Vocal Voices

With the phenomenal rise of the SNP is the break-up of the UK now inevitable? If Labour gets into power and has to be propped up by the SNP, I can't see that sitting well with the rest of the UK. It seems likely that the tail of the dog will be probably be wagged by a small minority of MPs, who in all honesty have very little interest in the UK as Scotland and its independence is their main priority. And what has happened to Alex Salmond. Is he waiting patiently in the wings or has Nicole Sturgeon chewed him up and spat him out? I wouldn't be surprised if it were the latter.

Goodness only knows medsec, it seems like it's all up in the air this time - there is a real feeling of change to me, about this GE

I agree Kaz - perhaps change would be a good thing. If election results are going to be close in the future maybe first past the post should be abandoned. I don't understand completely how this would work, but I would like to see some sort of system where every vote counts - for example counting who comes second, third etc.

It would seem a lot fairer x

I, too, think that the breakup of the UK is inevitable.

At the moment I think it is most unfair that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all
have their own virtual parliaments, yet are still allowed to send MPs to Westminster.

Perhaps the sooner they are all independent the better, and good luck to them.

(Cue for song - all together now)... ♪♪ There'll Always Be An England. ♪♪

I am beginning to think that the break up of the UK, and not just the Union, is inevitable; but my fear is that it will not be a well managed event rather a bitter split.

To me that was a given when

a) Maggie tested the Community Charge on Scotland because in vote terms it “did not matter”
b) John Major tried to sell of Scottish water against almost everyone in Scotland. Then he lied about the electrification of the East Coast main line to Aberdeen and the extension of the A1 Dualling to Edinburgh.

Now Labour has stepped on the Crank with the Golf Shoes by throwing in with the hated Tories during the Independence referendum.

They are all paying the price of that dismissal of Scots will over “British” or “English” concerns. That price is a strong and organised SNP who don’t give a damn about the UK or England.

For me that is a consequence of the Scots, decade after decade, suffering English Only policies which impacted the Scots, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Now the boot is on the other foot and they fully intend to plant it in the largest backside available.

I fully blame this end result on short termism. It is the 3-5 year viewpoint of almost all politicians in government today which has brought the country to the state it is in. Had they been thinking and planning for the future of their country and not the future of their election prospects in 5 years time, then this issue would not be so bad.

My take is this. If the English want to keep the UK or even control of the UK, then they need to go out there and vote for it, hands down.

To be clear here. A vote for Labour is a vote for a broken UK. So is a vote for Lib Dem or a vote for the Greens.

Voting Tory in Tory seats and Tory or UKIP in Labour seats is a vote for the UK. Only the English can do this. However if they take their own personal grievances out at the polls then they must know who to blame when the SNP start running the country.

Let’s be absolutely clear here. When it comes to UK elections, if the Scots (<10% of the population), get to direct what is going on, purely because they are focused on one thing, “Scottish representation in UK issues”, then it is the English (~85% of the population), who have let them.

So long as the English are warring between “English representation” (UKIP and Tories) and “Social benefits” (Labour/Lib Dem), then any group who knows what they want and are willing to go for it are going to rule the roost.

The message is simple. If you don’t want the tail to wag the dog, then stop ripping yourself in half. The regional assemblies were an attempt, post the Thatcher years, to redress the balance of a rampant England running roughshod over everyone else.

At least from an outside viewpoint, it’s somewhat amusing in a sardonic sort of way.

I can see a point coming when us miserable and useless English tell our politicians that we demand independence and the split up of the UK into Eden, Nirvana, Shangi-la and Wales.

We will have to wait to see the horse-trading that goes on after the results come in and how much the voters of England will find themselves being manipulated by others. I would prefer that the UK stays together with all sharing in its prosperity, but if a small group endeavours to take more than their fair share, I can see the UK breaking up before too long. Perhaps a quick sharp break would be the best way forward, rather than resentment festering.

I really think it's up to the Scottish people, ultimately, to decide one way or another. That said, there doesn't seem to be an appetite for a second referendum amongst those folk "north of the border", though, so I surmise that the massive victory the SNP are going to win tomorrow comes more from a "let's kick Westminster" rather than a "let's ditch the English".

Is that fair comment, Suff?

In the meantime, if you will permit me a brief moment of levity on this serious thread (because the Ostrich is, at heart, always an Ostrich ), I shall be joining Aggers in song, but with a different ditty:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vh-wEXvdW8

"Always remember - if it hadn't been for the English, you'd all be Spanish!"