Alex Salmond interview: 'England's a great country'

[karezza6]

John Harris is a camp, leftwing wanker.

[johnsmith4442]

this interviewer is a tosser! Conservative south.. London is predominantly labour

[MrRobertJameson]

@johnsmith4442 No it isn't.

[johnsmith4442]

@MrRobertJameson yest it is ya cunt.

[MrRobertJameson]

@johnsmith4442 All working people in the City vote Conservative.

[johnsmith4442]

@MrRobertJameson no they dont! and that ones that predominantly do live in suurrey,hampshire,sussex.essex­,and kent which last time i checked werent London!

[MrRobertJameson]

@johnsmith4442 Only immigrants and welfare recipients vote Labour.

[johnsmith4442]

@MrRobertJameson i agree with you.. i hate labour they have ruined the country..hope you are well brother!

[593OLYMPUS]

like the member of the Scottish public when he says "I'm not fully convinced that we have the brain power, the capacity to run the country on an independant basis - whatsoever". Talk about a damming verdict on Scottish ministers.

[593OLYMPUS]

lol - describe your first minister - and the ladies description "maybe a bit not with it" ?! "Jovial" too! Who the hell is voting for Salmond then? I thought he was already running Scotland?

[jgalt155]

No, he is honest and a man who cares deeply about Scotland and her people .

[Pro13east]

He is not good enough for Scotland he will ruin your great nation if you must go for independence please do not let him lead you let some one else he is arrogant

[patriotgames1000]

@TheLiberalKnight Well Liberal Douche -bag, he seems more straight talking than these idiots we have . P.s your a typical idiot going around calling people typical idiots , so i'm not even going to take you seriously idiot.

[TheLiberalKnight]

08:30

Exactly the sort of bollocks to be expected from the Guardian. Yes, the Guardian is well written, but it is shamefully anti-British. This is the newspaper that predicted the Queen's silver Jubilee would be a disaster, yet it wasn't. This is the paper that thinks we should prioritize the EU over the commonwealth, yet the Commonwealth are delighted at every Jubilee. This is the paper that thinks Britain should be irrelivant on the world stage, and have the unpatriotic wish for that to be so.

[patriotgames1000]

I bloody like this Alex Salmond hes very straight speaking and knows what he wants for is nation , We could be doing with a man like this in England instead of These wolfs in wesminister always focusing on money instead of trying to deal with the social system of English people. The English people have got to find there Roots again . I welcome full break- up of Britain as its an old Empire . Breaking up means no more Bitching amongst Scotts,English,Irish,and Welsh . Long live the Home Nations

[TheLiberalKnight]

@patriotgames1000 You're a typical idiot. Anyone who thinks that Alex Salmond is any different from other politicians is an idiot. He is very, very good with PR. He can trick the masses.

[fuschiadea]

Got the whole world watching this guy! Cheers to the soon-to-be nation-state of Scotland. On behalf of us North Americans, I am anxious to welcome you to the international community. Bring it on!

[mrkjames9]

We shouldn't be voting for Independence because Scotland will be the 6th richest nation in the world! We should vote for Independence because nations do better when they govern themselves and aren't run by a party they didn't vote for! It is also unfair on England that they have Scottish MPs voting for things in England that don't affect their own constituencies! The union is the reason people north and south of the border are beginning to resent each other! Lets vote YES to Independence!

[MLSmartStuff]

Of course the Scottish have a right to be independent. I doubt it'll happen but thats my opinion. Someone commented that the English are in an uncomfortable situation because they don't want to admit or be provoked into admitting Scotland do not have a right to independence - did you make that up? Let me remind you parliament is made up of countless Scottish mp's that contribute what happens in England AND Scotland.

[TheEmptyHunter]

Look, at the end of the day, it is completely hypocritical to deny the Scots the right of self determination. They deserve independence if they want it. I didn't think about the tory domination aspect, so that is something to ponder, and excuse me for being too glib when I say that saying "i'm english" doesn't sound anywhere near as good as saying "i'm british"

[hazzer777]

@TheEmptyHunter You can still say "I'm british" after Scottish Independance as Britain was named after the Roman province, which at first only went up to Hadrians wall (Built to keep the Pics out). If the Scots have Independance the nation will likely be called "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". The Kingdom of Northern Ireland and the Kingdom of England and Wales will still be United.

