Nicola S....

I agree. But London isn't a country. I'd vote tomorrow for London to become an independent republic.

 

Like they voted to remain as part of the UK

 

Good. So you respect their sovereign right to choose, given that the UK vote usurped the Scottish vote and took them out of the EU against their will?

 

They chose to remain in the UK as a member of the EU.

We are no longer a member of the EU. I think that signifies a massive change of conditions, don't you?

 

Once in a lifetime vote as I recall.
Now of course it’s up to them but as a simplistic view I can’t see any way they would be better off leaving, they have free prescriptions, student education etc, surely that lot would have to go.
Plus the SNP seem pretty much as inept as other political parties and left to their own devises who knows where they could end up ( but I’d bet it would be worse off)

 

48% of the UK population @Donks ??
Actually, 73.3% of the uk population didn’t vote for brexit, with 24.8 voting against, 19.9 not voting and 28.6 being unable to vote. Never forget when they spew this ‘will of the people’ nonsense, that this whole mess is the will of 26.7% of people with only a vague notion of what they were actually voting for.
As Gil Scott said: mandate my a$$.
As for Scotland’s independence, if they’re able to rejoin the Eu and be rid of Tory rule, my only hope is that they take me with them.

 

The UK is mandated to hold a General Election every 5 years, as set out in law.

We had 3 in 4 years.

Things can be changed. In the legal mechanisms to create the Scottish independence referendum, was it set out in law the period until another referendum could be held?

 

Scotland should just apply to become part of Ireland - with Northern Ireland joining too. Straight into the EU and two fingers up to Westminster at the same time. Nice.

 

There's a job lot of unwanted wall going cheap on the US-Mexico border if they want to save money

 

I do wonder what the excuse for denying NI an independence vote would be. Though the route to that isn't easy and pretty unlikely til the balance in NI shifts further away from Unionist parties.

 

Yes I do but they are part of the UK, think of it as a nationwide constituency.
Just let it be decided by Rangers v Celtic or Hearts v Hibernian.
Rangers or Hearts win - Remain
Celtic or Hibernian win - Leave.

 

In a related question, what does Scotland contribute to the UK?

If England is a net contributor, would we be better off without them?

 

No I accept the terms of the vote which was a whole UK vote. Time to move on and work together.

 

No we should re vote everything until the person requesting the vote gets their own way. That's how democracy works. Grind down and conquer through apathy.

 

Democratic vote seems most suitable ;-)

 

How can they move on when they've been ejected from something they democratically voted to remain within? If it's a region, then so be it. But it's a country.

Their people have a right to decide their futures. And the vote is approaching 7 years ago. A hell of a lot has changed in 7 years.

 

Health, currency, military and customs? It's one of those things that will seem a good idea at the time. That said if they want to go that badly let them.

 

As it stands, the Parliament in Westminster could vote to abolish the devolved administration in Scotland *tomorrow* (it does currently require a 60% majority vote, but Parliament cannot bind Parliament, etc). They could also vote to remove devolved rights, give Scotland less (or more) money, or take decisions on trade deals without consulting the Scottish government that badly affect Scottish interests (shellfish anyone?) - and a whole number of decisions without giving Scotland a say on the matter.

And the UK government only seems to care when Scotland already have their bags packed and are halfway out of the door. Westminster has made the same mistakes with Scotland as they made in the 1880s-1920s with Ireland - and look what happened there.

It would be disruptive, expensive (for both countries) and cause years of negotiations that make the EU-UK negotiations seem almost sociable, but it is a decision for the Scottish people and if they want their sovereignty and independence then that is what they will get.

NI is slightly different as a border poll is part of the GFA. Last poll result I saw showed a slight majority to stay in the UK (52/48 would you believe among decided voters), and it is likely that it will cease to be part of the UK within the next 30 years - and the DUP will have done more to bring it about in 5 years of politics than the IRA ever did.

 

They'll come running back when it goes tits up. They did last time.

 

If we hadn't made them leave the EU against their will, I'd absolutely agree that there shouldn't be another referendum.