The Scottish Parliament

For more than three hundred years, Scotland has been an active member of a union with Wales, England and Northern Ireland but recently this partnership has come under threat due to nationalist views from a group of deluded self-serving failed councillors better known as the SNP. The ideals of these individuals threaten the very fabric of this hub of culture and enterprise that we know and love as Scotland. With the tricentennial anniversary of union, the idea of Scottish independence has again come up for fierce debate. How, I ask myself, did Alex Salmond and his nationalist cronies manage to concoct such a specious solution to Scotland's problems? A question easily answered: on the basis of false, misinterpreted and corrupt data.

In 2007, the SNP scraped a narrow election victory in the Scottish Parliament of 1 seat, holding 47 to Labour's 46 out of 129. This forced the SNP to form a minority government, being a pathetic 18 seats short of a majority but the result still caused uproar in the media. The SNP's decision-making power may be seen as weak due to its minority status. However, being in government has given the nationalists centre stage in the media for promoting their principal policy of independence for Scotland from the rest of the UK. Whether or not this conjecture has any feasibility remains to be seen. Which begs the question, what plans could the SNP have for Scotland that would supposedly improve the welfare of every citizen in the nation, be they laird or lavvy cleaner?

To begin with, if they achieve their ultimate aim of Scottish independence, the SNP want to withdraw public spending from what they consider “unessential” expenses, e.g. the military, with particular emphasis on Trident, our nuclear deterr...

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...Union is three hundred years old for a reason: it simply works. Scotland benefits from the economies of scale, the checks and balances of one of the world's richest countries. The UK benefits from the flood of skilled professionals and entrepreneurs that Scotland has always provided. It is a sad fact that the small and isolated are suffering in the present financial climate - just observe Ireland and Iceland. Although devolution is a contemporary issue and its resurgence is inevitable in terms of the new Scottish government, concepts of total home rule are merely a novelty dreamt up amongst the hype and publicity of the anniversary of the Act of Union. It is something of a fashion that will pass with time, thus leaving us in yet another prosperous and peaceful period in Scotland's social and political history and more importantly the history of the United Kingdom.