Second Thoughts

[poliphilo]

Would I mind terribly if the Scots decamped? Personally, no. I think the Union has been good for both nations, but if it goes it goes. The past was one thing, the future is another.

The political map of the world is in constant flux.

I sketched out the romantic case for Union a couple of days ago, but I'm not sure how convincing it is. I look at it again and it seems a bit fusty. A bit Henley and Henty if you know what I mean.

Scotland and England are different nations with different cultures. When I cross the border going north I feel as much of a foreigner as I do in France- perhaps more so.

The conventional wisdom has it that an Independent Scotland will deliver England into the hands of the Tories for ever and ever. Peter Hitchens thinks otherwise. He believes the psychic shock will cause a revulsion against the government of the day from which the parties that make it up will never recover.

Comments

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

Also remember that Scotland was aligned with the French during the Elizabethan period and that is why Lizzy considered Mary Queen of Scots , her sister, to be a deep thorn in her side until her execution. I for one have no sentiment either way. like you said, political maps change and perhaps as you feel,and much my gut reaction, it it is a foreign country like France. Perhaps they might even align wit France, it has happened in the past, and could do so again.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Anything can happen. We forget that through the whole of the Middle Ages- from William I to Mary I- the English crown ruled parts of France- at times very large parts of France. If Joan of Arc hadn't come along and spoiled things England and France might be one nation now.

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Mary of Scotland was Elizabeth's cousin not her sister- you may be mixing her up with Queen Mary of England who was Elizabeth's half sister.

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

The conventional wisdom has it that an Independent Scotland will deliver England into the hands of the Tories for ever and ever

Aren't we already there? Technically, there are three main parties, but for all the actual matters of contention, they may as well be Budweiser and Miller Lite. Without some form of proportional representation to displace FPTP, though, that's where England lies, into an increasingly disenfranchised populace, with a workforce treated to the joys of workfare and zero-hours contracts, while the multinationals rake in their subsidies and the bankers laugh beneath their torrents of cash.

As for the Union: I'd very much like to see Scotland remain part of the UK, but with the political situation having degenerated this far, I certainly wouldn't blame them for wanting to be rid of the feckless wastrels of Westminster. I'd consider moving to an independent Scotland, but I find even the south's climate gloomy enough. =:/

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I feel it can't go on like this indefinitely, but then I look at Italy- which has been lurching from crisis to crisis for decades- and think, "Actually, why not?"

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Not to mention the country of which I think of my self as an honourary citizen- Belgium.