The United Kingdom is my country, and no one has the right to take it away from me.
There is no precedent for a referendum on secession, to which devolution does not compare.
The continued existence of the state is a matter for the whole state. And there is no state in the United Kingdom except the United Kingdom. That is a fact.
Who is to vote in this proposed referendum in Scotland? Everyone on the electoral register? Which one? For local, European and Holyrood elections, any resident EU citizen can be registered. Are they to have a vote on the continued existence of my country? While I have no vote?
Idiot. What we do in Scotland has nothing to do with you. Keep your nose out of our affairs.
ReplyDeleteThere is no state called Scotland. Or England, for that matter. The state is the United Kingdom. Fact. That's what the SNP wants to change. But it doesn't dispute the fact of the matter. If that were not the fact of the matter, then the SNP would not exist.
ReplyDeleteIf people who are not even its citizens can vote on this country's continued existence, then why the hell can't the overwhelming majority of people who ARE its citizens, i.e, the eleven twelfths living in England (where there are many Scottish-born people as the entire population of Scotland, one fifth of which was born in England), Wales and Northern Ireland?
I would happily vote for Scottish independence.
ReplyDeleteIndeed I welcome Davids suggestion.I would welcome a referendum in "UK" on whether "Northern Ireland" remains a constituent part. I am glad that David feels the same way.
Like a lot of people over here, I felt that the GFA referendum should have been UK-wide. Certainly, any vote (not that I expect it to happen) on transferring Northern Ireland to the Republic should be.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, they'd get a vote on it in the Republic, on what the borders and character of their country should be. So why shouldn't we get one, on the borders and character of our country?
The SDLP and Sinn Féin actually brought that up in the early discussions.
ReplyDeleteStrangely Unionists did not like the idea. They saw it as the "rest of the UK" holding a veto on their Britishness.
Oh, it was because of Ian Paisley (who in those days was of course still Ian Paisley) that people over here wanted it.
ReplyDeleteI would have thought 700 deaths of British soldiers was a factor.
ReplyDeleteWe are oddly blind to that sort of thing, although we finally seem to be shifting over Afghanistan.
ReplyDeleteNot so much blind to that kinda thing or even stiff upper lip. Basically 2009 is different from 1979.
ReplyDeleteWooton Bassett or wherever never turned out in such numbers for the coffins.
Very true.
ReplyDelete