Crystal Palace haven't seen Europe for too long.

I'm a crumpet for the Scots. The General attitude around here is that it's stupid and will all go to shit. The yes voters say we will definitely leave us better off. Cameron is poncing around with his shiny forehead. What little information we get is heavily biased in one direction or the other. no yes yes no. I just think we should stop playing the damn bagpipes all the time!

David Cameroon is trying to be seen as getting tough with the EU because his party, the Conservatives, are loosing votes to UKIP by the day. Why he's getting involved in this debate about Scotland is beyond me, he should let the Scots have the debate by themselves, he's not Scottish, he's English, so it's not a debate for him.

As for Scotland feeling that the UK economy is too London-centric, well I agree with them. For the purposes of the economy, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the midlands, the North of England, the Isle of Wight, South-West England, Hampshire and parts of East Anglia all seem to exist to support the economy of London and its home counties. This is something that needs to change.

Conservatives, are loosing votes to UKIP by the day.

Not really. The next election will be won by Labour or Conservatives (most likely the latter) based partly on them being more euro-skeptic out of the two. The many unexpected (immigrant, educated, middle class) voters of UKIP will not support their vying for actual power. They just want a bomb to go off in Brussels.

It ain't gonna happen. The Scots just want some attention (and let's face it, who doesn't, London's stealing the show at the moment). Let's give the limelight to them for a bit and hopefully they'll get over it.

As for changing the London-centric economy. That simply isn't going to happen. The future of humanity is in metropolises. Face it and embrace it or get lost in the past.

What on Earth does join Scandinavia mean? That's a ridiculous notion, Scandinavia is a geographical area not a political union. What's actually been said by Alex Salmond is that he wants to model the Scottish economy and foreign policy on that of Scandinavian countries, which actually makes some kind of sense, but is irrelevant because independence is unlikely to happen, at least this time around.

Edited 7/11/2014 22:09:11

The electoral map is favourable to Labour. They only need 34% to win a majority. Whilst the Conservatives need somewhere from 38 to 40%. So a repeat of the local elections would see a comfortable Labour win.

This poll from June shows that despite the media narrative we hear from the press there are plenty of people in Britain who would like to stay in Europe:

http://yougov.co.uk/news/2014/06/17/eu-referendum-record-lead

So it's not as clear cut as all that. Even if you consider the European elections and UKIPs really strong showing, the majority of Brits still voted for either pro Europe (Labour, Lib Dem, Green [SNP, Plaid Cymru]) or Europe reforming parties (Conservatives)

Labour does however need it's Scottish seats a Yes vote would hurt them a lot more than any other party - though it wouldn't exactly help the lib Dems. Even with both parties losing members and votes at an alarming rate in Scotland to the SNP in recent years, they have far more representatives than the Conservatives who have only a single MP.

Some English want to feel special so they complain about the EU and say the UK should quit the EU. Some Scots want to feel special so they complain about the UK and organize a referendum that will fail.

There are clearly three causes to this problem:

(1) Rainy weather causes gloominess and irritability. Look at X. If all Britons (some strange name I read in the Economist, to make British feel more special?) got more UV rays on a consistent basis, they would already be using the euro!

(2) The British Empire was handed over to the Americans and British culture and language are likewise being Americanized. It's a mid-life identity crisis. My small island still matters! And I am Scottish/English, not American/European! (Granted, the English don't want to say this too loudly in a political context, because they benefit most from the status quo.)

(3) Anti-immigration angst and xenophobia are on the rise. Scotland for the Scots and Britain for the whites!

So it's not as clear cut as all that. Even if you consider the European elections and UKIPs really strong showing, the majority of Brits still voted for either pro Europe (Labour, Lib Dem, Green [SNP, Plaid Cymru]) or Europe reforming parties (Conservatives)

I would like to point out that the conservatives are offering a referendum on leaving after the next election if they win a majority and although the green party support our continued EU membership, they still support a referendum on leaving it.

Absolutely correct. The parties have nuanced views on Europe. But the leadership of both the Greens and Conservatives support staying in Europe.

Interesting that you mentioned the Greens though. Did you know in blind policy tests the Greens consistently beat all the other parties? And yet their vote share slid slightly in the European elections. I find it really interesting that even though many people like there policies the most they are never covered by the media and collectively Britain seems to think "well a green vote is a wasted vote, even if i like them I'm voting for someone with a chance." It's like if Democracy was a tragicomedy :)

http://voteforpolicies.org.uk

not exactly blind when all of the bnp/ukip policies involve kicking out immigrants. "This party promises to improve education by kicking out those fucking immigrants. They don't even speak English FFS." - gosh, chill out racists. have a curry

Name ONE SINGLE COUNTRY that ever succeeded after leaving the UK. I dare you.

pooh...

I was more taken aback that UKIP had policies! My last knowledge was Nigel Farage saying the last manifesto was "absolute drivel" and insisting during the local and European elections he was focusing on Europe. Then nothing ... well nothing official.

It is true though that you can recognise the parties. Although I still found the Greens winning by such a margin interesting, compared to the fact their vote share slightly declined.

@ Pooh given that all the colonies were governed without representation (no tax without ...) and were part of the crown territories there could be a big list.

But that is being pedantic, apart from their money troubles, Ireland is doing fine. And the UK isn't exactly without those.

Edited 7/13/2014 15:39:51

@Pooh, Sealand!

^^ 100 times yes

I want them to go, but not on their terms.
The English should have a vote to kick the Scots out. Nobody ACTUALLY wants them here-they aren't wanted, needed, and they're a tax on the rest of the country.

I imagine it's partly because the kind of people who are likely to take the test are going to be left-wing. I didn't hear anything about the green party before the local elections, but I heard their whole media approach was just to shit on ukip. I did vote for them as they are the largest left-wing party.

I got 6/9 green and 2/9 conservative ... those fucking lying conservative bastards tricked me, the bastards. ugh

>Name ONE SINGLE COUNTRY that ever succeeded after leaving the UK. I dare you.
>leaving the UK
>UK

>implying USA was part of the UK
>being ignorant americunt
>posting your ignorance on the internet for all to see

smukh

we taxed those losers and they didn't even get to vote about it. loooool nmukh