Scottish Independence

[Johnz]

If Scotland leaves Great Britain, will we then be

  Little Britain 

LOL. Yes, I was wondering that.

On a more serious note, I was wondering who actually gets to be Scottish. Or is that already established? Is it everyone who lives there now or who was born there or has Scottish ancestry? Can you be Scottish and, say, English? I guess the same goes for who actually gets to vote. Excuse my ignorance if this is a stupid question.

[Pol]

Everybody 16 and over who lives in Scotland was entitled to vote.

[Johnz]

Thanks Pol.

So have the criteria for citizenship been discussed yet or is that something that will be decided if or when it happens?

[Shush]

The English living in Scotland can vote, but the Scottish living in England cannot. They were interviewing people from the Midlands living and working in Scotland. They said they would be moving back if goes "yes".
Assume  Scots in England will be pondering the same issue. Apparently in my region alone there are around 67,000 Scots. That said, if you are Scottish or English, then you are where ever you live.

Interesting times though.

[lotus]

Scottish independence-  that often reminds me of this song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLitqmgj6jA (Stivell/Kerr- Scots are right)

Conflicts and history? Are both celts? Religion? Is that still present and important?

[Pol]

Religion and bigotry are still sadly present especially in the west of Scotland. Yes its small minority and things are definitely improving I'm in Glasgow every week nearly and have never had any problems Ok I'm non religious and proudly wear a pentagram and go to rock pubs I like Glasgow the people are friendly ok you get the odd bam like everywhere else

[Johnz]

The English living in Scotland can vote, but the Scottish living in England cannot. They were interviewing people from the Midlands living and working in Scotland. They said they would be moving back if goes "yes".
Assume  Scots in England will be pondering the same issue. Apparently in my region alone there are around 67,000 Scots. That said, if you are Scottish or English, then you are where ever you live.

Interesting times though.

Thanks Shush. Yes, certainly interesting and potentially quite messy, I guess. Would that mean that somebody who was born and raised in Scotland but doesn't live there would no longer be Scottish unless they actually moved back to Scotland?

I'm probably over-complicating things but I can see how these factors could become issues in the future depending which direction the new Scottish government takes. Basically, at some point they will have to draw a line in the sand and decide on who is Scottish and who isn't which won't be as easy or obvious as it may seem right now.

Living on the other side of the world, I really don't have an opinion on the referendum. It's up to the Scottish to decide their future and there are good arguments for and against. However, identity has always intrigued me and cases like these always provide interesting examples of identity being redefined.

[Heno]

oh well i guess the majority didn't want it

but what happens now? having such a huge percentage of the population voting yes and remaining part of the union might cause problem. what do you reckon Pol, as the nma resident spokesman and on the ground reporter for "the scottish situation"

after all he did mel gibson aint going to be impressed by the way. maybe he should've kept the movie back in line to release with the election

[Shush]

look on the bright side Pol. In the future you are not going to need to find you Passport to come down here and watch NMA 

[Pol]

Yeah as Justin said in Glasgow last time nma aren't good with visas.
I'm pretty gutted right now and very disappointed i guess to many people were frightened and waved to the devil they knew. Too early to say what is going to happen next. Good news for the rest of the uk i think hopefully the tories will get voted out now at the next election. I think the north of England might get more a say maybe a English parliament as well At least we dared to dream

[Pol]

Sadly i think your right Danny Those who voted no will get there wake up call soon One of my main reasons for voting yes was at least if it went wrong it went wrong on our terms not with someone we didn't vote for calling the shots Scotland only has 1 tory mp At least i can laugh at those who voted no next time they moan about getting fcked over by the tories

[Tony S]

Just read that Alex Salmond has announced he is to quit as SNP leader and First Minister.

On the whole, I feel sorry for the 45% of people who voted who haven't got what they wanted, but I'm pleased for the 55% who wanted to remain in the UK. I want us all to get along with each other on this island of ours. For the record, I am English with some Scottish (direct line on my father's paternal side) and Irish ancestry. Wish I had a bit of Welsh too !
My brain can't cope with trying to work out the logistics of what would happen if the vote had been Yes. How long would it have taken to prise apart all the ties that bind us !?

[ldopas]

Yeah as Justin said in Glasgow last time nma aren't good with visas.
I'm pretty gutted right now and very disappointed i guess to many people were frightened and waved to the devil they knew. Too early to say what is going to happen next. Good news for the rest of the uk i think hopefully the tories will get voted out now at the next election. I think the north of England might get more a say maybe a English parliament as well At least we dared to dream

Pol, this mantra from the left is getting a bit stale if you don't mind me saying and it's not accurate. You put "Good news for the rest of the uk i think hopefully the tories will get voted out". That isn't good news for England. I didn't vote Tory, but I know that most of England did in the last election look at this; http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/2432632/UK-General-Election-2010-political-map.html.

We might not like the truth, but here it is anyway. Until we understand that England is mostly Tory, Wales is a mix of Tory, Labour and Plaid Cymru, Scotland is SNP and Labour and Ireland is Labour and other Irish parties and NO ONE ever gets the government they voted for, we cannot attempt to put it right.

However in looking at devolving powers to Scotland, though totally undemocratic as they are still part of a Union and Ireland, Wales and England were never consulted about this, which is a disgrace, perhaps we can start to look at devolving power to the other countries, and only allowing say English MP constituents to vote on English issues etc.

For example keeping the old Barnett formula is a disgrace. It's an insult to England, but did you know its actually Wales who lose out most under this old, unfair and ridiculous formula.

My thoughts right now as a half English, half Welsh person. I'm sick of hearing Scottish demands, seeing Scottish flags waving on the TV, hearing some unjust accusations being flung at mainly the English. I'm sorry, but I don't want to hear any more Scottish opinion for a little while, I want to hear and it's now time for Ireland, Wales and England to say something now.

[Pol]

Sorry to hear that Alex has stepped down though not totally surprised He was a strong leader and a excellent communicator whether you liked them or not Personally I prefer what the Scottish Green Party have to say.
Don't think that the ties that held the uk and the Irish together will ever be broken

[Pol]

I'm tired to give you a proper reply but will get back to you
For the record though someone else asked my to start the thread i didn't think this was the proper place for it and were all entitled to our own opinion Ps I proud to be a leftie