Scottish Independence After Hours

[Fraser]

This debate has never really gone away but it has definitely raised its head again during the coronavirus pandemic and how the unions are all moving in different directions. The SNP always has and always will be about Scottish Independence and Nicola Sturgeon is riding on a wave of praise for her dealing with the pandemic and how she has communicated with the public - even if you don't agree with all the lockdown measures - and this in turn has led to some quarters calling, again, for an independent Scotland.

The latest polls at the weekend showed just how much support for the SNP, independence and Nicola Sturgeon's covid-19 approval rating has grown since the lockdown started in March

I'm sure there will be a push for another referendum sometime in the next year or so. Thoughts?

 

[Geezer]

Significant comment from John Curtice, one of the most knowledgeable pollsters in the UK

 https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1279736796218380288

Saw this quote in the Sunday Times article too:

"There is increasing gloom among senior unionist politicians in Conservative and Labour ranks in Scotland that independence is inevitable."

Certainly looks like the momentum is with independence now. The next twelve months will be huge. The danger for the Tories and Westminster is the more they deny a referendum, the more the numbers may go up. At some point, they have to confront the issue head on.

 

[Best]

One potentially intriguing part of that poll is it reminds how a post independence Scotland could effectively be a one party state. It is the height of speculation but I'd wonder what would become of Hollywood's structure in the dissolution of the main 3 UK parties; the union would be history so politicians would need to adjust their outlook accordingly. Indeed would there be scope for splinter SNP? Division would surely announce itself in light of deciding what kind of independent Scotland was governed

 

[Franco Pinion]

The truth of the matter is Scotland could not, in a million years, survive economically without Westminster.

 

[Jess]

We all know that Scotland is economically gubbed without the support we receive from Westminster. The money from North Sea oil is not a viable option.

 

[Ray Gin]

Inevitably, this is rearing its ugly head again as the political spectrum moves towards the May elections.

We're beginning to see the SNP become more vocal about an independent Scotland - still something that the majority don't want!

 

[Gemma]

Read an article at the beginning of the week that said independence would cost Scotland £1bn per year

They are living in cloud cuckoo land if they think Scotland could survive on its own - they will keep harping on about referendums until they get a result in their favour which will hopefully be never!!

 

[Bandit]

I think it is not right that the UK Parliament is the parliament for the whole of the UK, England, Scotland, Wales and NI, but it is also the parliament for wholly English matters that are already devolved to the other assemblies.

Clearly, the answer would be to set up an English assembly with similar powers (I would say identical powers) that each devolved assembly has. Then one has to ask - should there be a single English assembly or multiple ones given that each region of England differs substantial from most others.

However, England Rules - literally.

Until that situation is resolved, Scotland along with Wales and Northern Ireland should be free to seek independence.

 

[Snoops]

The reason that Scottish nationalism has enjoyed a resurgence is Brexit. It might have been prevented if the Conservatives had sought to reach an all-union consensus on Brexit instead of imposing their own definition of it onto the two states in the union that rejected it.

 

[Tom]

The SNP leadership have done very little to advance independence since the Scottish parliament gained a pro-independence majority in 2016. Everything is manana, "one final push for the elections in 2021 and then we will talk about how we will move past the current Tory insistance of saying No". They have failed to address the "once in a generation" narrative that has gained traction from anti-independence side and the media, they have actively attempted to stymie the recent court case

The evidence is there that they are concentrating on bringing in legislation which get very little support from the public in Scotland but bringing it in on the back fo the support people are giving the SNP for independence and a vendetta against Alex Salmond.