[FireEyedMaidOfWar]

The English are in a quite uncomfortable position here: Because they cannot inform the Scots that they had been conquered by Oliver Cromwell via the Battle of Dunbar because if they do they would face another Robert the Bruce and Bannockburn, so they try scheming, lies and other tricks because instead of claiming rule ship over Scotland; and if the Scots can provoke them to openly deny the Scottish right of self-determination the independence referendum will be supported by the general public.

[N330AA]

Uggh is his answer to every question, "Ohh look at Norway".

[globaltraveller]

@N330AA Similar population, oil wealthy. A good model to compare Scotland. Scotland in the Union (indeed England in the Union) does not compare favourably with Norway on any measure.

[N330AA]

@globaltraveller What about other places like Venezuela, Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan? They have a lot of oil per capita. Want a category the UK compares favourably? Disposable income. Norway is rich, but if you ever go there you'll realise a lot of money doesn't go very far at all. In addition, Norway has been saving money for years. Something that Scotland hasn't done and Scotland has half the oil reserves, so it's hard to see how it would magically become Norway.

[globaltraveller]

@N330AA Those places do not have a similar Northern European background compared to Scotland and Norway.

How exactly could Scotland save, when its finances are controlled by Westminster. Oh and btw Westminster rules dictate that Scotland is not able to save - any underspend has to be be returned to London and added to the UK Consolidated fund.

[N330AA]

@globaltraveller I wouldn't really say Scotland is like Nordic countries either.

And i never implied they could save. The fact is they haven't any savings though so them being able to or not is immaterial.

[globaltraveller]

@N330AA Your logic is incoherent and circular - You castigated Scotland for not saving and it was pointed out Scotland couldn't. Your argument fell apart, in other words.

I would say Scotland is very much like Nordic countries, particularly in a social democratic outlook. We share little, politically, in common with England which has an adherence to antiquated notions such as sovereignty of parliament etc.

[N330AA]

@globaltraveller All that is lacking is your ability to read. I'm not castigating Scotland for not saving. I'm saying they haven't got a fund. You see, i am talking about this thing called reality. Reality is important in politics. How you got to reality is largely irrelvent.

[gamblemadman]

@rancidbum *yawn

[gamblemadman]

@rancidbum Your comment was desperately weak ... im not even gonna humour you kid. I'd be wasting my time.

Cheers.

[gamblemadman]

@rancidbum Are you for real? It's me who should be telling YOU that.

Do you actually believe that Scotland props up the rest of the UK? Your trippin kid.

[gamblemadman]

@rancidbum LMFAO ...Scotlands money?

You just keep telling yourself that kid.

[superstarhero10]

He is not "some sort of saviour".

[paulwrightgroup]

Scottish fucking daydream by the king dreamer Alex the cock!!!

[ByronRaver]

Why dont we ask Carlise and Newcastle to come with us? Bye union,

[OGZxH4CKZOR1]

lol this stupid scottish man just wants his name in the histroy books, if scotland leave they will be begging to join again hopefully we tell them to fuck.

[glenpovey]

Who is this Alex Salmond? He's hardly charismatic, is he? He just looks like some fat pig, some court usher who eats far too much. If I was Scottish, I would vote NO to independence because the sight of Salmond makes me physically sick. Btw, if he is Scottish, why is he talking English? And talking it very badly too, it is actually hard for me to understand what he is saying.

[Sweentodd]

So by your logic only the English should be speaking in English? you are a moron. Why do the Americans, Australian, south Africans etc speak it then? Are you even aware that the English dialect derives from GERMANS. No. Probably not.

And he talks it very badly? He is speaking in total clarity, you're just too ignorant to notice. 

[julesmaester]

@glenpovey Is that a serious question or are you just joking? If it's serious then apologies to your carer.

[jayesdw]

Improved economy? They'll have to put a budget down on well digging!

[jayesdw]

Its a shame that Alex Salmond has no idea what hes doing - there'll soon be a third world country sitting on Englands shoulders. National pride? Lol. The only person whos going to benefit is Mr Cameron in his standing - Camerons damn lucky

[IveBeenLonghorned]

This is the man I want to lead my country. I'm very lucky that he does! 100% support to Alex Salmond, the Scottish National Party and the people of Scotland. I've never been prouder.

