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I had no need to read past your first paragraph, Daf, because whatever you have said beyond there is based on a false premise.
Scotland is not a country. It is a constituent part of the United Kingdom, in the same way as Catalonia is a constituent part of the Kingdom of Spain. As you know. Catalonia was told that by the Spanish courts reaffirmed by the international community, including the EU, and the people who wanted to change that ended up on prison.
Scotland is constitutionally in exactly the same position as Catalonia.
@Daf what a load of bollocks!
Scotland is not an independent country or state, and neither are Wales, Northern Ireland, or England itself. However, Scotland is most certainly a nation of people living in an internal division of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Neither does Scotland have external recognition, nor does Scotland have its own embassies in other independent countries.
Funny you should mention embassies, @kezo:
The National 21st October 2021
THE Scottish Government will spend more than £8 million on its international and overseas offices this year, newly published figures show.
The data, released in response to a Freedom of Information request, shows that the most expensive office to maintain is in Brussels, with a bill for the year 2021/2022 of £2.31m.
With 18 people working there, the Belgium office is also the most heavily staffed.
The next most costly office to maintain is in London, which, with 16 staff, will cost almost £2.2m to run this financial year.
These two offices are the only ones with director-level employees. The Brussels director is paid between £95,930 and £103,495 annually, while the deputy director receives between £77,340 and £83,233.
The deputy director in London, who serves at the head of Scotland House, receives the same salary of between £77,340 and £83,233.
The remaining six overseas offices’ costs are as follows:
– Beijing, China: £550,000 for four staff.
– Berlin, Germany: £555,000 for three staff.
– Dublin, Ireland: £596,000 for three staff.
– Ottawa, Canada: £570,000 for four staff.
– Paris, France: £556,000 for three staff.
– Washington DC, US: £805,000 for four staff.
The total budget to run these international offices for the 2021/2022 financial year then stands at £8.134m.
The Scottish Express Richard PercivalScottish Political Correspondent
00:01, 4 AUG 2022
UPDATED10:00, 5 AUG 2022SNP ministers came under fire for splashing taxpayers’ cash with their lavish expansion of Scotland’s overseas office network across the EU.
But Alex Cole-Hamilton, leader of Scottish Lib Dems, blasted the plan as a “vanity exercise”.
He added: “As Scottish families look towards the winter with dread because of the soaring cost of living, the Scottish Government has no business embarking on a vanity exercise that new international offices represent.
Isn’t it just marvellous that Scottish voters provide such lucrative employment for Sturgeon’s bag carriers.
What I find absurd is the good people of Scotland are standing by and allowing a national party to get away with it!
I would be interested in what @Mike 700 has to say of Dafs comment, because like you I never read past the first paragraph.
Isn’t it just marvellous that Scottish voters provide such lucrative employment for Sturgeon’s bag carriers.
How have they the money to pay for this and what possible income could it bring?
Nobody knows. Kezo. Literally “nobody” knows. The magic money tree of millionaire donors used to bail them out every so often in the past, until they got fed up throwing their money away.
It gets better by the day.
It seems Sturgeon was acting treasurer of the SNP when they failed to notify of the £107,000 loan from her husband which she didn’t know anything about.
Transgender paedophile hails Sturgeon as a ‘great First Minister’ who will be ‘missed’
Story by Katie Harris Express • 2h agoIs this what the SNP want to be known as or indeed their audience to be!
may I ask why you are so interested at the goings on in Scotland’s political system and the issues of the SNP?
Is it not just the circle of life within politics?No, it’s about a couple of people manoeuvring themselves into the position of running the internal affairs of a nation of 5.5 million people as their own fiefdom by criminal means and everyone too scared until now to stop them.
