Colin, is there such a thing as "latent xenophobia?", it seems to me that it’s something that would be hard to hide. If I start a sentence with "with respect", that’s what I mean, regardless of "anyone" else. I respect your right to an opinion, but surely you can see that the experience of living in a country for 60 years would give one an edge over others who live elsewhere, as regards the culture and psyche of the people of the country. I often read posts here by people who live in New Zealand, Australia, France etc, and if they tell me of things that happen in those countries I wouldn’t think of disbelieving them, they are there, I only have the media for information. I’ve read many opinions by posters here regarding the economic viability of Independence, but they are just that, opinions. Regarding Cameron’s speech, I said "arrogance,real or imagined from Tory millionaires.........", I did not say that he was arrogant in my opinion. I see that the Mail on Sunday states that more English people than Scots want Scottish Independence, so where’s the problem, job done, get rid of the Noisy Northern Neighbours who are such a drain on the U.K. economy. By the way, I am not xenophobic, latent or otherwise, just proud of my nationality as are everyone on this site.
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Scotland
Mmmmm!!! Seems to be a lot of people agreeing with what I said in my post - he said in all modesty.
Rewinding over sixty years to my first day in the Army meant that I met a few Scots who, almost to a man, moaned non-stop about several matters of great interest to them but of no importance to the rest of us. This was in fact a regular feature as long as I was within earshot of Scots.
Among these were such things as why we had to declare that we were British. The usual comment was that the speaker was Scottish and didn’t see why he had to submerge his national identity in that way. They generally didn’t put things that way of course.
Another was that they reckoned that without Scotland the rest of the UK would sink without trace whereas the reverse was and still is true. They even claimed to speak better English than the rest of us.
Even when we admitted that Scots were responsible for many great inventions they still tried to impose their superiority upon us in argument.
I always got on with them provided that they were decent people but like all of us there were some of them who did not inspire confidence or social intercourse. Most Scots are, as in every race, good hearted people and great to be with but many have a view of the world which is not supportable.
This is being exacerbated by Alex Salmond and in my opinion he needs to come down to earth and accept the fact that he is not in the driving seat. It’s time Cameron told him so.
TC.
The Cavalry take part in battles to add tone to what would otherwise be merely a vulgar brawl.
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You should be proud to be a Scot, John, in the same way I am proud to be English. Even more, I am proud to be a member of the great group of people called the British. (or, as we live in the United Kingdom, should we be referred to as United Kingdomers ?)
Just to show the extent of our dependence on each other, (United Kingdomers that is), I live in Wiltshire and my electricity is supplied by Scottish Power.
I must admit I tend to be slightly xenophobic when I pass by the old Midland Bank in town, and see the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in its place.
As Carl quoted, ’United we stand, divided we fall’, or as another great man, probably a hillbilly, said - ’If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.
Terry, I find it a bit disappointing that you should base your judgement of Scots on 60-odd year old memories of some, what, 18 year old kids who had probably never been outside Glasgow before, except to Saltcoats at the Fair Holidays. Ex-servicemen from every part of the U.K. could dredge up memories and put their own interpretation on them. I’ve listened to my English colleagues in the RAF call me Strap, haggis-bashing c--- and worse, but I haven’t nurtured any resentment of the English for the past 50 years. There is, however, something that is puzzling about this discussion, the people who are most convinced that Scotland would "sink" also appear to be against separation. Is this out of concern for the poor Scots who are sleepwalking to disaster? Or could it be indignation that they should prefer to be Governed from Edinburgh? You would think that if people are so convinced that Scotland is being supported by England they would see a case for getting rid of it. John Richards, I’m sorry to disillusion you, but Scottish Power is not Scottish, it’s foreign-owned.
