Act of Union ...

[Mr Crosby]

And the men wear skirts.

[Jesus]

I dare you to say that to ScornBhoy

[GreenerGrass]

Back in the 60s a Nationalist friend of mine used to say "The English can have the f***ing oil! If that's the price of freedom, it's cheap at the price". Alas, they have had the oil, and still hang on to the tax contributions, to keep the London snouts in the trough.

The gas and oil is running out, that balance of taxes has shifted in the complete opposite direction since 1999.
They can't have their cake and eat it (total autonomy from England, a Scottish Prime Minister of England and yet still have the English tax payer bailing the ungrateful pale f*ckers out).

[Cliphead]

Y'all could start with sending Scottish regiments home from various frontline duties where they've been baling the english out for centuries.

[Troll]

Y'all could start with sending Scottish regiments home from various frontline duties where they've been baling the english out for centuries.

We need cannon fodder in the armed forces - also keeps your unemployment down

See Ghurkas, Fujians etc.

[GreenerGrass]

Y'all could start with sending Scottish regiments home from various frontline duties where they've been baling the english out for centuries.

I couldn't agree more, get them all out. And the English ones.

[Paddy]

My daughter has pointed out that next year marks the 300th anniversary of the Act of Union, politically linking England to Scotland. We all agreed this is likely to become more of a debating point with the pending coronation of the Scottish Socialists and their Trades Union clique.

Still, I suppose the whole point of the Union is that power is shared. I guess we have no alternative but to submit and take the pain (as, Mr Smith so wittly pointed out, did the Scots under the Baroness)

Wake me up in 2009

If you analyse history I think you will find that England is liked to Scotland and it if Scotland that is ruling England from London.

[Jesus]

If you had a Scottish person that didn't work with a watch and an Englishman with a Watch that lost a second every hour but he did work. Which one would turn up for work on time? And which one would moan the most?

That should sort the men out form the bhoys tee hee

[expat]

The gas and oil is running out, that balance of taxes has shifted in the complete opposite direction since 1999.
They can't have their cake and eat it (total autonomy from England, a Scottish Prime Minister of England and yet still have the English tax payer bailing the ungrateful pale f*ckers out).

I don't want to have a cake and eat it:

- Prime Minister of England is the affair of the English. The English having a Scottish PM does nothing for me.

- the whole point is that the English taxpayers do not "bale out" Scotland.
It only seems so if you look at one identifiable movement of money in one direction, but ignore the larger movement in the other.

An equivalent for me on the client's site would note that the only visible cash flow is me buying lunch in the office canteen, so apparently I subsidise the client!

As Schumacher said a while ago in Small Is Beautiful,

It is a common fallacy held by larger central territories that they subsidize smaller provincial territories. Normally they exploit them.

It seems just as relevant today.

Schumacher went on to note that, as an example, that if any of Germany's attempts to integrate Denmark had succeeded, we should now be doubting ability of the province of Denmark to stand on its own feet as a separate nation. I believe the Danes can, and are quite happy not to be German. I believe Scotland can too.

So let's just do separate budgets and then we can both stop complaining. If we had the autonomy, there would be no question of you bailing us out. So I guess you're in favour ofScottish Independence? Or do you insist on continuing to protect us from our own inability to look after ourselves?

[GreenerGrass]

[QUOTE=expat]
So I guess you're in favour ofScottish Independence? Or do you insist on continuing to protect us from our own inability to look after ourselves?
[QUOTE]

I'm in favour of maintaining the union so we can build lots more nuclear power stations in Scotland. You can then still be our "energy bitch".