[AlbaSiar]

Wow, someone found some Scots in Edinburgh.

[johnanthonyparsons]

from my perspective the little scotlanders are no better than the little englanders. never before have i had such little confidence in our union. wales exists, northern ireland exists, you arrogant bigoted clowns

[johnanthonyparsons]

pessimism amongst celts! guess what scotland, you aren't the only celtic country in our union! i expect this pathetic ignorance from the english but not from scotland. we exist as well. "should england have a say?" "is it appropriate that only scotland has a say on independence and not only england". how about you grow the fuck up and acknowledge that WALES and northern ireland exist. you pathetic insular morons (england and scotland)

[barrach7]

'Perhaps' if the socially retarded, inbred Cameron (aka: Twisted nose in Gaelic...)'s Westminster crowd and the equally retarded LibDem and Labour eejits had been outward looking for the past few decades (e.g: embracing Europe, realising we've no 'Empite' any more and that we're actually now a pitiful wee island - instead of shunning the outside world) PERHAPS then the idea of a union with ingirlind may be remotely plausible. But it's not...and it's not...

[1984CaptainSpaulding]

lol i pissed my self when he said norways oil and gas will vever run out WTF

[TheMarklaird]

@1984CaptainSpaulding he said that the money generated from the oil will never run out think big savings account with lots of interest coming from it

[chancergordy]

you've got verbal diarh diar dairho SKITTERS!

Are you sure you are English, you're grammer is terrible for a Brit'

[wembley1966]

scotland can vote can my english dicks suck alex salmond is one whore son england pay for for all scotland eat oli economy scotland is much much smaller than our english i have message for all scots france spian ireland come not help GOD BLESS ENGLAND

[Upeter2]

@wembley1966 Were you drunk when you posted this?

[HRHooChicken]

Vote no in 2014!

[Upeter2]

@HRHooChicken Vote yes in 2014!!

[dan892k7]

@Upeter2 Vote no, keep the union strong

[Upeter2]

@dan892k7 I will vote yes and make scotland better.

[OGZxH4CKZOR1]

@Upeter2 it wouldnt get better infact scotland would be off worse.

it was on the news the other day.

[Upeter2]

@OGZxH4CKZOR1 Well will see then.

[bazbowski]

alex salmond is nothing but a liar, he was forced to make an apology for " missleading " parliment. missleading, lying, same thing. how can he be trusted. and he refuses to answer any genuine questions the scotish people have about what happens if we get independance. like tax and military, rather than tit for tat with westminster maybe he should focus on things that are important for ALL of the cottish people.

[chancergordy]

@bazbowski get real, you are talking piffle!

[bazbowski]

@chancergordy piffle ? a fancy word for nonsense. tell me what i said was nonsense ?? he told a lie, he got caught out, he had to admitt and aloligize in paliment. hence why " hes a liar, he tells lies hes a liar simple " NOT NONSENSE. he constantly avoids questions about " post indepedance " NOT NONSENSE. he is involved in a tit for tat with westminster and not focusing on the things that are important to ALL, ALL !!! the scottish people, NOT NONSENSE. YOU KNOW WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH YOU PIFFLE

[EnglishChannel1]

He makes no sense - he says Scotland balanced its books for 4 years running, then it is pointed out that they didn't, and he agrees. Also, how would Scotland have bailed out RBS? The Wesminster Treasury bailed out RBS to the tune of £45 billion. Scotland could not have afforded that. Also, when Salmond talks about "Celts", does he not realise that Scotland, like all western European countries, are now multi-cultural? He is getting into dodgy territory when he refers to the Scots as Celts.

[alexl162]

@EnglishChannel1 Maybe he would have told RBS to roll into a ditch and die, like Iceland did with its banks and like the rest should have done.

[Andrcgn]

@EnglishChannel1 They have balanced their books for the last 4 years. The UK deficit for last year is near £180 billion and the total population is around 63 million yet the deficit for Scotland is just £9 billion and the total population 5 million. The annual debt of Scotland is about 40% less than the rest of the UK and this is while they don't have the power to make their own tax rates. As for RBS, their bale out is a UK responsibility because they got into that mess under a UK government.

