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Scottish elections - the independance issue
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I think its fair to assume that we are going to end up with another Lib-Lab (or Lab-Lib) coalition, but I'm wondering who is going to win between the Conservatives and the SNP. The conservatives want a leaner Scottish parliment, while the SNP want full independance. It will be interesting to see where the public put their crosses. Do the electorate want a smaller, cheaper parliment or full independance?
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There are plenty of people who would welcome independence from Scotland too
Personally, I think that you won't get independence for a long time yet. Too much to lose. On both sides.
Labour - 56 Seats (same as in 1999)
SNP - 34 Seats (down one on 1999)
Lib Dem - 19 (up two from 1999)
Conservatives - 12 (down seven from 1999)
Greens - 4 (up three from 1999)
Scottish Socialists - 3 (up two from 1999)
Which means probably another Lib-Lab coalition. From looking at the analysis it looks like the Scots have got more canny about using their List votes - seeing they're proportional, they're increasing the share of the vote for the Greens and SSP in the List where they wouldn't have a chance in the constituencies.
On the independence vs smaller Parliament issue - both SNP and Tories lose seats on this forecast and seeing as the SNP are downplaying the independence issue I would say it's a vote for carrying on with the present arrangement.
Not that this affects me much living in London!
And thats how Blair gets away with what he does- people dont notice whats happening in politics anymore.
The trouble is, Slog, the Scottish Parliament has no real power- it can only do what Westminster allows it to. It can change things, and it can embarrass Blair (as it ahs with student tuition fees), but not to an extent for it to be worth discussing in any real length outside of Scotland. Scotland has been British since 1707, and its not going to change.
As it is, most people will vote for whoever they always vote for, regardless of policy. Which means the Tories win fuck all, basically.
Besides, the Tories don't do well in Scotland (they only have ONE Westminster seat in the country) as the Scottish people have not forgiven them for the treatment they received under the Thather governments.
Hang on, this is about the Scottish elections, not what Blair does in London. That's why so many more people couldn't care less about it. Or at least why there is even more apathy than for English elections. The majority of the country just aren't involved in this case...