I certainly don’t agree with many of the points raised by Mike700 as I’m afraid those comments are based on a lot of outdated misconceptions. Countries should have the right to control their own affairs, isn’t that what Ukraine are fighting for? As far as the UK subsiding Scotland that is certainly one of the urban myths mentioned . Richard Murphy an internationally acclaimed English Chartered accountant checked the treasury figures and found that they were inaccurate as well as sloppy and that the Scottish fiscal deficit was on a par with most of the other Western European Countries. Dont forget Scotland got dragged out of the EU by the same tory government that before the Independence referendum had stated that the only way the Scots could remain in the EU was for them to reject Independence. The current Westminster government has to be one of the most corrupt and incompetent bunch of carpetbaggers ever. Brexit is costing the UK £100 Billion per year and dwarfs the total contributions paid to the EU over the time we were members. Mike700 says he loves the Scots, well if that’s true perhaps we should trust the Scots to make their own decisions over their future. I for one have no doubt they can become as successful as their Scandinavian neighbours with a new relationship with the rest of the UK based on respect rather than the current condescending attitude from Westminster. It is the height of hypocrisy for the very people who were so keen for dear old Blighty to get its freedom from the EU to be most vociferous in their opposition to Scotland gaining its own Independence. The fact is that if Scotland really was the financial burden as implied by Westminster then why haven’t they been dumped ? Please don’t answer with the twaddle about”special relationships” as Scotland is treated as a colony of the UK, If Scotland is to remain in the UK then the relationship between the constituent parts needs to change radically and I don’t see that happening any time soon.
I started my post by stating that we are all entitled to an opinion , and I stick by that, as well as my point about emotions and urban myths, and perhaps I should add ‘misconceptions ‘ to the mix
One of the misconceptions in Daf’s post is that Scotland is a ‘ Country’ whereas actually it is part of a larger Country ie the UK.
The first sentence of the Act of Union as passed by the Scottish Parliament is the foundation doctrine of the new entity: “That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England shall upon the first day of May next ensuing the date hereof and forever after be United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain.”
Two points to this –
1 the two Kingdoms- United into one Kingdom, and
2. Forever after.
So, Scotland is not a separate Country, irrespective of urban myth!
The Ukraine is already a country which has been invaded by another – completely and utterly different from the Scotland situation!
Using Daf’ s argument about Countries should be able to determine their own future, the Act of Union clearly describes the United Kingdom to be one entity/ country , therefore surely if one part of that country wants to break away, it will affect the rest of that Country, just the same as amputation of a limb from a human,or animal will affect the whole of the body.
This being the case, surely we should all be required to vote on whether or not Scotland should break away from the UK because so called Scottish Independence is not just about the Scots , or Scotland, it is about breaking up the U.K. and therefore we are all in it together, just like in any other family?
The Barnet formula is no myth, it is undisputed fact which is part of the UK Government Audited accounts !
Ask the SNP for their meaning of the word ‘Audit’?
As far as Brexit is concerned, Scotland did not vote to leave, nor was Scotland dragged out of the EU against the wishes of the electorate.
Scotland did not have a separate referendum, it was part of the United Kingdom referendum- hypocrisy comes into play here also in that the SNP complain that in the EU referendum more voted to stay than leave, therefore the majority vote should apply, YET, they will not accept that the majority vote against Independence should apply .
Brexit was a vote by the electorate not the Tories, as such.!
As was the election- like it or not!
People came out in their millions, the very same people who, even with a dire Tory election campaign still voted Tory , more votes than Labour could muster in England, more than Labour in Scotland, more DUP than SDLP in NI, and the Tories were only 200,000 votes short of Labour in Wales , at the 2015 General Election.
This translated to 327 Tory Seats Inc NI and 262 Labour Seats – by any stretch of the imagination Labour lost the election, whereas the Tories exceptionally, and unusually, as they were the incumbent party in Government ,won the right to represent the U.K., especially in the EU/ Brexit negotiations.
BTW.,
I am not putting an argument forward supporting any political party, rather i am supporting the centuries old system of ‘ majority ‘ rules!
,Devolution was granted to the devolved nations because they made the case that their own representatives were better placed to run their internal affairs. The SNP saw that decision as weakness by the UK Government and instead of putting its talents to running Scotland well, has wasted millions of UK taxpayers money on hoping to find the end of the rainbow. Surely it’s now got to stop?
Thank you @Mike 700 and appologies for dragging you back into the topic. Your knowledge in this area is second to none!
I think we should all have a vested interest in this rag of a national party, their hatred and delusion to rest of the UK, there willingness to bring down the UK, could have consequencies far beyond some believe Brexit had!
I thought the Tories were corupt crooks, compared to the SNP they look like the virgin mary.
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