Boris is up in Scotland today ???????

Don't underestimate the silent majority in Scotland who know that independence is daft. The EU has already said Scotland can't join it, you have hit the nail on the head there. Many members of my family live in Scotland, and without exception, they do not want independence, cannot abide 'wee Nicola' and are in despair as Scotland's once superior education and medicine is run into the ground. The independence movement is a distraction from the mess of Scotland's finances and my family were in despair about their voting choices at the last GE; either SNP or Tory with its associated NHS sell off, austerity etc. Sorry Paddyanne, you may be a big voice on GN but many, many Scottish people do not agree with your views on 'oor watter, oor oil, oor fish' as my late aunt used to say ( she hated the English too, despite two English sons in law!)

Think I'd want that in a proper legal document signed and sealed! From what I've read the EU changes it's position fairly frequently over everything!

The SNP has not hijacked the Saltire - the Party colours remain black on yellow. The much wider Independence Movement have adopted the Saltire as their own, which is certainly appropriate as it is Scotland's flag and they are fighting to protect their Nation from dominance by another Nation.

How can it be claimed that there is a silent majority who do not want Independence when recent polling shows that 54% of Scots are in favour of it? Unless this 'silent majority' have taken a vow of silence which prevents them from responding to pollsters!

An opinion from Scotland

I stand corrected Granny23.
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“I didn’t know that.
Not a lot of people do”. .. (Morecambe & Wise).

Fake News from Urmstongran8 and Jane 10. The EU has *not said that Scotland cannot join. Indeed they have stated that if Scotland is in the process of becoming Independent during the transition period then Scotland will be able to remain in the EU, rather than have to rejoin.

Similarly, The official Spanish position is that A) they have neither the right nor desire to interfere in another country's internal politics (because they do not want other Countries interfering in theirs) and B) they recognise that Scotland is an ancient Nation, unlike Catalonia, which is and has been, a mere region or province. The Spanish Government has stated that it would not oppose Scotland remaining in and rejoining the EU.

It may not be an admirable sentiment, but I believe that the EU member states would take great pleasure in welcoming Scotland to their ranks, if only because it would be a poke in the eye for the British PM and retribution for all the difficulties and delays they have had to endure during the prolonged Brexit process

And the Basque region apparently which straddles the border between France and Spain ?!!!!!

Spain say they will veto Scotland joining the EU anyway because of the Catalonia issue.

The EU is trying to stitch us up more like and Boris isn't having it! Brilliant!
Jane 10 if that's the case and independence is achieved,then what??????

J52 no it was my fault for not making myself clear! Sorry.
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Many proud Scots I know wish the SNP hadn’t hijacked the Saltire. Nowadays they don’t like what it seems to represent which is a shame.

Don't underestimate the silent majority in Scotland who know that independence is daft. The EU has already said Scotland can't join it.

Not quite the same as May's deal, vegansrock.

It moved the border to the Irish sea, cutting off NI and making it the border of the EU. So that now there will be all sorts of complications with passage of goods between them and mainland Britain.

And, of course it threw NI under a bus...

Ahh, I misunderstood‘wasn’t allowed’.

But did people realise that Johnson’s deal was the same as May’s which he voted against and not an actual trade deal? No - many thought it was all done and dusted and we’d be like Norway as promised. Another lie.

No one said that the trade deals were oven ready which is what I presume you're talking about?

No. it was the Withdrawal Agreement that he's now trying to renege on.

Of course, it's signed and is an international treaty. I don't fancy our chances of making any deals with other countries if he succeeds. The UK will be regarded as totally untrustworthy..

I think Scotland will declare UDI if needs be...

He chose to vote in England J52 - he’s worked and lived down here for 60 years - he just used to go ‘home’ for the holidays!

Oven ready referred to the WA, which it was, not the trade deals!

Urmstrongran we own a house in Scotland and one in England and can register to vote in both places, but are only allowed to choose one place to vote, per election.

He did, as has been proved. We've left in case you hadn't realised! No one said that the trade deals were oven ready which is what I presume you're talking about?

Ooh just like the cast iron oven ready deal Johnson claimed to have ?

I would have thought N.S would have to have a cast iron agreement about joining the EU before contemplating leaving the UK! Falling between two stools comes to mind and that could last for some time. That would certainly be in the EU's interest as the more desperate the nominees the more increasingly impossible the conditions for joining could become! Maybe not,but it would be a risk, unlike last time when there was someone else to turn to, this time that person is very unlikely to be there.

Amazing how deluded some folk are.

I love Scotland and the Scottish people. My 87y old stepfather is from the West Highlands. He wasn’t allowed to cast a vote in the Indy referendum (even though he still owns a house up there) because he lives in England. He said he wouldn’t have voted SNP or for leaving the U.K.

I think Sturgeon is trapped. She knows Scotland won't vote for independence once the transition is over and we're out the EU proper.

Scots won't take Scotland out of the UK while we are out of the EU. Sturgeon knows this, hence her desperation for an extension.

Independence is dead, on the sword of Brexit. Sturgeon can try and spin it, but she and the others at the top of the SNP know Indy is slain.

No one has said that N.S has German ancestry! ! The border is not Hadrians wall, its Marshall Meadows bay (east) Solway Firth (west)
God knows why Westminster is so keen to hang onto Scotland! some romantic dream about one big happy family perhaps? totally unrealistic of course even on a good day! How strange it is that it's commendable to be a patriotic Scot (a little Scotlander but to be a patriotic Englander just provokes the usual sneers and jeers!
It's a pity the referendum, when it comes, doesn't include the whole UK. Bye bye Scotland would be a certainty then!

JenniferEccles

Is the possible increase in support for independence just a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to the feeling amongst some that NS has handled the pandemic well?

Isn’t it likely that once we are more or less back to normal that people will view the situation much as they did over the previous two referendums and realise that they are so much better staying?

As I said before Boris has to give permission and he’s going to resist as long as he can isn’t he?

Well said Jennifer and I think you are right on all counts.