Meanwhile in Scotland.....

There are none so blind as those that will not see. Unlike the SNP I don't claim to speak for Scotland, just what I see, hear around me from around the country and have to live with. There are many many of us absolutely fed up with SNP desperate centralising, stifling of dissent and general posturing. Just check the other Grans who have posted similar views as well as mainstream media.

Interesting that the new BBC Scotland channel set up to appease SNP claims of BBC bias has recently found that on 21 occasions recently, programmes have had zero viewers. Obviously most Scottish people are not as fascinated by Scottish matters as previously thought. Something for TV licence payers to think about.

Brexit is another matter. I voted remain. I hope to remain in the EU and UK. In these times, as ever, United we stand. Divided we fall.

Can I say that most of the South West England would also like to not be ruled by Westminster.
I would be sad to see Scotland break away because I like the place and the people.
If only we had real democracy and not the FPTP system then maybe we would not be facing the threat of idiot Johnson, who will no doubt finish us all off.
He should not be in charge of anything let alone the UK.

Boris is an utter buffoon - but hopefully the WM Parliament will stymie any attempts he and the other hardline right wing idiots make at dragging us out without a deal. If not then I fear we'll be facing sh*tstorm #1 in the form of Brexit or sh*tstorm #2 in the form of Scottish independence - both of which will bring many years of austerity, uncertainty and divisions.

Alternatively, given that Boris et al are not likely to approve the process for a 2nd indy ref we could just see a few more years of sniping and hyperbole, with little real outcome.

Decisions, decisions

I see. So someone domiciled in Switzerland and someone's Dad think/ thought that. Well good for them

Blimey Jane10 just because another Scot’s views don’t chime with your own is no excuse to rubbish them in such a rude and disrespectful way.
I am shocked.
I can assure you that my father’s views were not unique to him and perfectly valid.
If you live in one of the areas of Scotland which has lost both its only railway link to the capital and also the backbone of its manufacturing heritage and where the population move is in one direction only -out- and you see squillions being squandered on a folie de grandeur parliament building which has over run its deadline and over its budget, it is hard not to feel that. a Central Belt centric emphasis is fine for “those and such as those” but not all of the Scottish population.
If it were, the independence referendum would have had a different outcome. Shame on you for your rudeness!

Jane10, may I please point out that I did not say that you spoke for Scotland, just that you spoke for some (fewer than you may think perhaps) Scots. The Scottish Government is entitled, as it has been elected, to say it speaks for Scotland. Somebody has to!

Here in the North-East we are also inclined to think that the country is run by the Central Belt, but at least it's a bit closer than Westminster. The things that Boris Johnston has said about Scotland are very worrying as well as quite disgraceful from someone who wants to be the British (not English) Prime Minister, and I think that he may be the best argument for independence in himself. I just feel sorry for those in the North and South-West of England who are in a similar position in relation to Westminster but without the option of possible independence.

Scots have always been travellers who ventured out into the wider world and there are many of us living in other parts of the UK. We were never given a say in the 2014 referendum, but I believe that most of us would have voted NO. We are proud to be Scottish and British. I do not think that many of us support the SNP.

However, we are also proud to be Europeans. I, like many Scots, sympathise with the SNP argument that Scotland may be dragged out of the EU against the will of the Scottish people and in some ways, I can see that could increase support for separation from the UK.

However, I hope that most Scots, wherever they currently live, will reflect on what we have learned in the last three years - that leaving a forty-five year old union would be horrendously complicated and damaging - so how much worse would it be to leave a union of more than four hundred years?????

The ~Scots have always adventured out into the world - they were great Imperialists

there are many of us living in other parts of the UK. We were never given a say in the 2014 referendum, but I believe that most of us would have voted NO. We are proud to be Scottish and British. I do not think that many of us support the SNP.
I do know quite a number of Scots who live in England and Wales and do not know of one who would have voted for Scottish independence. Perhaps that is because they have a view of the wider world or because they are happy where they have settled elsewhere in the UK and want to feel part of a united whole.

Ime, Jane10 speaks for quite a number of people I know in Scotland. She is hardly a lone voice.

I'm not sure the SNP decimating Scotland's education system can be regarded merely as a 'mistake'. It's horrendous what they have done and I am thankful my children just escaped the SNP reforms by the skin of their teeth.

The NHS here is a shadow of what it used to be, waiting times stretching far into the future. Free prescriptions are of no use unless you can see a doctor to get a prescription in the first place. My area has had defibrillators removed so they could be sent to the Central Belt, presumably because their lives are more valuable than ours. There are now no mental health services for young people in this area. They have to travel miles from home, as does anyone north of here. I know of one family who've been unable to access any MH services for their child so they're invoking their American citizenship and are moving to the US, where care is easier to access than in Scotland. I never dreamt of the day I would hear that.

