Scotland independence and the armed forces?

[daugs]

..............Having been an expat for many years i have noticed a very clear propensity of Scottish Brit expats to tout the Scottish flag in clear defiance to the Union and the Union Flag. On the back of their cars for example. In conversations with Welsh and Scottish expats over the years i have found in general the Scottish to be far more vitriolic toward the English than are the Welsh. Also much more so than the English are toward the Scots. Can't comment on Irish having met very few. I have found the devisiveness of the Scots quite tiresome, though i respect their right to opinion and viewpoint. These are just my observations, not a reliable survey, ........................!

I'd agree from my time as an expat in Poland and Russia in the early 1990s. I always said I was British or from UK (rather than English) when asked, to me it's a better representation of the diversity and tolerance that I'd like to think the modern UK brings, at least in parts of it. The truth is that it is difficult to escape the legacy of being the global superpower albeit centuries ago. The results of Soviet propaganda had an interesting impact on the Irish dynamic. A couple of Poles couldn't believe it when asking where a friend / colleague from work and I were from, he being from Dublin, thinking we should be fighting rather than drinking together.

I do find Alex Salmond's anti-english rhetoric increasingly annoying. Now the suggestion that a currency union wouldn't work is bullying. Surely independence should mean just that, for a currency union to work there needs to be oversight and control hardly the characteristics of independence. Almost anything that he doesn't agree with is accompanied by words like bullying, reminds me of Robert Mugabe's ability to deflect the discussion with a few choice remarks about colonialism. His threat to refuse any share of the UK national debt is hardly the words of a man committed to a partnership to make a currency union work. Can you imagine the outrage if people south of the border suggested that independence meant losing all pension rights, oh I think that is starting. It all reminds me of a divorcing couple where should be amicable and sensible but somewhere someone gets bitter and eventually the wheels completely come off. I just hope the vote is decisive one way or the other, otherwise it will just run and run like Quebec.

As an aside, doing a bit of reading, (and I'm not a historian so need to do more research) but the Acts of Union only came about after much wrangling and possibly with terms / efforts to curb the behaviour of the monarchs from James VI / I et al who were much more in favour (for obvious selfish reasons) of a more absolutist monarchy they had had in Scotland rather than in England where there was a resistance to such behaviour.

 

[technodup]

I say if the Scots vote for independance

We won't.

1. It's not independence if we keep the pound, monarchy and go begging to the EU
2. Salmond is a fat whiny see you next you know when and for all his bluster people will basically shit themselves over their jobs and stick to what they know. Westminster Tories

I despise him, and his wee midden bag carrier Sturgeon. All I'm interested in is when we vote no, how long can we keep the fat muppet from bringing it all up again. Did I mention he was fat?

I know I've probably said this before but the smarmy bellend who runs the Yes campaign lives across the road from me. I've a good mind come the time to spray NO all over his building.

 

[highlandsflyer]

tout the Scottish flag in clear defiance to the Union and the Union Flag.. ..i have found in general the Scottish to be far more vitriolic toward the English than are the Welsh. Also much more so than the English are toward the Scots.

:facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm:

 

[RadNomad]

:facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm:

Meaning what? That i was stating the obvious perhaps? Or do you question the validity of what i wrote?

 

[highlandsflyer]

No king and not very convincingly united.. ..I have found the devisiveness of the Scots quite tiresome, though i respect their right to opinion and viewpoint.

:roll: :roll:

 

[Bats]

Regarding the currency union.

I think it's funny our westminster overlords make lots of frowny faces at the suggestion there's a formal currency union.

Because if there isn't one, then Scotland won't get any of the rest of the UK's debt. What with Scotland already paying in more than they get in public funds, it'd means they're threatening to give Scotland a surplus!

You know I've seen this tactic before...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjPBp6DOwgU[/youtube]

To top it off, not having a formal currency union doesn't actually stop Scotland from using the pound. It's a freely tradable currency. Nobody in Scotland would even notice.


It's 2014 and "If you gain independence, we'll make your economy better" is somehow supposed to threaten people. Satire is dead.

 

[daugs]

well today brought about a totally new experience, one I never in a million years thought I'd say but "WELL DONE GEORGE OSBORNE" for actually saying what the view is on the UK pound, this is a step forward, the academic arguments are made elsewhere and readily available whether you agree or not but at least the people of Scotland can make a clear choice as to what they want without the idea of a currency union that to work would fly completely against the spirit of independence.

 

[RadNomad]

No king and not very convincingly united.. ..I have found the devisiveness of the Scots quite tiresome, though i respect their right to opinion and viewpoint.

:roll: :roll:

Gosh...It looks like this thread is incredibly lacking in...tripe...and...bananas. Salmon...and...Cameron...how would they cope...in their...panto costumes...turning...to see a...dodgy...huntsman...on...a...bike...get rid of...some nukes...in...their...neck of the woods..? The ...police forces...google the...fishy...facts...but...we should get rid of them...all...anyway and put the money to better use.

As we see, pulling apart posts and reconstructing them out of the intended context is fun, though it doesn't mean much.

 

[highlandsflyer]

:'(

 

[rosstheboss]

The jocks already have their own monopoly money that isn'taccepted anywhere south of the border anyway, what difference would printing some more make?