[els46]

@Andrcgn ... Subsidies, That's how Scotland balances its books... Payed for by English Tax payers. They include Deferred tuition fees, FREE care for the elderly, FREE prescriptions... Etc. You seem to have glazed over the fact England also pays for Wales & Northern Ireland... That's why the 'UK's' deficit is so big... The majority is payed for by England. The Scottish government can make lavish spending promises because England will inevitably pay for it.

[Andrcgn]

@els46 Scotland get "subsidies" because more revenue is made out of the country than spent on it, if that wasn't the case then they wouldn't get so much. When you take into account all of Scotland’s revenue collected by the UK inclusive of oil, whiskey, income tax, corporation tax, vat, council tax, landfill tax, national insurance etc it would appear Scotland is paying more to the UK than it gets in return. They'd be better off independent, so would England imo, money is wasted in the union.

[chancergordy]

@EnglishChannel1 funny how you can only remember when a Scottish company needed bailed out, can't you remember all the other times English companies needed bailed out.

IT CUTS BOTH WAYS!

[lilyeve222]

Alex Salmond is the First Minister of Scotland. Who is the First Minister of England? What, Tony Blair, then Gordon Brown & now David Cameron. (All Scottish descent)

[MrDickWarrior]

An inbalanced collection of public opinion there. He won by a mile for a reason. He's the only straight guy in British politics. Theres no publicly funded duck houses at his home.

[kaudjar]

BTW. Scotland has had a fixed budget to work with, and our financial dude, Mr Swinney, has managed to bring everything in on budget.How many western European countries can say that?

[kaudjar]

I read a few blogs, then got bored. The general consensus is that Scotland is the most habitable place in the British Isles. These are the views of Scots, Welsh, Irish and English folk, We have a lower crime rate, more police, lower council tax rates and the best steak pies of any nation that make up this 'social union,' to quote Mr Salmond.

et al, we don't pay a penny for NHS prescriptions

[krackersdave]

@BritishLibertarian Thats a good point - but are you aware that the ONLY rights you have as a British citizen to protect you from the abuse of the state is the ECHR?

British citizens have NO other legal protection from the British state... no constitution... no bill of rights...

[krackersdave]

@BritishLibertarian I'm not claiming to be a libertarian ao I have no need to defend that position. If you stay in the EU it's some fat unelected European ruling over you... Stay with the current UK and it's some fat unelected British person ruling over you...

Either way you are still a serf - I thought libertarians were very much in favour of removing ALL central goverment control from the lives of the people...

[TheLiberalKnight]

@krackersdave Regardless of what you think of the Westminster government, it is nonetheless elected and democratic. The EU is unelected. The EU parliament has almost no power at all.

[krackersdave]

@TheLiberalKnight But they are elected mate - Von Rompey for example is elected by the MEP's - and the MEP's are elected by the European people. Now before you shoot me down I'm not defending the EU. But you need to be honest with yourself - we have a coalition in power in the UK thats running with a manifesto NO-ONE voted for.

Consider also that almost no-one in Scotland voted Tory or Lib-dum yet we are ruled by them - where is the democracy there?

[TheLiberalKnight]

@krackersdave Where is the democracy in filthy, socialist scum like you being angry that nobody else in the country voted for the people you wanted in power? I'm sick of Scottish left wingers saying that it's undemocratic that your party didn't get in power. I have news for you, most people in Britain do not like Labour! The fact that the Scots like them means nothing.

[krackersdave]

@TheLiberalKnight What makes you think I'm a socialist? I think your transferring there..

Ok 2 points - 1 everything you said about being upset that no-one else voted for the people I wanted in power - well change that to EU and apply it to yourself - hypocrite much.

2 - Scotland voted for the SNP at the last elections - not labour.

Keep trying though - you might be right about something one day...

[TheLiberalKnight]

@krackersdave Presumably you support either Labour or the SNP, both of whom are socialist parties. That's why I thought you were a socialist. Maybe I am wrong.

1. The EU only has key support from the political elite in Germany and France. That's hardly universal endorsement. The peoples of Europe hate it as much as Britons do.

2. I know.

[chancergordy]

@TheLiberalKnight . I am a nationalist but totally agree with you, apart from the swearing.