Now, if the SNP had their way, people on minimum wage may have to pay a £500pa Workplace Parking Tax, because apparently, anyone with a car is part of the 'elite'. Given that we've had our one bus service removed, I'm not sure how people are supposed to go to work if they don't go by car. The SNP can't see past the end of their Holyrood-obsessed noses.

This is not the Scotland I used to love so much. As for Boris, like all mankind, he will be but a temporary presence, and if past form is anything to go by, that will be sooner rather than later.

mawbroonsback my 'rude' outburst is the result of the genuine exasperation that I, and so many of us, feel about what is happening in Scotland.
It's the result of the hellish nationalism that has infested the country since the two referendums. Sorry if you feel personally insulted but the SNP really raise hackles all around the country.

Well given that you were directly rude about my father’s opinion, is it surprising that I felt personally insulted?
If you had read the post before reacting, you might have noticed that he was not in any way an SNP supporter

Maw my Dad said lots of things re politics around the country and the world but I would hesitate to bring them to the current 'debate' as they're not exactly bang up to date. He actually foresaw a lot of today's issues but was also a real europhile.

Doesn’t cut it Jane10 your rudeness and disrespect for my father's opinions are inexcusable and frankly hard to stomach.
You have NO idea what his breadth of experience was, or to which period it referred.
Enough though, just don’t expect me to take any more notice of your prognostications than you have taken of my opinions.

Mawbroon- fear not I have no such expectations!

What has occasioned this outbreak of hostility?

Caledonail4
You're correct, it is none of your business what I write regarding another post that has zero to do with you.
I certainly don't take advice on manners, especially from someone rude enough to point out that the comment I referred to was 3 weeks ago. So what?
Many of us refer to past comments. ?

I sincerely hope that mine is read!

It does seem that if BoJo becomes PM- it will vastly increase the chances of Scotland leaving the Union.

And Northern Ireland - so much for the so-called Conservative and Unionist Party!

given that Boris et al are not likely to approve the process for a 2nd indy ref

If there is determination in Scotland for a 2nd indyref, the approval of Boris et al won't come into it.

I do know quite a number of Scots who live in England and Wales and do not know of one who would have voted for Scottish independence.

Perhaps that is because they feel no more affected by it than anyone else who does not live in Scotland.

I don't know anyone here in Scotland who would vote for independence for all the many reasons that have been trotted out time and again.

I know some, Jane.

And I know many! From all walks of life too.
Not rampant nationalists but many retired as well younger folk.
From a very active (in all meanings of the word) 85year-old who has been a member of SNP for decades to a 19year-old whose first vote was cast for SNP in the Euro elections.

Teachers, lecturers an architect, a few solicitors, small business owners, a restaurant manager, a highly successful games designer.
I could go on but I think my point is made.
A wide range of ages and occupations, not one of whom dislikes English people but all of whom are disgusted by the contempt that WM in general and abominable Boris in particular have shown for Scotland.

Plus ca change...

I know some who would vote No, some who would vote Yes and some who don't know. I'm in the latter camp - how on earth can anyone vote one way or another without being in full receipt of the facts on something of this magnitude? This 50% result to change the status quo that we have for referendums in the UK is ridiculous - without knowing what you're actually voting for means you're voting for a concept rather than a reality, and that concept has so many variants it simply causes further division and confusion.

Apparently Jeremy Hunt thinks that he can speak for Scotland and that he has his finger on the pulse of the key issue:

twitter.com/Jeremy_Hunt/status/1142704765450821632?s=19&fbclid=IwAR141FWlaDQI2GjRAtZ_yPn3w1XaI3r3ZK_0iD4CPG2Y3gaCsjvVErVDxx0

This from Common Space:

Hunt’s campaign, which saw him briefly tour Scotland in recent days (until Sunday 23 June) saw him advance a single substantive policy – blocking an independence referendum, and being an annoyance to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Much of his time was spent drinking Irn-Bru, eating chips and lemon drizzle cake in a patronising nod to ‘Scottish culture’. More time was spent in this kind of photo-oping than presenting any solution to the problems of British or Scottish society

Johnson, laying low in London, has delegated his Scottish campaign to Ross Thompson MP (himself under investigation from his party over allegations of “sexual touching” in a Westminster bar last year) who along with party colleagues Colin Clark and Douglas Ross penned a note to the Telegraph promising Johnson would “swat” the “midgie” of the SNP. As with Hunt, no more thorough or convincing prospectus for Scotland or its place in the Union has emerged during the campaign. In Scotland today blocking the independence movement with a just-large-enough element of Scottish society, in tandem with an intransigent Westminster government seems to be the ceiling on aspiration .