Scottish hilarity
I've been reading through the numerous pages of comments regarding this BBC News article about Conservative plans to restrict Scottish MPs from voting on 'English-only' issues, and I have to say, many of them are hysterical, to say the least. Some of the most common 'points' made are that Scotland is the one subsidising England with its oil; Scotland could quite happily be independent; England has been imposing its will on Scotland for centuries and now the tides have turned; and even that Scottish MPs should definitely have a vote since it is money derived from Scottish oil which things are funded by.
Well, I've a few points to make.
Firstly, a large amount (by some accounts around 80%) of "Scottish oil" is actually in English waters. It is only considered Scottish because under the Union, maritime borders have been modified. Therefore, should Scotland ever gain independence, the original, true maritime borders would be restored and with it the ENGLISH oil. And even if that oil really was Scottish, it's nearly all gone! Someone else said that Scotland has 50% as much land as England has, and 10% the population, so could quite easily provide for itself. I wonder if this person has seen the weather and terrain in much of Scotland?!
With regards to "England imposing its will on Scotland for centuries" I really am not sure where to begin.
I suppose the best starting point would be that King James VI of SCOTLAND formed Great Britain in the first place. Then of course, it's not English MPs imposing their will on Scotland. It's British MPs imposing their will on Scotland, and indeed on the rest of Britain (or the UK if we're including Ireland in the mix)! The Scots are so self-centred and immature on this particular aspect of the issue that they actually seem to believe that the whole of the rest of Great Britain is of one opinion and they another.
Many have cited the Poll Tax as a primary example of English will being imposed on the poor little opressed Scots before the rest of the country, but as one observant reader commented, it was introduced in Scotland first in order to prop up their councils, who were suffering from a rates strike!
As for the rest of it, there's really not much I can say. The Scots are proving themselves to be exactly what they believe the English think that they are - sub-standard, stupid, unworthy, immature... (Well, you get the point anyway.) Just like the Muslims, they really do themselves no favours. They just have this rationally inexplicable hatred of the English, and seem to think it's reciprocated! It's just so laughably pathetic.
I think that this frankly quite brilliant comment sums up their whole attitude rather well, and puts it in a bit more perspective:
"Let the Scots have their independance and see just how far whisky, wooly jumpers and shortbread get them."
(I should point out here that I have nothing against the Scots or Scotland, but rather the small-mindedness and idiocy of the views of some.)
posted by Aaron at 8:59 PM
8 Comments:
http://www.ejil.org/journal/Vol12/No1/120077.pdf
Read then and tell me if you think its still English oil then. I'll give you a hint it the opinion of a legal expert and not of a chippy Little Englander.
31/7/06 9:00 PM
King James I didn't form the Union of the United Kingdom. He formed the union of the CROWNS in 1603. The union of the United Kingdom came about in 1707, when the parliaments were united under the English Queen Anne.
The Poll Tax was imposed on Scotland by a majority of English MP's like it or lump it friend. As was virtually every other piece of legislation under the Thatcher era. Scotland has 59 MP's at W'minster England has nearly 600, rather telling isn't it?
Is all this Scottish oil revenue going to subsidise an education system in England that churns out such ignorance? I wish England would get its independence and give us peace instead of blaming all its problems on everybody else
31/7/06 9:10 PM
So sure are you of your arguments that you can not leave your name. Oh well, nevermind.
If you had bothered to read my original post, rather than just spewing out your pathetic venom, you would have seen that I did not state that King James formed the United Kingdom.
Whether the Poll Tax was imposed on Scotland or not is really neither here nor there. The fact is, politically, all three (arguably four, or five if you're a Cornish Nationalist) were one during the Thatcher era, so that's no more a valid argument than saying another piece of legislation was imposed on, say, cities in the North-West of England, by everyone else.
As for England blaming its problems on others, I really have no idea where to start. The irony is deafening.
6/8/06 8:15 PM
"Is all this Scottish oil revenue going to subsidise an education system in England that churns out such ignorance?"
If this wasn't so serious an issue that would be funny. Scotland runs a system of higher education that avoids top up fees on it's students yet English students have to pay such fees due to voting by Scottish MP's, who are untouchable by the people that they have effected. More than that, Scotland is attempting to prevent education tourism by English students to Scotland. Now, regardless of which government can afford what for its people there are three points that need to be made here. Firstly the Scottish government has decided not to impose top up fees in Scotland; secondly Scottish MPs have decided to impose top up fees on English students; thirdly there is no English government to speak for the students in England.
To bring up education as an example of how Scotland is helping the English is so funny that either anonymous is a comic genius or he is being deliberately insulting.
By the free and easy use of that oh so funny term "little Englander" in his opening comments I'm betting it's the latter.
7/8/06 7:35 AM
Here is a little test, put in goole search 'hatred of the english', 18,000 000 plus on that topic, stop whining you english arsehole the whole world despises the english, it is a fact, no cunt likes you, away and have a dance around the pole Morris.
14/9/06 7:45 PM
Your comment highlights your stupidity, arrogance and ignorance to levels which I have not seen or heard in quite a while.
Firstly, your numbers are wildly inaccurate. The actual figure is quite a bit less than that. In fact, almost a third less.
Secondly, let's take a look at those results.
On page one we have; the Religious Hatred Bill (x2), a Chinese film director on IMDb, one article in which a coach driver questions this supposed hatred of the English, a Wikipedia article defining the word "hatred", something regarding anti-English hatred from a football (!) website, an MSN guide for a Seinfeld episode entitled "The English Patient", a piece about something which happened in the mid 1700s, and something about the hatred within the recent Lebanon/Israel war.
Further, I fail to see where hatred of the English, or indeed the Scots, actually comes into the discussion?
Do grow up.
14/9/06 8:28 PM
'Anonymous' I don't know what your problem is but I bet it's hard to pronounce.
14/9/06 8:47 PM
Anonymous, put girls want sex with you into google and you'd get gazillions of hits. It doesn't make it true.
15/9/06 7:28 AM
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