The Republic of Scotland?

Posted By Aditi Nangia Tuesday, June 30, 2009 - 5:13 PM Share

A new poll commissioned by the BBC has shown that 58 percent of Scots want a referendum on independence in the coming year. Though only 38 percent believe that independence is likely, even the possibility of a looming vote indicates that ten years on from devolution the Scottish appetite for independence is all but satiated.

While decisions about income tax and old-age pensions top the list of Holyrood's would-be duties, 63 percent are still content to leave defense and foreign policy matters to Westminster. October's £20 billion government bailout for RBS makes it clear that the purse-strings from London are still taut.

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CURTHOPKINS

6:57 PM ET

June 30, 2009

Wales = Spam

Tried searching "Wales" after reading this post. I remembered that Wales created a separate parliament at about the same time Scotland did. What I got from your search was, "Your submission has triggered the spam filter and will not be accepted." Whiskey tango foxtrot?

GRAYGHOST

4:48 PM ET

July 1, 2009

This post makes no sense at

This post makes no sense at all. What is the meaning of "even the possibility of a looming vote indicates that ten years on from devolution the Scottish appetite for independence is all but satiated."???
If the appetite for independence is "all but satiated," why bother to have a referendum at all?
This is a long-running issue, and support for a referendum is now at one of its lowest levels in years. In any case, support for a referendum is not the same as support for independence. The BBC poll you cite suggests that 38 percent are in favor of independence and 54 percent against.
And what is this supposed to mean: "October's £20 billion government bailout for RBS makes it clear that the purse-strings from (sic) London are still taut."?? No, it makes clear that the pursetrings in London are pretty loose, and that English taxpayers are continuing to transfer large amounts of money to Scotland. The British government has now bailed out both Scotland's leading banks - RBS and HBOS - which actually makes independence look less rather than more viable, both economically and politically.
As for the comment above about Wales, it is wrong to say that Wales created a separate parliament at the same time as Scotland. Neither created their own parliaments; they were given them by the British Labour government under Tony Blair. The Scots got a more powerful parliament than the Welsh, because the threat of the Scottish National Party to the Labour Party in Scotland was viewed as stronger than that posed by the Welsh Nationalists in Wales.

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