The Ugly Face of Scottish Nationalism.

No, I am not referring to Alex Salmond aka "the wee eck", although he would be unlikely to get into a list of the hundred most good looking Scots, but to what happened in Edinburgh when the leader of a United Kingdom political party visited the City for a press conference.
According to the Guardian, which is hardly pro-UKIP, Nigel Farrage was threatened  by "activists in the radical left pro-Scottish independence movement" when visiting Scotland to support a UKIP candidate who is standing at a by-election.
Note the Guardian's description, they were Nationalist and they were left wing, that is National Socialists otherwise known a Nazis. They used exactly the same tactics as Hitler's Brownshirts, which is violence against any opponents. These are Scotland's new Nazis, using similar tactics against the English that Hitler used against the Jews, tactics which were tacitly supported by the Wee Eck when he refused to condemn what had happened and suggested that it would be safer for UKIP not to enter into Scottish politics.

I would like to remind the Wee Eck that

• Scotland is still part of the United Kingdom, regardless of what some Scots seem to think.
• The Union Flag still remains the flag of the whole of the UK.
• Scotland elects a (disproportionately high) number of MPs who sit in the UK parliament and have equal rights with all other MPs.
• Any person or party may stand for UK elections in any part of the country, regardless of where the party originated or where they are born.

I would also remind BBC Scotland that they are funded by licence payers' money and have a duty to be impartial and objective, and their interview with Nigel Farrage hardly seemed to be either. The belief that the English should not get involved in Scottish politics is ludicrous whilst Scotland remains in the Union; on that basis will the BBC be campaigning for only English born candidates to stand for English seats? Of course not, that would be racist. Seemingly however that doesn't matter as far as BBC Scotland is concerned.

The Nationalists are having a problem as those who support the union slowly squeeze information out of the reluctant SNP.  Issues such as the EU, defence, currency, and pensions now have more questions than answers, and even those who support independence are beginning to question whether they would want Salmond to lead them in an independent country.

The Nationalists' problem with UKIP is not that it may be attracting that many votes, but that it is attracting attention to these questions and in particular that of the EU. Salmond has made it quite clear that he wants Scotland to be in the EU, although it is far from clear whether Scotland would be admitted automatically as a consequence of having been part of the UK, but one thing that is clear is that all new countries in the EU must sign up to the Euro.

UKIP is making many Scots seriously think about the hard facts of independence. Do they want to be in the EU as the Wee Eck proposes? Do they want the Euro? What happens if you believe as a Scot that the UKIP's vision of Britain outside the EU should also be that of an independent Scotland? Which is to be preferred, remaining part of the UK outside the EU, or being an "Independent" Scotland within the EU ? UKIP also seems to be attracting votes from both the Tory and the Labour parties, which could be attractive to many Scots.

In the past I have spent a lot of time in Scotland, both working and on holidays, and I have always enjoyed my time there. But ever since Scotland got its own parliament I have tended to feel that the English are becoming less welcome. Last year, after visiting the Wallace Monument, we returned to our car which has the Union Flag stuck over the EU symbol on its number plates and a Scot pointed to the flag and said they we don't want your bloody sort up here. Well after yesterday's Nazi display, he can be quite certain that we won't be visiting Edinburgh this year.  Southern Ireland is back on the agenda, we have found it very welcoming in the past in spite of out Union Flag, and more to the point I prefer Jameson Whiskey to the Scottish product. And there is the attraction of real Irish Guinness, not the English made substitute!

Scotland - Government by Assertion !

The Telegraph's Scottish Editor writes today about a speech given by Sir Philip Hampton, the chairman of RBS in which he raises a number of points that are of paramount importance to the financial community and in which he notes the failure of the SNP to give any firm answers.
Every one of the points he made has been answered in the past by the SNP with an assertion - "This is what will happen" without any reason whatsoever to believe that it will be so.
Take EU membership. Mr Salmond asserts that Scotland will automatically be a member of the EU whilst the president of the European Commission,  José Manuel Barroso, says this simply isn't true.

The SNP state that Scotland would keep the pound; that is up to them, but there is no reason to believe their assertion that they will have a seat on the UK's Monetary Policy Committee. They assert that the Bank of England will be the lender of last resort for Scottish banks. Well, lots of countries use the US dollar as their de-facto currency, in spite of having their own legal tender, but that doesn't give them any right to become involved in its management. Nor does the Federal Reserve act as their lender of last resort.

So, why on earth should the Bank of England be any different? With Independence, Scotland will have become a foreign country and thus will have lost all right to interfere in the affairs of those parts remaining within the Union.   Scotland will need to establish its own Central Bank, its own currency and all the associated institutions  just like any other independent country.   Of course, Scotland could have a major problem in achieving a decent credit rating, particularly as the two major Scottish Banks, the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Bank of Scotland,  have managed to successfully lose Scotland's reputation for financial prudence. The Ratings Agencies work on hard facts, not promises and assertions !

There are numerous other issues where the SNP have made assertions which may or may not end up being correct, one being the ownership of North Sea Oil which most certainly would not be Scottish under current international law, regardless of Salmond's assertions to the contrary.

Scottish Independence

There are a number of reasons why I, as an Englishman, favour Scottish independence and today figures released by the Treasury give me yet one more.
The Daily Telegraph reports that "Scots received £1,600 more per head in state spending last year than their neighbours in England" according to Treasury figures.
It also shows that Government cuts are hitting less hard in Scotland than in England falling from an average of £10,088 per person in Scotland – a fall of £117 from 2010 – caompared with a fall of £224 to £8,491 in England.
Of course, Salmond claims that this is only fair as Scotland produces more revenue per person that England and so deserves the extra funds. However his figures would appear to include oil revenue which comes from wells in what would be English, not Scottish, territorial waters under international law.
When it comes to the crunch in two years time, I still believe that Scots will vote to remain in the Union; as my Edinburgh born son-in-law says "My instinct is to support Scottish Imdependence, but my common sense tells me otherwise". I suspect a majority of Scots will think likewise, however attractive the concept of independence seems to be at first sight.
If Salmond wants to ensure victory, he should insist that the English are given a vote on the issue!

Alex Salmond: Scotland is in the driving seat

The Telegraph headlines a news item as above, with Alex Salmond telling the Prime Minister that
"The days of Westminster politicians telling Scotland what to do or what to think are over. The Scottish people will set the agenda for the future."
Good, I have no objection to that concept, but whilst Scotland is in the EU, Brussels will be telling the Scots what to do far more frequently than Westminster ever did. Perhaps Salmond should be making it clear to the Scottish people whether he intends to leave the EU as well as the United Kingdom.

David Camerons reply should surely be:
"The days of Scottish MPs coming to Westminster and voting on purely English matters and determining the political composition of the British Government are also over. The English, in future will determine their own destiny."

He has nothing to loose from such a stance, there are no Tory MPs elected in Scotland so it would not affect the Conservative Party's position in a future government.