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Post by Rebellious Backbencher Mon Nov 23, 2009 7:09 pm

gdf wrote:Then again, if the Tories win, at least a referendum (if the other parties stop blocking the SNP and actually let the country, you know, decide for themselves) is far more likely to succeed.

A nightmare that's about to come true, I don't doubt.
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Post by gdf Mon Nov 23, 2009 7:54 pm

Independence?

You wouldn't oppose a referendum, though.

And even if the Tories win in England I doubt it has much of a chance. I want the country to vote on it on principle, even if Yes loses I'd be able to accept that it's what the consensus was.
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Post by Rebellious Backbencher Mon Nov 23, 2009 10:08 pm

gdf wrote:Independence?

You wouldn't oppose a referendum, though.

And even if the Tories win in England I doubt it has much of a chance. I want the country to vote on it on principle, even if Yes loses I'd be able to accept that it's what the consensus was.

No sir, independence is the most jarring of the myriad campaign promises the SNP have failed to actually put into action, but, as somebody on Question Time or the Politics Show or somesuch said a while ago, nobody has a referendum until they think they can win. The Tories get in, the nationalists use David Cameron being a dickwad as the latest in a long line of irrelevant reasons for independence, we get our own country to clap our hands excitedly about.
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Post by gdf Mon Nov 23, 2009 10:27 pm

Their policy has always been "elect us and we'll give you a referendum", it's not like they hadn't outlined 2010 as the probable date back in 2007. Also, and I'm tired of saying this, the SNP are being cock blocked by the English parties on all of their legislation. A lot of them don't seem to give a shit that the SNP have a mandate from the people to deliver on their election promises and therefore themselves a democratic responsibility to allow those to pass into law. It's hard to rule without a majority, even harder when you become completely immobilised because of it.

I don't even like the SNP that much and I'm still a Labour man at heart (though even that's a lie, my true calling is here). Salmond is a tosser, yes, and the SNP probably aren't best equipped to rule, but they're the only chance of independence. I can't wait to vote for it; if I'm allowed to, that is.
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Post by Rebellious Backbencher Mon Nov 23, 2009 10:37 pm

gdf wrote:Also, and I'm tired of saying this, the SNP are being cock blocked by the English parties on all of their legislation. A lot of them don't seem to give a shit that the SNP have a mandate from the people to deliver on their election promises and therefore themselves a democratic responsibility to allow those to pass into law. It's hard to rule without a majority, even harder when you become completely immobilised because of it.

I'm pretty ignorant of this. How are the English parties doing that?
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Post by gdf Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:04 pm

Sorry, I slipped into the language of the idiots who happen to be on my side. I mean, basically, the Lib Dems, Conservatives and Labour - the Scottish versions. The notion of a Scottish Tory party still tickles me somewhat.

So, you know about AMS and FPTP, the electoral systems used in Scotland and Britain. AMS is based around a consensus between FPTP and PR, meaning it's more representative, but less likely to produce majorities. The SNP won the election with the most seats, but it wasn't anything like a majority, and because nobody entered a coalition with mutual guarantees it's even harder. It's a bit like in the US when the president's party is the minority in both houses. Compromises have to be made, key legislation doesn't get through etc., though it's usually eventually brute forced over there. In Scotland it's a different story, and the SNP can't get anything through if the other parties don't want to. Given the very fickle toe-the-party-line nature of all British politics, nobody in their right mind is going to rebel from the other parties, so they've had to rely on the Greens and other smaller players to push stuff through. It's proving difficult. Now, they're the only party seeking independence, the others don't like the idea. Fine, there's a valid debate to be had over its merits. Turns out that the others are so scared that the country will vote yes that they're de facto blocking a referendum by refusing to pass the legislation that would enable it. As I understand they're likely to crack under pressure from the public if the SNP make a big enough deal out of it, but we were promised this by the winning party. Like it or not it's their main policy and they were elected on the basis that they would deliver a referendum. It's undemocratic if they don't get to.