If you vote to be part of a United Kingdom you can have no complaints that 8% Scotland has little influence on the other 92% of the UK,

If the Scottish Socialists [labour] want to be part of the UK, then what are they moaning about? They were beaten, 'fair and square', end of!

[chancergordy]

@krackersdave, The democracy is there in black and white.

If you vote for a Unionist party and are part of a United Kingdom, your vote counts exactly the same as everyone elses,

If you vote for anyone other than the party which has most seats at Westminster then your party only has the power of protest.

SO, if you vote Labour, your MP WILL vote with his other English cronies as told by his party whip. This usually means the opposite of Tory regardless of whether it is good for you or not.

[CheDonJohn]

@chancergordy Kind of like a reverse of the Westlothian Question. Irony at its most bitter!

[krackersdave]

@TheLiberalKnight Who in the UK voted for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars? Not the people - we just paid the price in blood and taxes.

Who in the UK voted to begger the UK for the next 2 generations to bail out the city of London?

I sure as shit didn't see a referendum on either of those - or for that matter the Lisbon treaty..

If you want democracy then you must accept that the first thing to be removed MUST be the current Westminster system!

[krackersdave]

@BritishLibertarian Yeah but leaving the EU is still going to leave you in the UK which is very far indeed from being a libertarian country. Thats my point.



[krackersdave]

@BritishLibertarian Nah - I'm old enough to remember the UK pre EU and it's always been a socialist nanny state. It's I think the main reason that all the main parties want to join the EU at heart - they are all closet commies...

[krackersdave]

@BritishLibertarian Nah - just because I'd never link the words Britain and Libertarian... Britain is the exact opposite - the most oppressive socialist nanny state.

[krackersdave]

@BritishLibertarian BritishLibertarian?? Shurely a contradiction in terms!

[IkilledGaddafi]

yes, Scotland could last on its own.

but why would it want to?

[krackersdave]

@IkilledGaddafi #

So we don't end up in illegal wars...

So we don't have to watch our sons come home in bags or with missing limbs...

So we don't have to pay for WMD's and have them sitting just 30 miles from our largest city.

So we don't have our tax revenue spunked up the wall in the square mile or subsidising London

So we don't end up drowing under the 1000% debt to GDP ratio bearing down on the UK - Let England bail out it's loved square mile.

I've got lots more....

[malechauvinistxy]

Alex Salmond is just too fucking fat.

[malechauvinistxy]

Alex Salmond just has some ego problem.

I dont think England and the royal family..etc are that great in particular but I dont see what difference independence will make.

[clarkjordan123]

I was so surprised when the English woman said she didn't believe in Independence! Oh, and that stupid young girl doesn't know what the fuck she's talking about :L "We get most of our industry from England." What is that supposed to mean you stupid bitch :L

[TheEmperorhirohito]

@clarkjordan123 It would mean you get most of your trade and economic growth from England....you dumb fuck

[glasgow1234]

@BritishLibertarian Well considering a poll released just yesterday put the support for the SNP even further than when they won their landslide majority in May, with over 51% of Scots backing the SNP, then i think yes, i am speaking for the MAJORITY of the Scottish people. And we will have the referendum in 2nd half of the the Scottish Government's term. Unlike before, the Scottish people will not be told by anyone else when to hold referendums. We are in charge now :)

[Drydential]

At last! an intelligent man who stands up for my NATION.....no more Westminster yes men or Unioist lackies.

[TheFreedomcloud]

@RichardElden Mate, the UK couldn't last forever. The reason the united Kingdom had to form was because a Scottish prince sat on the throne in England. I'm far from a unionist, but think of it this way. If Scotland does become independant then England may get a parliment as well. Instead of bickering that the UK is going to be destroyed, think of what England can gain. That's what I think when I hear Independance... and independance day, it was an alright movie.

[malechauvinistxy]

@TheFreedomcloud or..or...how about this..independence wont change SHIT!!, for anybody.

[TheFreedomcloud]

@RichardElden Alright then, if you want to believe that Scotland is using up Englands money so much then I will join in. HAHA we are taking billions from England and giving nothing back. WE took all this money and now only scottish citizens will be giving free collge and uni. HAHA we have less debt than England because we stole all there money to pay all of ours.

happy now?

