English tell Scots to go for independence

The Scotsman ^ | 11/26/06 | Brian Brady

[MadMitch]

I think yo're wrong and that you will find out that England has subsidised Scotland far in excess of the North Sea oil.

---

It's not just oil, England has bled Scotland dry and used it for experiments, the Poll Tax for example, and you're more than welcome to base Trident south of the border after all Rosyth was sacrificed to save a Tory seat in the south east, or did if fall to the Liberals anyway and is now running hundreds millions over budget?

[Mrs Ivan]

Having grown up in the area (Tynemouth), having long established (+100 years) family links (Jesmond, Durham, Tynemouth and Alnwick) and having attended Durham University, I would disagree quite strongly, even on the cultural point.

I will agree that there is more appreciation of Scots culture than one finds in the south of England, but any interests in independdance expressed in the area are for regional independance. In my experience, at least.

[bobdsmith]

time to rebuild hadrians wall

[jla]

Bump for the bonny Scot lassies

[Churchillspirit]

time to rebuild hadrians wall

That would put my home county - Northumberland - in Scotland.

My family is Scottish on both sides so no problem for me. Although I consider myself British and am in favor of unity rather than division.

[Vanders9]

I'm in favour of unity rather than division too, but I get the feeling that the spirit of the times is against my opinion, again.

As for the argument over whether England has "bled Scotland dry" over the centuries, or whether "England subsidises Scotland with tax revenue" well, let us remember that it was SCOTTISH politicians who pushed the union forward in the first place (a fact carefully concealed by the SNP) for mostly economic reasons. Let's face it, whatever the truth of the sums, the push for independence is largely being fueled by a feeling that the economic benefits of the Union are not what they used to be, for both sides.

[Churchillspirit]

I agree.

Follow the money!

[Irish_Thatcherite]

"thanks for the pings Irish!"

You're welcome, though there is one ping you probably missed - Maeve and myself were tangling an IRA apologist, after he was banned, thread got pulled! :-P

[Irish_Thatcherite]

Why didn't the HTML not work with that post?

[Irish_Thatcherite]

I like Shirley Manson meself!!

[jla]

I like Shirley Manson meself!!

To each his own, IT, actually I've never heard of her. But I've always thought Sheena Easton personified the spirit o'the Scots...and in a most bonny way at that.

Have yourself a wonderful and joyous Christmas, IrishThatcherite, after the new year I'll report back on my (11th) trip to your verdant isle.

[Irish_Thatcherite]

She's the Scottish the lead singer of the rock band, Garbage, they're popular on these islands, but I suppose they mustn't be well known in the States (even though I think the rest of the band are American)!

Enjoy your trip over here, tell me all about it when you get back over there! :-P

[WoofDog123]

"Well England has owned Scotland for a lot longer than Americans have owned America so I suppose the Native Americans oil has also subsidised the United States. . . ."

yeah but you didn't KILL and EXPEL most of the scots, the clearances notwithstanding. You gotta do the whole thing or it doesn't count!:) (humor/sarcasm/not meant to offend sensitive people)