[And I suppose England sort of does still influence us given that they control how much money we get, but it's usually fairly equally split.]
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Post by Rebellious Backbencher Mon Nov 23, 2009 11:38 pm

Oh right, I see. They didn't win with a majority and their rival parties aren't letting them have free reign over policy.
They could have a massive majority in Holyrood and I can say with a good deal of certainty they'd still wait 'til the opportune moment (that is, when those sassenach Tories get in down there) before springing a loaded referendum on us. They don't want us to choose, they want us to choose them.
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Post by gdf Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:16 am

You're too balanced and centrist, Paul. It must be so dull. Also, sorry if I was a bit patronising up there.

Still, I don't think choosing 2010 was a completely cynical move. Remember, when they came to power here Blair was still Prime Minister. They want to have it around St. Andrew's Day apparently (I know), if they were attempting to really capitalise on the snap reaction to a Tory victory they'd hold it between June and August.

It's not like this'll ever be fought on sensible grounds, though. It'll boil down to power on the global stage + England are our friends versus we fucking hate the fucking English (and that cunt Cameron).
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Post by gdf Thu Jan 07, 2010 8:58 am

What the fuck are Hoon and Hewitt playing at? The debate over Brown's leadership died long ago and this has put a huge dent in their own party's election chances. Even if they hadn't tried to play it off as an "issue that needs resolving" they'd have died on their arses, all they've succeeded in is damaging the party in the eyes of the fickle public and given the Tories a chance to attack them.

Unless, of course, this gets Brown more of the sympathy vote, which would be good.
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Post by Rebellious Backbencher Thu Jan 07, 2010 7:13 pm

I wasn't sure either, Fraser - I was thinking that if enough supportive MPs come out and lay down their reasons for sticking with him, it might actually make him seem stronger. I was pleased to see that they failed to secure any more support.
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Post by gdf Thu Jan 07, 2010 11:12 pm

Milliband's statement was shite. Very cleverly worded shite, it must be said.

And don't tell me you've gone Cameronite Sad

It's weird, I don't identify with Labour at all since their shift to the centre, but I'd still rather they held on to power. They've actually done a lot of good in the last decade or so.

Anyone but the Tories, basically.
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Post by Dont Look Angry Thu Jan 07, 2010 11:26 pm

I miss Tony Blair for all his failings. Best prime minister in the last 30 odd years it seems
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Post by Seany C Fri Jan 08, 2010 10:10 am

Do the Scots actually like brown? What's more why can't Scotland have its own prime minister and we'll stick English ones?
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Post by gdf Fri Jan 08, 2010 12:35 pm

I think we're more sympathetic to Brown than you are down south. The right-wing media don't like the fact he's Scottish and he's probably attracting more ire because of it. It's the Great British parliament for the moment, though, so you can't really complain. Scotland has its own de facto Prime Minister as well, which makes it really confusing. Scottish MPs can currently vote on issues that affect only England and Wales.

This is partly why I want independence, so we sort out the system once and for all. Being able to establish a modern system of government without all the baggage that Westminster has would be awesome.
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Post by Rebellious Backbencher Fri Jan 08, 2010 1:16 pm

I've absolutely not gone Cameronite, on account of not being a prick. What did I say that made you think I had?
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Post by gdf Fri Jan 08, 2010 1:47 pm

"I was pleased to see that they failed to secure any more support."

I thought you meant the government lol

Apparently Labour have lost two points in the polls since the letter. There are also some surveys suggesting that 60% of the public think Labour is the most disunited party compared to 15% for the Tories and 10% for the Lib Dems.

That's like, totally opposite to the truth. Labour are, though divided into camps over individuals, mostly on the same wavelength policy-wise. The Tories are good at hiding it for the moment, at least to the wider media, but there's a huuuuuge rift that will become apparent after the election when Cameron and his cronies have to fight about half of their own party to the death on nearly everything; especially the environment. The Lib Dems are by far the most divided. Their leadership - well, Clegg and Cable - are pretty good on TV and interview well, but the party is a strange mish-mash of free market liberals, some sort of leftist self-image and a lot of total centrists. It was pretty evident during their conference that nobody in the party has a clue what they stand for.
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