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Scottish Independence (1 Viewer)

Andy Hurley said:
Probably rent a mob so the Westminster propaganda machine can come up with more lies about marauding Scots using strongarm tactics to influence the vote
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No these two blokes stay locally so no rent a mob conspiracy theory there, although that might be the case today in Edinburgh if the planned trouble between Hibs, Hearts and Rangers hooligans kicks off at the Orange march again today! i can see the banner headlines now "Peaceful No voters attacked by Yes"

Birdwise i think this election will galvanise birders on both sides of the border to focus on their own national lists more rather than a British Isles one, something that many Scots have been doing for a while now!
 
Hopefully that will not be the case.

In contrast - I was at a game today in London (that hideous americanised place referred to up thread) - where I saw Welsh flags, Scottish flags, English flags and the Union Jack all displayed and no hint of any grief directed at any of the individuals displaying them....

I do genuinely wonder how many Scottish football grounds there are in which an English supporter of that club could display an English flag unmolested?

All the best
 
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Birdwise i think this election will galvanise birders on both sides of the border to focus on their own national lists more rather than a British Isles one, something that many Scots have been doing for a while now![/QUOTE]

Aye but you'll be stuffed when Barra votes for independence from Scotland!

cheers, Andrew
 
Aye but you'll be stuffed when Barra votes for independence from Scotland!

cheers, Andrew[/QUOTE]

Who do you think will be El-Presidente of a new Barra Republic!? :)
 
I do genuinely wonder how many Scottish football grounds there are in which an English supporter of that club could display an English flag unmolested?
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Paul, unfortunately your English flag (and the Union flag) has been rather hijacked by a section of The Rangers fans (just as the Eire flag has been co-opted by a section of the Celtic fans), so animosity shown towards it at a Scottish football ground (except Ibrox) would be most likely based more on that connection than simply because it was English, or being flown by an English person. Strange looks and a few questions would be likely, but I suspect your flag waving fan would at most suffer a wee bit of jokey banter, and certainly not any violence at most grounds especially if he was a fan of the club whose ground/end he was in (maybe wouldn't be the best idea to try it at Celtic Park given the Rangers connection though....although it would certainly confuse a few Celtic fans to have one of their own flying a "Rangers" flag).
 
Birdspotter said:
Aye but you'll be stuffed when Barra votes for independence from Scotland!

cheers, Andrew
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Who do you think will be El-Presidente of a new Barra Republic!? :)[/QUOTE]

You'd have to fight the local cooncillor for it Calum;)

Given you've committed to Yes I think you may be welcomed by most going by the signs on the island today, the locals were asking when the usual lot are arriving this year.

cheers, Andrew
 
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AStevenson said:
Who do you think will be El-Presidente of a new Barra Republic!? :)
Click to expand...

You'd have to fight the local cooncillor for it Calum;)

Given you've committed to Yes I think you may be welcomed by most going by the signs on the island today, the locals were asking when the usual lot are arriving this year.

cheers, Andrew[/QUOTE]

After we vote for a free and indepenent country Andrew, four of us arr on saturday (inc myself for 4 weeks) for a 7 week tour of duty...that should give us plenty of time to canvass locals for a Republic o' Barra.
 
Birdspotter said:
I am not sure what the future holds for Scotland and the rest of the UK but will be voting Yes next week. If conservation suffers then so be it, it is a price worth paying i think!
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Being English and apolitical I don't have any issues either way but if Salmond gets his way the only protected bird species in Scotland will be the Red Grouse and every windswept valley and hillside will be full of wind turbines owned by some foreign power company.

You may gain independence from Westminster but you can bet your bottom yuan that Salmond will sell out to the highest bidder for short-term gain just as he did with Trump.
 
redeyedvideo said:
Being English and apolitical I don't have any issues either way but if Salmond gets his way the only protected bird species in Scotland will be the Red Grouse and every windswept valley and hillside will be full of wind turbines owned by some foreign power company.

You may gain independence from Westminster but you can bet your bottom yuan that Salmond will sell out to the highest bidder for short-term gain just as he did with Trump.
Click to expand...

This referendum is not about Salmond but rather it is a movement under several umbrellas's that has a clear understanding on were Scotland future lies!
Salmond will become the head honcho if the country votes Yes, but he will only stay there if the people decide he has done a good job and by voting him in for a second term...that is something we can't do regarding the current Tory Gov.

As the chorus line say's it's about hope.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZgu0KichKE
 
redeyedvideo said:
if Salmond gets his way the only protected bird species in Scotland will be the Red Grouse
Click to expand...

This mention of red grouse reminded me that land reform is one topic that hasn't been particularly prominent in the independence debate. Certainly it doesn't seem to have been a high priority for the SNP up to now (although it has been for the Greens who are also part of the Yes campaign). However, if it is a Yes vote, then I think the fact that half of Scotland is owned by fewer than 500 people (and with it the associated issue of raptor persecution) is probably more likely to be dealt with than it is under the current arrangements, where the House of Lords has a say. Certainly, the number of No Thanks signs that I am seeing on big landed estates suggests that they think the same.
 
redeyedvideo said:
Being English and apolitical I don't have any issues either way but if Salmond gets his way the only protected bird species in Scotland will be the Red Grouse and every windswept valley and hillside will be full of wind turbines owned by some foreign power company.

You may gain independence from Westminster but you can bet your bottom yuan that Salmond will sell out to the highest bidder for short-term gain just as he did with Trump.
Click to expand...

Could he be any worse than that David Cameron?
 
Not sure it would keep EVERYONE happy but as there is oil off the coast of Ireland, Westminster will likely be interested in your proposal. ;)

As for the Trump(et?).....one thing that is often overlooked is that Jack McConnell, the Labour First Minister of Scotland at the time was the one who started the ball rolling with the whole Trump thing.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/scotla...-of-clubs-came-up-trumps-for-donald-1-1411884

As things panned out, it wasn't Alex Salmond's finest hour either but it is interesting how Labour and McConnell's involvement has been handily airbrushed out of the bigger picture, especially by their friends at BBC Scotland.

As this is Birdforum, this website (known as Wings for short - tenuous link) will give those outwith Scotland a bit of an insight into what is happening that the media won't tell you....

www.wingsoverscotland.com
 
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