Scots!

I'm not Scottish at all, as far as I know. I'm an Anglo-Welsh-Irish hybrid, but I have a deep respect and affection for Scotland the same as all other parts of the British Isles (except Grimsby).

I personally believe in an independent Scotland and an independent Wales, as well as a united Ireland. Ideally I'd like to see them all united as one country, along with Cornwall and the Isle of Man, as some kind of 'Celtic union', some 'Republic of Celtland', but I don't suppose that would ever happen.

It seems most Scots don't actually want independence, something which I've never really understood. On the one hand they're pissed off about being colonised and Anglicised, but on the other hand, they don't want to do anything about it. Only about 30% of Scots vote for the SNP. Everyone else votes for unionist parties!

All these little privileges that the UK government is handing out to the Scots and Welsh is in order to stop the UK from breaking up. But I think it's bollocks. The Union *should* be broken up.

If the Scots are allowed a referendum on independence (as they were given in 1979, in which, despite the appearance of a milk-snatching bitch on the scene, they overwhelmingly voted to stay a part of the English Empire) why are the English people not also allowed to have such a referendum? Surely the act of union between England and Scotland in 1707 was precisely that - a union, a bond, between two parties. If one party can break that bond, why can't the other?

If the Scots don't want independence (and they don't), then the English should say sod it and declare independence instead. The Republic of England. That would be a fascinating scenario. Christ knows what the rest of the UK would do then, especially Northern Ireland. They would have to choose to be with either Scotland or Ireland, presumably. Which isn't such a bad choice. The Scots and the Irish are basically the same thing. Both ginger.

The fact that no Scots can be arsed to reply to this thread gives you your answer... ;-)

I say bah humbug to independence. Although many 'real Scots' would say my opinion shouldn't matter as they'd prefer me to leave now that the famine is over.

Do real Scots still sit around peat fires in stone hovels eating porridge?

No, Chuck. Some of us join 'enlightened' groups, like ABCtales, to while away the hours in good company.

Archie, I decided not to reply because, quite apart from the fact that I'd have to write a book to explain why Scottish independence is both desirable and inevitable, I didn't want to turn this place into something that I'd no longer care to participate in.

Take a look at what passes for rational debate on the subject in the comments section of any English newspaper. Let me know when you find one that hasn't turned into a hate-fest.

The English electorate are ill-informed and misinformed. Every newspaper and broadcaster, including the broken BBC, is party to that deception. That can't be reversed or corrected here.

The long-since barren 'mother of parliaments' is no more than a clubhouse for a criminal fraternity.

How could an educated electorate be persuaded that the re-election of hundreds of known liars, thieves and fraudsters would result in change for the better? The British political 'elite' is the worst that money can buy!

Corrupt politicians are shameless, but a fair measure of well-deserved shame falls upon those who returned them to power by selling their precious votes so cheaply.

I don't know why they didn't rise as one and take to the streets. Perhaps they couldn't be 'arsed'!