely the opposite, albeit by a fairly narrow margin. I have no problem with Yes voters, and no problem with people continuing to campaign for independence, but it should be done on the merits of the case, not based on Salmond and Sturgeon's mischief/myth making. Don't get taken for a ride on the betrayal bandwagon.
  12. Anyway, I think a problem here is that people are just believing whatever they want to believe, whatever feels good. It suits the purposes of the pro-independence lobby to believe that the 'vow' - or was it the 'pledge'? - made all the difference because it fits the narrative they want to pursue - we wuz robbed, cheated, tricked etc. And it keeps the pot boiling. In fact, it's just about impossible to identify exactly why people voted as they did with any degree of accuracy. When asked by pollsters, many people are likely to give the answer that casts them in the best light possible - i.e, 'I'm not a nationalist. I just want a fairer society.', or, to be fair, on the NO side, 'I think we're better together', not I'm worried about my pension. So, I'm pretty skeptical about polls. All I can say is I don't know anyone who shifted from Yes to. No as a result of the, frankly pathetic, last minute promises of the party leaders. Indeed, I know many No voters who are fairly peeved that they are being told they were duped, when they were solid No from the get go, and don't even want these extra powers.
  13. Totally agree. I don't know a single No voter who was influenced by 'the vow'. The SNP are playing up the treachery and betrayal angle - before it has even happened - to push for another referendum and keep their bandwagon rolling. Yes did well, but lost. That should be accepted, No voters respected, and another go, if that's what people want, in a generation.
  14. The point of the quote was that all nationalism is bad - English, British, Scottish. You can't distinguish. It's the same dubious instinct, because patriots only ever talk about the good stuff and never acknowledge the bad, 'the debt', or they blame it on someone else. In the case of Britain, the debt is enormous, and one massive example will suffice, which can be summed up in one word: empire. Unfortunately this was very much a collaboration project, Scots were involved up to the hilt, and the results for parts of the world have been catastrophic, and ongoing. Apparently 5 million people were killed in this 'project', and if it didn't make everyone rich, it did benefit a huge number, north and south of the border. That's why I cringe a bit when people - on the Yes side and No side - talk of their pride to be Scottish/British and wonder if they have really thought deeply about what they are saying. Of course, plenty of Yes supporters are not flag wavers at all, just want a fairer society. I totally understand that, but if that is your position, surely DEVO Max would suit you better? Like it or not we are entwined with the rest of the UK, and many Scots just don't want to break away entirely. I never trusted the SNP leadership. Why has Alex Salmond resigned? He has been acclaimed for his performance in the campaign, got a very creditable result, and there is no one better to fight for the deliverance of the promised extra powers. So why is walking away? I suspect it's because he's lost interest. To him Independence is the be all and end all, making speeches about social justice and a fairer society were just a way to get decent and principled people to vote for it.
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