Duries Air Freshener

Not being able to tell what a Union-less Scotland would have been like doesn’t negate from the Union’s benefiting influence though.

Of course Asim, it’s my opinion. What a joy it is to have us agree on something. Who’ da thunk it?

I’ve thought hard about this and still believe it to be a logical fallacy. The claim was that because we don’t know what the future would have been without the Union, we cannot tell if Scotland benefited from it. Whether we benefited or not can simply be told by whether things improved at the time of the creation Act of Union and thereafter.

I think the prospering of a country is subjective. Depending on our own personal priorities, we will come up with different answers. For me, it’s about having a society where anyone willing to work hard can live comfortably and raise families. It’s about a whole other bunch of things too, like how we treat our fellow human beings. Population growth is certainly not something I’d hold up as a metric. The Union has absolutely helped Scotland prosper IMO.

That’s a logical fallacy.

Decent patter there Welshy, so please accept a greenie from myself!

Liz Smith gets it spot on in this article: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/gers-figures-scotlands-deficit-falls-27818321.amp Amusing to see the Nats try to spin this as a negative for the Union.

You’ll never reason with Snafu mate, hence me no longer engaging with him. For him, it’s all about the dots

GERS day is always a good one. Second only to the glorious Twelfth of July.

Why would I? It doesn’t affect my point either way and was just part of the campaign, like everything else.

Sorry guys, but even with the undecideds stripped out, the polls are off.

This image always comes in handy whenever this subject arises. The polling was way out.

An English territory? Your words, not mine. I certainly don't see Scotland as such. I don't mind if you call me a Tory - I don't see it as an insult. If you don't like their policies then that's your perogative. 'The embarrassment for Scots'? You don't speak for Scots.

In 2014, opinion polling was very generous to the Nats compared to the actual result. Whilst we shouldn’t ignore polling completely, we should still take it with a pinch of salt and add on a few per cent for Britain, unless they’ve changed their methodology. I think a poll that said something like 55% Yes with the undecideds included would undermine the sentiment.

I’d say it’s anyone who doesn’t want separation.

I strongly disagree Sandy.. the UK clearly falls into the dictionary definition of ‘country’. I think our government is against partition because we, the British people, have elected MPs who feel that way. I don’t think the marriage has gone wrong either. It has been incredibly successful.

Who is ‘they’? I don’t see it as anyone not wanting to let us go, because there’s no evidence that most Scots want to go. Ill still answer the question though.. there’s more to a country than finances, economics and GDP. Losing part of your territory is embarrassing and would be a betrayal to most Scots, who are comfortable being British. Cool Britannia

Did you get my post mixed up with Fletcher’s?

Wonder how long they spent trying for a busy looking snap before they were forced to settle on that one. #FreeIn23 indeed.

Going by the poll, nobody thought it’d actually be Truss.

Good points, Sophia. It would have been the most complicated, long drawn affair ever, and all sorts of factors would come into play that would make it all unpredictable. Look at the seismic events that have altered politics in the last ten years for example. It’s certainly not boring, like it was when I was wee!

With all due respect, it was a lot more complicated than that. As it stands, Scots get a great deal from the Union, as does the rest of the country.

It’s a country, quite simply, because it fits the definition. NI is also part of our country. I’d never ignore them.

I can’t speak for Fletch, but for me it shouldn’t even be a case of asking ‘when is the time?’. It shouldn’t be a given that there will ever even be a time. Britain is a country, and chances to split it up should never be seen as a default, but as an extraordinary event. I wouldn’t say ‘never’, but I think there should at least been a sustained period of several years, where opinion polling shows huge leads for a split. Like by at least 20% or possibly more. Before we ever hold another referendum, it really should be obvious that Scots want independence, and will be settled with that outcome for good.

It would be if it was true, which it’s not.