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Wednesday, 14th May 2008

If Scotland is to be independent, then why not London? And good luck to what’s left

Here is a fun game for you. In only four words, try to sum up why anybody north of the border might fancy independence. Have a think. Something to rival the neat ‘No Taxation Without Representation’ quip of the American colonialists of the 18th century. Tricky, eh?

And yet, with other famous independence movements, it’s a doddle. After the Boer war, ‘We Are Basically Dutch’ could have done it in South Africa. Gandhi was a bit too loquacious to have managed four words in British India, but ‘You’re Stealing From Us’ would have worked. For the Irish, there were loads of options: ‘We Voted For It’, or maybe, ‘Ahem, There’s a Sea’.

Even now, the Basques could have ‘We Don’t Speak Spanish’, the Tibetans ‘You Killed Our Monks’ and the Chechens ‘It Makes Crime Easier’. But the Scots? I’ve been wracking my brain, and I’m close to stumped. ‘It’s Scotland’s Oil’ would have been a contender once, but it seems a bit short-sighted these days. ‘They’re Scotland’s Prospective Wind Farms’ just doesn’t have the same kick. And anyway, it’s a word too long. Quite honestly, try as I might, I reckon I can only think of two. They are ‘Why the Hell Not?’ and ‘We’re a Bit Bored’.

Do many Scots really fancy independence? God knows. I suspect, however, not. Polling is a bit of a mess in Scotland, but when the question is asked straight out, about one in three seems keen. Throw in phrases like ‘end the Union’ or ‘leave Britain’ and support plummets. And yet, a cult of grinding inevitability has somehow emerged. Whether it is five years or 50 years, Scottish independence has started to feel like a ‘when’, not an ‘if’.

Why? What is in it for anybody? You stop and step back and think about it, and you have to wonder. Under the last Tory government there was a gripe, and that gripe was under-representation. By the time John Major left office, there were barely enough Tory MPs to staff the Scottish Office. Popular opinion had begun to regard them almost as imperial governors, like Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem. But these days, Scots are better represented than anybody else in the Union, up to and including Londoners.

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Sonya Porter

May 16th, 2008 6:37pm Report this comment

UDI for Wessex!

Dave Ashworth

May 17th, 2008 4:43am Report this comment

No matter if the Scottish or English people want the Union to continue, or devolution. Debate on the matter is just "Fluff" for it has already begun its path to separation. Not from the average Scot or Englishman, but from the European Union officials who are hell bent on breaking up what they perceive as opposition to their grand scheme of total domination and the removal of democracy in Europe. "DIVIDE AND CONQUER".
The people of the UK are the only people of Europe who could stand up to the Rascals and Scallywags of Brussels and these EU Commissioners know this.
So stop blaming each other for the "Nostalgic Thoughts" of independence as the split is part of a plan being forced upon us by Brown and his Circus Clowns, as it was by Blair and his idiots before.

ian skidmore

June 11th, 2008 1:16pm Report this comment

ANY OIL MONEY TAKEN FROM SCOTLAND IS MORE THAN PAID BACK IN SUBSIDIES. BUT FOR GOD'S SAKE DON'T TALK THEM OUT OF GOING IT ALONE. THOUGH WHEN YOU CONSIDER THE MESS THEY AVE MADE GOVERNING US THIS TWELVE YEARS PAST......
DID YOU KNOW THAT IN SCOTLAND IT IS ILLEGAL TO WEAR AN UNLICENSED SPORRAN

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