Wendy Alexander is terrible

[insanity]

This is true. Every time she picks a fight with the First Minister, she ends up looking foolish. All she does is try and play the victim card and she lets Alex Salmond dance circles around her. Annabel and Nicol are much better at picking a fight with the First Minister and they get less questions. As an aide to an SNP MSP, I see Wendy on a fairly regular basis and more and more people avoid her while she looks confused and uncomfortable. I think her and Gordon Brown are actually trying to split the Union and create the altogether disgusting prospect of a Prime Minister Cameron.

[non sociopath skin]

1. OK, accepting that as a ScotNat you WOULD say that ....

... why the beef about "Splitting the Union"?

Pardon my naivety, but isn't that the whole raison d'etre of your party?

And why should you worry about what happens in England?

I seek merely for information.

The Skin

[insanity]

2. Easy

I'm an American intern, so this is merely my observation as an outsider... frankly the continued state of the Union does not matter to me (although I have a soft spot for a self-determined Scotland now as a result of my internship), I have just noticed that Brown and Alexander whom I though seem were among the most ardent supporters of the UK have not got their act together and last weeks row over the referendum proved it. One of the running jokes in Edinburgh is that Wendy is the best thing for the nationalists.

Also, as a major in comparative politics, I've studied England a lot and I am no fan of the Tories. That being said, Brown's terrible performance thus far as PM as evidenced by the 10p tax band, 42 day detention clusterfuck, loss of party discipline, loss of local elections (making for Mayor Boris), and his lack of skill as of late in handling PMQs is pretty much asking to hand the keys to 10 Downing over to David Cameron.

[non sociopath skin]

3. "I have a soft spot for a self-determined Scotland now as a result of my internship"

Have you, now.

Perhaps if we brought in a few more politics students from countries with right-wing expansionist governments, we could accelerate the break-up of my country even faster. Whaddya say, buddy?

And maybe we could second a few BNP and UKIP interns to work on how to give the Red States another crack at Freedom?

evilgrin:

The Skin:

[insanity]

4. HAHA

I say go for it, I think our red states would be willing to take the nutjobs from the BNP and UKIP and that they would find themselves right at home.

And you and I both know that the SNP was elected because the voters were dissatisfied with Labour and LibDems not because they believed in an independent Scotland, new polling yesterday confirms it.

But if you are concerned with the pace of the breakup of the Union, maybe you should start asking Wendy Alexander, Duncan McNeil, and Gordon Brown what they hell they are thinking last week.

Lastly, while I may have a soft-spot for Scottish Independence, I am still skeptical about how Scotland would be economically viable long-term. Oil does not last forever.

[T_i_B]

5. Look at it this way....

...at least he's being honest about his position (which more then you can say for many on internet message boards). Judging by what I've seen of Labour bloggers I'm kinda of the opinion that any diehard New Labour supporters we are likely to get will be the sort that work for the Labour party anyway (if any show up at all).

As to Wendy Alexander's call for a referendum, that's unashamedly cynical as the SNP would probably lose at present (much like Euro-scptics calling for a referendum on whatever treaty has last been signed). The main problem that I've seen with it though is Gordon Brown's lack of support for the proposal, which the press have seized on in a big way.

[Apollo11]

6. As an Englishman, I have no opinion about Scotland's status.

If the people of Scotland decide they want to govern themselves, that is OK with me.

If the people of Scotland want to remain within the UK, then that is OK with me too.

Either way, it's up to them. I don't think the English need to get involved.

But I suspect that if I was Scottish, then I would be in favor of independence.

I am a strong believer in the European Union, and so as long as England and Scotland both remain within the EU, then we will have most of the benefits that the UK brings, in terms of free movement, open borders, a common currency (whether it is pounds or euros), etc.

I can see strong arguments in favor of Scottish independence within the framework of the EU. Scotland would have the right to nominate a Commissioner, more Members of the European Parliament, and a permanent seat in the Council of Ministers. At the moment the whole UK is just one Member State and in many ways is treated the same as Malta or Latvia (for example - when it comes to nominating Commissioners, or hosting the Presidency of the Council of Ministers).

I know that some Scottish people are prejudiced against English people and do not welcome English "migrants" living in Scotland. But I don't think that this prejudice is caused by the SNP. In fact I think "Independence in Europe" might help remove the chip from Scottish shoulders.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

7. I think all the British nations should federate to a European democratic republic

although that's pretty much decades away. As of the moment, setting up another neoliberal state within Britain's borders wouldn't benefit many people.

However I agree that Wendy Alexander is rubbish. Scottish Labour need to offer a social democratic alternative. The Scots do have more choice than England in that they have four neoliberal parties to choose from than the three neoliberal parties we have in England. I don't buy the argument that the SNP are social democratic though, but they do have a left-liberal wing which is comparably "socialist" compared to the right-liberalism of contemporary New Labour.

[T_i_B]

8. Alexander quits as Labour leader

And with a by-election looming in Glasgow East it looks like Labour could have yet more embarrassment to come.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7478913.stm

Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander has resigned "with deep regret" after breaking rules on declaring donations.

It came as she faced a one-day ban from Holyrood after failing to register donations to her leadership campaign.

Ms Alexander said she had acted in "good faith" and on the written advice of the parliamentary authorities.

She accused the SNP of waging a "vexatious" campaign against her, without regard for the damage it was doing to the Scottish Parliament.

[emad]

9. Whinging Scots haven't been the same since England had to bail them

out of their disastrous eighteeenth century Darien (Panama) fiasco.

This bankrupted the entire Scottish nation after a gamble of monstrous stupidity saw a quarter of the entire Scottish wealth go down the pan and some 2,000 Scots killed.

The 1707 Treaty of Union doshed up the Scots with some £380,000 of English money to repay the Darien debts.

Whinging Scottish Nationalists have behaved as if amnesia-struck ever since.

As for Wendy Alexander I'm sure Gord will find her sime cushy sinecure in the EU at treble her curent salary and perks.

[non sociopath skin]

10. Not that you're biased, eh, emad?

"When God wants a hard thing done
He tells it to his Englishman."

Pip pip, old fruit!

:evilgrin:

The Skin

[emad]

11. Some of my fav Scotsmen are worth a thousand of their southern compatriots.

Stand up Willie Carson and be counted!

Knocks the spots off weedy southern ranters like Clare Balding.

And Tory Leader in the Lords, Lord Strathclyde, a very generous host/bartender... as well as top source of Parliamnetary ancedotes to make your eyes water....

[non sociopath skin]

12. You keep thinking, Butch. That's what you're good at.

The Skin

[emad]

13. "Think ya used enough dynamite there, Butch?"

emad

[non sociopath skin]

15. Touche, ye wee scunner!

:pals:

The Skin

[LeftishBrit]

14. Umm...

I think that dredging up scandals from 300 years ago is not really going to solve the problems. There are plenty of current ones to worry about!

[emad]

16. Scottish Nationalist bastards squeezing the south for every penny

despite never having paid back the £380,000 that bailed out their fetid no good arses back in 1704!

By today's standards that got to be over £50 billion.

[T_i_B]

17. Nobody gives a flying f**k about that.

[emad]

18. They certainly do when daftass Scottish Nationalist claim a £500 million rebate

for their so-called 'stolen' North Sea oil revenues.....