English Scots for YES

Only six, now, Jalima. Carswell has returned to his natural home.

Carswell wasn't an AM though, was he?

Sorry, didn't mean Carswell, meant Reckless.
He's gone back to the Tory party, but they don't want him!

Sounds like a dodgy car dealing company, Carswell and Reckless.

DJ, Mazie, re the possibility of NI voting to leave the UK/unite with the South. I may be wrong but I don't think the Good Friday agreement provided for a simple majority vote in the North, but for a majority in all the constituant political parties - or something similar that ensures all sides agree. If that's right (too lazy right now to check right now) then it clearly will be a long way in the future before we see a united Ireland. Maybe never.

Just had a burst of energy and checked. Looks like I was wrong and that a majority vote would be enough. Apologies!

I think that post I put on about the Good Friday agreement earlier included the relevant clause, Fitzy.
Just a majority vote of those in Northern Ireland is required. Sorry, I forgot to put inverted commas round it.

According to an Opinium poll, only 14% appear to be worried about Scotland leaving the UK. It certainly seems more than that on GN. Over 60% think Brexit is worth it even if Scotland does leave the UK. Presumably the rest aren't bothered either way, which actually puts them in the second group, although they are not willing to admit it.

I'm surprised at the 60%figure. Support for Brexit seems to be increasing.

No, 69% of those who voted for Brexit think that if Scotland leaves the Uk, it won't matter as much as Brexit.
So that's 69% of the 52%.
Just an opinion poll anyway.

opinium.co.uk/red-lines-leave-voters/

That's how I read it, anyway. Could be wrong.

Maizie there is no 'forcing' going on at all ( you say..."I really don't understand why our happy brexiteers are so eager to force other people to stay in unions that they don't want to be in" )
I for one, don't mind what they do, but simply pointing out that NI has always been eager to stay part of the UK, and hasn't wanted a union with Eire.
I don't mind what Scotland does either ( from a personal point of view) but can see that Scotland is very divided on it, and the SNP may well not get the result they want.

A surprising article popped up on my news feed today.

www.anyvoice.co.uk/politics/tories-create-new-party-block-think-north-includes-scotland-planned-will-phased-separate-entity-time-read-mcduff-independence-yo/

I had not heard of this new Conservative Group before today, though I am aware of non local Tory Canvassers knocking doors and telling voters that the May Local Council Elections are their chance to vote against a 2nd referendum rather than anything to do with important local issues. In our Wee County and neighbouring Stirlingshire neither Labour nor the Tories are putting up enough candidates to control the Council, obviously with the intention of forming coalitions again to keep the SNP (who will probably win most votes/seats) out of power. I dread to think of our Council budget and services being under the control of these potential Councillors with no previous experience of (or indeed demonstrated interest in) Local Government - only a proven loyalty to their Political Party.

This is the best article on that site, Granny23.

www.anyvoice.co.uk/arts-and-media/cat-hat-donald-trump/

Although the Tory North looks quite worrying,it's a large area with a small population, only 246,000 votes.

'Hilarious' moment in the House of Commons. Proves, yet again what Tories really think of us Scots.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjVJI0hJQ8o&sns=fb

Our Tory MP wrote to our local paper last week complaining about the antics of SNP MPs in the House of Commons.

I wrote to him pointing out that they were only there in such numbers because of the ludicrously undemocratic FPTP electoral system which awarded the SNP seven times as many MPs as the Liberal Democrats who got twice as many votes. I urged him to support the change to proportional representation which is due to be debated as a result of the petition attracting more than 100,000 votes (including mine). Quite predictably, he replied saying he preferred FPTP. I wonder why?

Actually he, and quite a lot of his colleagues on the Conservative benches, should be grateful to the SNP as they owe their election in 2015 to Nicola Sturgeon's triumphalist statement in the last week of the campaign that "we will work with Labour to lock the Tories out of Downing Street forever" , which made so many English voters desert the LibDems and other parties for the Tories.

I genuinely believe that, had she not made that statement, we would not have a majority Tory government and all its dreadful consequences, including brexit.

Thank goodness she did, the thought of the alternative makes me shudder!

The alternative would probably have been none of this brexit nonsense which makes me and millions of others shudder.

Nicola Sturgeon's ill judged, vain and trimuphalist remark was like a stone thrown into the pond and has done untold damage.

Nice to have something to thank her for.,

I honestly don't understand why English voters who wanted to vote for parties other than the Tories, would suddenly decide to vote Tory because of what Ms Sturgeon said.

She was talking about keeping the Tories out of UK government, she wasn't talking about anything specifically to do with Scotland.

So why would those English voters (who would otherwise have voted for another party) then think that getting the Tories was preferable to not getting them?

There was a dramatic change in canvas returns during the last week of the campaign. The Tories capitalised on Sturgeon's declaration by carefully targetted scare messages to persuade the undecided that if they did not vote Con there would be a Lab/SNP coalition with the Scottish tail waggijg the English dog.

Varian I think you are saying that many LD voters towards the right of that party deserted to the Tories rather than risk a socialist coalition between Labour and the SNP?

Thanks Varian. I agree that possibility did help the Tories a great deal. There are a lot of people who didn't want a lurch to the left. More now that Corbyn is in charge.

Thanks varian.
So the voters were taken in by a large fib. After all why would the SNP be wagging Labour, any more than the LibDems were wagging the Conservatives previously?

FN I don't think the voters were taken in by a large fib at all. NS made it clear she would support Labour, that could have resulted in a socialist government. Apart from the fact such a coalition would result in a significant move to the left, the SNP would obviously have expected significant concessions from Labour, perhaps favouring Scottish interests over rUK. So a lot of people outside Scotland changed their vote because they didn't want that to happen. Where's the fib.?