[hibeejim21]

I just can't see why the scottish people put their trust in a tory government that hates them and cares not a jot for them.

I want our democratic rights respected. We voted against cameron and got him,we voted against austerity and got it,we voted to stay in the eu and are getting taken out. We were promised investment in our oil and defence industries and its never happened. Its a xxxx joke and unless we get PR its never going to change.

Scotland is somehow doomed to be poorer and less able to fund its way in the world than other comparatively sized Northern European states even though we have better assets than most of them (apart from maybe norway) The only thing holding us back is the chronic mismanagement from westminster, hopefully sturgeon can do what she can to minimise the damage of brexit in scotland but ultimately i think this ends with independence.

[hibeejim21]

No additional funding for an NHS that the BMA are already saying is facing a 'looming' crisis.

[St Charles Owl]

I just can't see why the scottish people put their trust in a tory government that hates them and cares not a jot for them.

I want our democratic rights respected. We voted against cameron and got him,we voted against austerity and got it,we voted to stay in the eu and are getting taken out. We were promised investment in our oil and defence industries and its never happened. Its a **** joke and unless we get PR its never going to change.

Scotland is somehow doomed to be poorer and less able to fund its way in the world than other comparatively sized Northern European states even though we have better assets than most of them (apart from maybe norway) The only thing holding us back is the chronic mismanagement from westminster, hopefully sturgeon can do what she can to minimise the damage of brexit in scotland but ultimately i think this ends with independence.

Ironically it was the demise of the Labour party in Scotland that has allowed successive Conservative governments to win in the General Elections. I haven't looked at any numbers but if the Labour party had won the seats they "traditionally" did going back over the last 20-30 years then I am sure they would have won.

Everything you say about Scotland also applies to the north of England as well, but we don't really have the independence option like you do. Maybe the answer is to come together and vote for a party that could challenge the Tories, but that would require you not voting for the SNP, so if Independence is your sole aim then thats not going to happen.

[0762]

During the referendum year of 2014 I found it amazing how many northern English people asked if it was possible to vote for the SNP! This was evident on radio phone ins, tv debate progs and various other debating outlets incl social media. There was clearly a problem for many English voters in certain parts of central and northern England and these people were in unison with many of the SNP policies that cover social justice, inclusion, banning Trident, multi-culturalism and endorsing a pluralist society in Scotland to name but a few of the pragmatic policies that were listed in the White Paper. It was also clear how disenfranchised they were from a totally fractured New Labour Party that was 'heading into a blind alley'!! IMO nothing has changed in that respect apart from many of these individuals no doubt being part of this protest Brexit vote that has fractured our country beyond belief. In Scotland we voted to remain in the EU but we also voted to remain in the 'United' Kingdom in the previous referendum of 2014 because it was supposedly 'better together'. We also still gave a decent, albeit not a majority, for the SNP to be our chosen govt for another 4 years!! The UK is currently not a unified country any more and we'll likely be initially forced out of the EU by March next year but that's just the activation of Article 50 and our eventual formal withdrawal will take years, such is the huge legal complication of this process that all these shameless Brexiteers never mentioned or maybe never even realised!!! At some point, millions of Scottish voters will reconsider their position within the UK and within a favoured EU single market and the forthcoming confrontational events with a right-wing Tory govt could well determine the 'mood' of the Scottish population and the 'new way forward' for Scotland as an independent country. I'd wager that many northern Englanders would show the same sentiments again where their 'common enemy' is actually a failed Westminster govt with this current one viewed by many as not even having a proper 'mandate' to be doing what their doing in the lead up to initiate Brexit anyway.

[hibeejim21]

I just can't see why the scottish people put their trust in a tory government that hates them and cares not a jot for them.

I want our democratic rights respected. We voted against cameron and got him,we voted against austerity and got it,we voted to stay in the eu and are getting taken out. We were promised investment in our oil and defence industries and its never happened. Its a **** joke and unless we get PR its never going to change.

Scotland is somehow doomed to be poorer and less able to fund its way in the world than other comparatively sized Northern European states even though we have better assets than most of them (apart from maybe norway) The only thing holding us back is the chronic mismanagement from westminster, hopefully sturgeon can do what she can to minimise the damage of brexit in scotland but ultimately i think this ends with independence.

Ironically it was the demise of the Labour party in Scotland that has allowed successive Conservative governments to win in the General Elections.  I haven't looked at any numbers but if the Labour party had won the seats they "traditionally" did going back over the last 20-30 years then I am sure they would have won.

Everything you say about Scotland also applies to the north of England as well, but we don't really have the independence option like you do.  Maybe the answer is to come together and vote for a party that could challenge the Tories, but that would require you not voting for the SNP, so if Independence is your sole aim then thats not going to happen.

Its almost like you blame the scottish people for the demise of labour,the fact is that the Labour Party got together with the Tories and liberal democrats to lie to the Scottish electorate during indyref and to make promises that were not kept. They treated the Scottish electorate with nothing but contempt and jumped on the austerity bandwagon. THATS why they lost (that and the idiot that is Jim Murphy)

Labour are toast in the UK as well,the polls show that even in the north of england and wales their support is deserting them for UKIP and the lib den vote has split with the tories.

If labour got its act together down south and offered to work with the SNP they could have actually delivered a positive left of centre government....Thats the real irony here. Instead Labour has spent so much time vilifying the SNP for the last couple of years they lost sight of their objective to beat the Conservatives and get into Government. Trying to pretend it was a party of the left in Scotland and anything but in England was an act of monumental stupidity,they are reaping the seeds of that now.

[St Charles Owl]

Not blaming Scotland at all, I can see why Labour have struggled up there and in typical Labour fashion its all self inflicted!! I suppose what I was refering to most was the irony of the situation the UK finds itself in.

[0762]

My biggest bugbear is the fact that a despised Tory govt, that normally pulls about just under a third of the voting population generally backing it with any real conviction, is in power and still having a significant effect in the way that Scotland is being governed! I've observed the same phenomenon on and off for decades with the type of electoral system that is used in this country that certainly favours a divisive Tory party while most people in Scotland are not fooled by the shameless rhetoric and innuendo that they come out with. We are culturally different and regard them as not just political opponents but serious enemies of the state with their own selective agenda!! The fact they are transforming into a right wing govt really has the 'alarm bells ringing' for many people who live north of Hadrian's Wall. I'm confident this political party/gov will 'fracture' at some point as they are not as unified as many within their party suggest but it's cleverly disguised. The problem is there is no credible replacement apart from a coalition govt, which would certainly do a better job than these divisive Tories who favour their own select group of people/supporters!

[hibeejim21]

We aren't going to get anything other than the tories from down south 100%. They are already paving the way for one party politics. The new boundary changes coming make it even harder for labour to win and the english sure as hell won't be voting for corbyn no matter how well intentioned he is,his own party will help make it even more impossible.

Independence is scotlands only chance to get any kind of political alternative.

[0762]

Yep! That's how I see it as well! It's convincing the 'middle ground' of doubters and 'scaredies' that is gonna be the biggest political challenge in Scotland in a life time TBF! Next year's political turmoil down south could well 'set the ball rolling' if the SNP govt does not get what it wants and they've made that crystal clear to the Tories in the past few weeks!!

[0762]

.....And inflation confirmed as rising by various financial institutions as the 'negative effect' of Brexit gradually takes hold of our economic situation - the plot thickens as May ponders how to tackle the most intractable and complicated political position for a UK PM in a generation.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37688593