Meanwhile in Scotland.....

How on earth do you think the people if Tyneside and many other places in the North will benefit from HS2 ? Short answer we won’t, but by god we’ll pay for it for ever . As long as the South is okay though eh?

I hate bringing The B word into this again but we in the NE where our most valuable output is industry, stand to be hit the very hardest .

How can you compare Ireland which is across a large stretch of sea to a border between the North of England and Scotland where we can touch each other ?

we are a SEPERATE country Gilly ,thats all. I can still love Ireland and visit although its not tied to Westminster ..thats all.Being ON the same island doesn't mean we're not a different country
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YES I get that Paddyann I am just saying that Ireland is across a sea whereas the South of Scotland and the North If England touch each other . Not arguing that you are not a separate country . You make that point VERY clear !

I think that one point is that because Scotland is a separate country, we have the possibility of independence if we choose it. The North (and other parts) of England don't have that choice. The only way to shake off the heavy hand of the SE is for them to have some degree of devolution. A start is the elected mayors - even for those who don't like Andy Burnham for his politics (he's not a Tory!) must admit that he fights Manchester's corner.

As one with some family roots in Hexham and around Newcastle, I would like to see the NE of England getting a better deal from the UK. You're right, gillybob, HS2 is an irrelevance for you just as it is for us!

As a Scot currently living in another part of our country, I was never given a say in the separatist referendum of 2014 and I will not be likely to have any say in the future of Scotland if there is another referendum .

I agree strongly with the SNP that Scotland and the rest of the UK should remain in the EU, but I disagree that the UK should be destroyed, whether we remain or leave the EU.

We have seen over the last three and a bit years how difficult it is to leave a Union we have been part of for more than forty years, so surely we can all see that it would be even more difficult, more complicated and potentially disastrous for Scotland to try to leave a Union with England, Wales and Northern Ireland that has served us all well for more than three hundred years?

The young Conservative woman on Question Time in Glasgow last night- was very strange, tense and spoke like a robot.

But she certainly got a massive laugh from all when she stated that Johsnon cares passionately for Scotland.