Scotland

[lexin]

So Scotland is not to be a separate state. Hmmm. I don’t know whether to be pleased or not. The part of me that is ‘Braveheart’ – “Freedom come all ye, kill all the Sassenach bastards!”* is sorry. And it would have been such fun to watch the civil service not cope with having to pass that much law in one go having been skinned to the bone by the cuts. It would have been a rare joy to see them making it up as they went along.**

The part of me that hates Cameron and all his works*** is pleased, because Scottish independence would have given the Conservatives an easy victory in England for the next ten years. And I couldn’t bear that. Not to mention that half of the ‘yes’ camp’s plans were handwavery to say the least.



* Forgetting that I am one of them, obviously.
** How much policy is decided on the hoof is a secret that none but civil servants know.
*** My mother called him ‘that nasty little spiv’. And she was right.

Comments

[legionseagle]

The key things I kept on thinking of were (1) if Yes, we'll never get rid of the Tories, ever; and (2) the whole fudge about on-going EU membership (which would have been blocked by every single EU Government with a restless separatist movement) and the Euro was so likely to lead to a complete economic collapse so fast and I don't think I could have stood the strain, given what happened in the last one.

[lexin]

Well yes, exactly.

[stranger]

Hmm, I've been reading about this from the point of view of Scots who generally favor the idea of independence (without always saying that this is the right time), largely because they're fed up with the English parliament as it is now. It hadn't quite occurred to me that England, or a reasonable portion of the English, might prefer to have the Scots with them in opposing Cameron et al., but this does follow pretty obviously once you say it.

I keep wondering what half the voters (on both sides of the pond) are *thinking* -- do they not want decent living conditions and education for as many people as possible? Why not? Because they're voting against those things.

[legionseagle]

The thing it really reminded me of, in some parts, was the comment Douglas Richardson makes to a fellow pilot, Herc, in Yverdon-les-Bains, when it looks as if Martin, his co-pilot, is about to leave MJN Air to join a much sounder, large commercial line, after Herc asks him how he feels:

"Well, a bit like how a rat on a sinking ship might feel when he sees his fellow rat jump off onto a speedboat. Glad for the other rat, of course. Just rather envious of the speedboat."

Also, one take on it from a local (to me) politician: Why Manchester and the North-West Should Also Get Devo Max .