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Elixir

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But that's the point, they didn't. We have as much influence as any other part of the UK, under the current system. It isn't perfect, but it generally returns a government with a workable majority. The power and influence the SNP will command after the May election cannot be underestimated, I'm not one of them but if that's the way most Scots vote, then fair enough.

Eh? Ok I will simplify it even further. If Scotland votes 100% labour and Wales for that matter; and England votes 100% Tory.... pray tell who will be in power in UK parliament? Point is Scotland is fully depended on which way England votes.

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Eh? Ok I will simplify it even further. If Scotland votes 100% labour and Wales for that matter; and England votes 100% Tory.... pray tell who will be in power in UK parliament? Point is Scotland is fully depended on which way England votes.

If the Highlands vote Lib Dem and the rest of Scotland votes 100% Labour? The point is the Highlands are fully depended on the way the central belt votes.

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Insightful input

Well its a shite argument. The UK exists, so you can say the same for any group of 5 million people. As much as you'd like the whole of Scotland to agree with you, you don't all speak as one.

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Well its a shite argument. The UK exists, so you can say the same for any group of 5 million people. As much as you'd like the whole of Scotland to agree with you, you don't all speak as one.

Absolutely! I can't imagine the Labour strongholds of Tyne & Wear, South Yorkshire etc agreeing they got the government they voted for in 79, 83, 87 or 92.
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Really. Wasnt aware that the highland people were informed that they alone were one of the 4 equal constituent parts of the UK??

When were you informed of that? That would be utterly ridiculous to give a group of 5 million an equal say to a group of 48 million. Not that i'm one for grouping people. People are equal (or they should be) and we send representatives from fairly equal size constituencies to form the government.

It always comes down to the same nationalist bollocks of "We are a country, not a region". So f**k really. As an individual you have an equal say to me. That's what matters most.

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It always comes down to the same nationalist bollocks of "We are a country, not a region". So f**k really. As an individual you have an equal say to me. That's what matters most.

You're totally correct. That's why people aren't happy, as they think we are a country and deserve to have our own government that just looks after us. As a country Scotland is a lot more left leaning than England. We have different needs.

But we are in the Union and within the Union we have very little say or influence as a country, which we can't moan about, cause we voted no.

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Well its a shite argument. The UK exists, so you can say the same for any group of 5 million people. As much as you'd like the whole of Scotland to agree with you, you don't all speak as one.

You would be better telling the English parties this as they appear to think that Scots shouldn't have a say when we vote for a party that does not put England's interests first.

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You would be better telling the English parties this as they appear to think that Scots shouldn't have a say when we vote for a party that does not put England's interests first.

I have little interest in 'England's' interests. I'm more interested in the interests of people. I think most people would be best served by the SNP being in government with Labour and the Greens. Not because of the nationalist shit, but because of their general policies. However, it probably wouldn't work if everyone is obsessed with the union or independence. Edited by BerwickMad
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^ so you quite happy to see Scotland as a region then?

A country within the United Kingdom, an equal partner and contributor alongside Eng, NI and Wales. I recognise our regional position, financial, political, commercial etc in that Yorkshire & Humber has a similar population, GDP and PPP to us.

Just as an aside, as a committed and lifelong Unionist I would have been desperately disappointed if the country voted in favour of an Independent Scotland last September, but I can honestly say I would have accepted it and got on with it.

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There is an argument that the Unionist party successfully presented itself as being the party to 'stand up for Scottish interests' at Westminster which translated well across urban and rural constituencies in a way that Labour in Scotland struggled to replicate at the time. Bearing in mind, the Liberals had collapsed decades earlier and it was a proper two-party system. To suggest it was based on religious affiliation is to isolate one factor in its success at the time from a number of national / local factors.

Somebody once told me that the Tory/Unionist party only won their 1955 majority in Scotland by promising to bring boat-loads of bananas into Glasgow after the end of rationing. For people who possibly hadn't seen a yellow bendy fruit since 1939, this was (supposedly) a persuasive pledge indeed.

Looking back, the guy who told me this had a horrendous Murphy/McTernan-ish view of the Scottish electorate though, and he was almost certainly talking bollocks.

Edited by MassiveFanDan
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FPTP's a bitch when it goes against you. Oh well...

But it also gave Labour the illusion that they were more popular than they really were up here. All it takes is a 10% swing away from them across most seats and they'll be on the receiving end of a wipe out.

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That's not the point, what was Labour's share of the vote in the General Elections in 1997, 2001 & 2005 ?

Scotland voted for a Labour government and that's what we got.

The point is not "Scotland never gets who it votes for", it's that "Scotland's votes are irrelevant in who it gets". We might as well not even get given a vote.

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