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A divorce from Scotland would be stupid, wretched and painful
Telegraph ^ | 11-24-13 | Boris Johnson

Posted on 11/24/2013 12:53:18 PM PST by Dysart

I have a faded sticker on the back of my car that reads: I (heart) Scotland. I have a feeling it was stuck there by some fellows from Strathclyde police when they came down to help with the Notting Hill carnival, and I keep it there because it reflects my general feelings. I (heart) Scotland in the way that so many of us Sassenachs do: you know, fabulous place, lovely people, gorgeous purple moors, great white beaches and an incomparable contribution to Western thought and civilisation, from Adam Smith to Andrew Neil.

I (heart) Scotland so much that I once made a doomed attempt to become rector of a Scottish university, in which I destroyed a massive poll lead by announcing that I was not only English but in favour of top-up fees, and ended up coming third and having beer poured over my head. But still I (heart) Scotland. I (heart) the bagpipes and the porridge and the view from Arthur’s Seat and swimming with seals and the funny prehistoric cows with ginger fringes and the see-you-Jimmy tam-o’-shanter that I keep as a memento of one holiday; and so I find it positively (heart) breaking to find that serious people are now worried that the union between England and Scotland – a gigantic political fact for 306 years – is under threat.

Never mind the sentiment, the fuzzy warm feelings I have about the place. Whatever happens, tourism will continue, after all. We are on the verge of losing something even more precious – to both Scotland and England – and I don’t think people have woken up to the full lunacy of what is afoot. In its desultory complacency, the conversation reminds me of some middle-aged couple deciding to get divorced.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: divorce; scotlandyet; sxotland; uh; unitedkingdom
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Yes, I know, "Freedom!"

Is this proposed split 1) likely 2) a win-win? more favorable to Scotland or England? lose-lose?

My best guess is the positions on disunion from the man-on-the-street vs the more engaged political activists-- for or agin-- are varied and for different reasons.

1 posted on 11/24/2013 12:53:18 PM PST by Dysart
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To: Dysart
Flower of Scotland
2 posted on 11/24/2013 12:59:26 PM PST by Berlin_Freeper (What we said when we said what we said was. Period. End of story.)
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To: Dysart

A divorce from the Leftists would be smart, blessed and successful.


3 posted on 11/24/2013 12:59:46 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet ("Of the 4 wars in my lifetime none came about because the US was too strong." Reagan)
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To: Dysart; fieldmarshaldj; GeronL; BillyBoy; AuH2ORepublican; Clintonfatigued

It’d be very good for England to be rid of all those Labour and other leftist MPs that Scotland sends.

I believe the Conservative Party would have a slight majority right now, less the Scottish MPs, only 1 of whom is a Tory.

Yes Cameron sucks but he’d suck less without his Lib Dem coalition partners.


4 posted on 11/24/2013 1:00:33 PM PST by Impy (RED=COMMUNIST, NOT REPUBLICAN)
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To: Dysart

Given that the Scottish National Party is hardcore socialist, I suspect that a breakup of the Union would be a disaster for Scotland.


5 posted on 11/24/2013 1:01:54 PM PST by Slings and Arrows (You can't have Ingsoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
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To: Slings and Arrows

It’s hard to, at the very least, foresee how it wouldn’t result in economic shock, initially, for the Scots.


6 posted on 11/24/2013 1:03:45 PM PST by Dysart (Obamacare: "We are losing money on every subscriber-- but we will make it up in volume!")
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To: Impy

Who gives a damn about the ‘conservative’ party? Scotland leaving would boost UKIP, who while not perfect, are Britain’s only chance of survival.

Funny though, with Scotland on its own, it would become a Soviet state. They’d do school exchanges with North Korea.


7 posted on 11/24/2013 1:04:09 PM PST by Viennacon
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To: Slings and Arrows

Oh, yes. Scotland would be Greece in a couple of months. They’d also be forced to adopt the Euro. haha


8 posted on 11/24/2013 1:04:51 PM PST by Viennacon
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To: Dysart

It’d be worth it if it kept the Muslims out of Scotland.


9 posted on 11/24/2013 1:04:55 PM PST by MUDDOG
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To: Dysart

Oh, no doubt. It’s when they’ve settled down and gotten their bearings, though, that the disaster would really begin.


10 posted on 11/24/2013 1:10:03 PM PST by Slings and Arrows (You can't have Ingsoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
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To: Viennacon

Those are two disturbing images.


11 posted on 11/24/2013 1:13:17 PM PST by Slings and Arrows (You can't have Ingsoc without an Emmanuel Goldstein.)
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To: Dysart

I have the DVD of Michael Powell’s “The Edge of the World” about the Island of St. Kilda.

There is also an interview of his widow. One thing she mentions is how much he loved Scotland tho he was English. She said when he finished a movie, he would always take a few weeks off and hike around Scotland.

His friend who would go with him was the editor of “The Scotsman” newspaper tho I can’t recall his name.


12 posted on 11/24/2013 1:20:59 PM PST by yarddog (Romans 8: verses 38 and 39. "For I am persuaded".)
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To: Berlin_Freeper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSH0eRKq1lE


13 posted on 11/24/2013 2:00:58 PM PST by Gator113 ( Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin and Mike Lee speak for me, most everyone else is just noise.)
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To: sionnsar

Scottish ping...


14 posted on 11/24/2013 2:11:54 PM PST by Twotone (Marte Et Clypeo)
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To: Dysart

5 million Leftist removed from the British electorate would be a boon to England and the Anglo-American alliance.


15 posted on 11/24/2013 2:12:51 PM PST by Reaganez
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To: Gator113
Scots Wha Hae
16 posted on 11/24/2013 2:13:58 PM PST by Berlin_Freeper (What we said when we said what we said was. Period. End of story.)
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To: Dysart
We need someone — the Americans? — to step in as a kind of marriage guidance counsellor and tell us to stop being so damn stupid.

I'm not sure our own track record of settling matters of secession amicably is much of an advertisement. "Manage it with 600,000 fewer deaths than we did!" is probably good advice but it lacks a little in specificity...

17 posted on 11/24/2013 2:27:09 PM PST by Billthedrill
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To: Berlin_Freeper

There is Scots blood in my veins, so I love this stuff. ;>)


18 posted on 11/24/2013 2:40:09 PM PST by Gator113 ( Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin and Mike Lee speak for me, most everyone else is just noise.)
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To: Gator113
Highland Cathedral
19 posted on 11/24/2013 2:49:23 PM PST by Berlin_Freeper (What we said when we said what we said was. Period. End of story.)
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To: Dysart

Not a good idea at all !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT08xFj836I&list=PL76FCEF01119F187D


20 posted on 11/24/2013 3:00:13 PM PST by Sparky1776
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