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Scottish Parliament opposes UK government starting the Brexit process
The Scottish Parliament has voted by 90 to 34 to oppose the UK government starting the Brexit process. The Supreme Court ruled last month that there was no legal need for Holyrood to give its consent to the triggering of Article 50, but First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would let MSPs have a say, despite it being largely symbolic. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesA friend of mine living in London tells me that Nicola Sturgeon is commonly known in the UK as the “Duke of York”. When I asked why he quoted the old nursery rhyme
Feb 08th, 2017 - 01:52 pm - Link - Report abuse +3“The Grand Old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men,
He marched them up to the top of the hill,
Then he marched them down again.
When they were up, they were up
and when they were down they were down
but when they were only half way up
they were neither up nor down”.
Sums up the SNP quite neatly I thought.
What purpose did that serve ?. She is saying that “Scotland” voted to stay in the EU.
Feb 08th, 2017 - 02:55 pm - Link - Report abuse +3If you count the NO voters and the NON voters then approx 62% of the voting population did NOT vote to stay in the EU. How easy it is to manipulate figures to bolster your own case.
Indyref 2 looking likely to happen in 2018. Articles like those of Patrick Harkness in 'The Times' show how desperately worried the Westminster establishment are regarding the people of Scotland. People have had enough of WM rule. I think the WM governments current attitude towards the Scottish and NI governments is very much acting against their own interests, as in their desire to retain their rule. I feel the majority of people who get their news from MSM will be shocked when they finally realise Scotland is about to return to being an Independant state. How many people on here for example would have laughed at somebody telling them a year ago that Donald Trump would be president of the US?
Feb 08th, 2017 - 02:57 pm - Link - Report abuse +1The SNP is made up of the people of Scotland, and is third largest party in the (current) UK.
“Independant” ??????????? time to get a new spell checker Think.
Feb 08th, 2017 - 03:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The SNP is not made up of the 'people of Scotland' but just a small proportion of it, see Clyde15 above.
darragh, lets not dwell on typos. The majority of Scots, whether they are a member of the SNP or not now are in favor of independence.
Feb 08th, 2017 - 05:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0A very short time is going to confirm this. (as in the next 18 months) Lets wait and see shall we?
“The majority of Scots, whether they are a member of the SNP or not now are in favour of independence.”
Feb 08th, 2017 - 05:53 pm - Link - Report abuse +2Where are you getting these figures from...?
Wishful thinking...
More likely there is less support for Independence now, than the last time...
@ darragh
Feb 08th, 2017 - 07:33 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I have never heard that nickname for her.
I agree there is little support for independence in Scotland but Sturgeon need to keep her name in the news.
Wee Jimmy luuuuvs the publicity. When you go to Scotland and ask folk about independence its clear that support for it only exists in the minds of a minority. The SNP is just a cudgel to bash Westminster. Trouble is for the SNP Westminster is fully wised up to that.
Feb 08th, 2017 - 07:41 pm - Link - Report abuse +2Freshhh Freeedom News...
Feb 08th, 2017 - 10:38 pm - Link - Report abuse -1http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-scotland-idUSKBN15N061
:-)
I made a cock-up in my post. What I should have said was ”If you count the NO voters and the NON voters then approx 62% of the ELIGIBLE voting population did NOT vote to LEAVE the EU.
Feb 08th, 2017 - 11:22 pm - Link - Report abuse +3From what I can make out of the consequences of a YES vote in a referendum, we will leave the UK and also the EU. The advantage to the Scottish population being what?
God protect us from politicians !
Interesting article Mr. Think...
Feb 09th, 2017 - 12:01 am - Link - Report abuse 0...but, two points...
One, the poll still favoured unity...
...and two...
“Ultimately it is the United Kingdom's parliament in Westminster which takes the call on whether Scotland can hold a second referendum. Last week, a British minister told nationalists to ”forget“ about another vote.”
The SNP are about to bring in a tax rise (technically a fiscal drag by not raising the 40% threshold but, yes a tax rise) that will raise maybe £150M if they are lucky. However the Barnett formula transfers a net of £9Bn pa to Scotland. So after Indepdence the SNP will need a tax rise / spending cut 50-60'times greater than this to balance the books. That is the equivalent of both privatising NHS Scotland AND raising Income Tax by ~3p. Of course there is a hardcore of Nationalists who would vote for Indepenence at any cost but Scotland has a larger deficit than Greece yet suffers no consequece of this by being in the UK - independence can only be achieved with devastating cuts to services and massive tax rises that will encourage more and more people to leave. It is sad that it is young people who are most in favour of Indepdence when it is their futures that will be worst affected. Free University is a perk of the Barnett formula and not a hard-earned benefit that could possibly survive independence.
Feb 09th, 2017 - 06:42 am - Link - Report abuse +5As for leaving the EU, had Scotland voted Yes last time they would already be out of the EU anyway and trying desperately to get back in despite Spain and Belgium insisting on punishing terms. Interesting that the SNP are already looking at an EEA model instead (which probably IS their best bet) which is only made possible by Brexit.
What worries me most are the already evident cultural and journalistic changes in Scotland that are the inevitable outcomes of life in a one party Nationalist state. It is truly sad to see.
1% more in favour of the union? That's not reassuring in the slightest. There's no sign the government has learned anything from their previous counterproductively negative campaigns, and the Brexit vote proved that people in the UK don't care about the realities of the economy if you can sell them an optimistic alternative.
Feb 09th, 2017 - 08:28 am - Link - Report abuse -3Maybe we should let the Scots have “ independence ” after all they ALL want it. Let DofY put before the Scottish Parliament a financial plan and see how they vote.
Feb 09th, 2017 - 11:02 am - Link - Report abuse +2@EscoSesDoidao So you say most Scots are now in favour of independence, pray tellwhere that information is sourced and referenced from. So you think Scotland should leave the UK. You are aware that Scotland will also be outside of the EU as well? There will be no special arrangement for Scotland to get membership of the EU. In addition, Scotland will have to apply for membership like any other country. If Nippy's negotiation skills are as good as they were for the deal with China, I wish you luck but I don't hold out much hope for you getting anywhere with that. Spain has already stated formally that it will Veto any Scottish application and the EU as a whole has said no to Scotlands membership at this time.
Feb 09th, 2017 - 11:04 am - Link - Report abuse +2Some questions.
Feb 09th, 2017 - 07:32 pm - Link - Report abuse +1If Scotland leave the EU with the UK,are they not entitled to take control of all of the fishing off Scotland?
If so, how many extra £millions could that be worth to Scotland for a revitalised fishing industry?
And, as at present, the UK helps bankroll the EU, which EU member is going to replace the British contribution shortfall, and if not, where's funding from the EU into Scotland coming from, that Sturgeon assumes, if Scotland were in the EU?
If Scotland become independent, and by a miracle got accepted into the EU, how much are Scotland going to contribute to EU funding?
Perhaps, May should just give the SNP independence,
Feb 09th, 2017 - 08:45 pm - Link - Report abuse -1then they could give the EU a headache instead.
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