[TheFreedomcloud]

@RichardElden It seems you still don't understand that the scottish pay using there own taxes. Mainly because all the money goes to westminster, and 30% of what is brought in is from Scotland. So i think a country which has a population less than London can bring that much in, we deserve what we get. Also your goverment can't even balance books, our goverment did and that's why our universtiy and colleges are still free :D

[TheFreedomcloud]

And i understand why you are angry. You have to pay for your college and university education, whilst we up here get it for free. A the blissful life in Scotland.

[TheFreedomcloud]

@RichardElden The main reason Scotland got a parliment was because during the 80's and 90's the demand for one was high and in 1997 Scotland had a devolved parliment due to the scottish devolution referendum. This meant Scotland needed it's own parliment with zero connection to England. And what you mean we have to take northern Ireland? They can do what they like. Scotland jsut wont be in the UK anymore.

[TheFreedomcloud]

@RichardElden Haha, how will all the debt be Scotlands? You're incredibly funny man, not Dara O'brian funny but you could get a few laughs. And they didn't reject the results of the referendum in 1979, Scotland said "NO" too it back then, well 56% said No. And west minster can't do anything with Scotland as long as we have our parliment :D

[TheFreedomcloud]

@RichardElden Yes, yes welware this and welware that. When we do split look forward to your 1 trillion pounds worth of debt and us scots will have out 78 billion in dept :D

[TheFreedomcloud]

@RichardElden Alright you're just a troll I guess. Good luck in your internet trolling career, it's a very poor one like England.

[TheFreedomcloud]

@RichardElden Sigh... You do realise Scotland gives 30% of the total british income. A country that has less population than London gives 30%. Unfortuantly as we are still joined to the UK. All benefits are controlled by west minster. If we could control our own benefits then we would, and we would run it better than England. We will stop "using Englands welfare" when we split from England.

[glasgow1234]

Regardless of what anyone else thinks of this man, he stands up for the people of Scotland. He takes no shit and he delivers for our people and that is why an outstanding majority of people voted for him in May 2011 and his party. And when the vote comes on whether we want Alex Salmond or some London Tory as our Prime Minister, i have every faith that the Scottish people will vote YES to independence for Scotland !

[TheFreedomcloud]

@glasgow1234 unfortuantly mate, as seen by this video. Alot of people don't understand why we want to become independant and what we can do to keep ourselfs stable. We need to pound the benefits into these idiots before they start watching the bbc news again (which is very biased against the referndum) and make them understand how things can and should work.

[vibrationaluniverse]

Absolute legend. What an inspirational character. Thank you Alex!! :o)

[sammoreton1]

I actually pity this man, he clearly has some mental illness. 'Tory imposters' he seems to think he's the new William Wallace, Scotland can not survive independently, that's for sure and I think it would be suicide to give this bigoted man a mandate to run your affairs, Scotland is much better off remaining as an integral part of the union

[TheFreedomcloud]

@sammoreton1 You know what? We might not have the means to keep a stable economy after a split, things might fuck up. But all this is a "might", we have no idea how the future will unfold. From what our goverment has showed us is that they where able to balance the books and the scottish cuts aren't as severe as the english cuts. Our goverment has shown that they can handle themselves. So when the time comes to vote i will say yes, because i'd rather see the future of scotland not the UK.

[segano1]

The interviewer is a bit of an English poof...

[indirectapproach]

Salmond is an English plant.

The sooner the English can get rid the Jocks happy days for England.

[segano1]

@indirectapproach Salmond is not from England.

It's the Scots who want rid of the english, just as everyone all over the world has wanted at one point or other, time England stopped leeching other nations resources.

England is now a near bankrupted broken society.

The English are 'subjects' in their own country, (unlike the Scots who are sovereign of theirs) that's why Westminster will never grant you an English parliament, a referendum on independence or the EU.

[indirectapproach]

@segano1

Of course Salmond isn't English.

Everyone knows he's a Jock, paid by England to break up the union, so England can stop paying for all you Jock dole moles and neds.

Salmond is cheap at the price.

I love it.

Go Alex.

[segano1]

@indirectapproach You'll find it's the other way around, your vile shite stinking Sassenach poofs and leaders are all committed to trying their best to persuade Scots to stay in the union, your own leader David Cameron said and I quote "I will do all in my power to keep the union together with every fibre of my body", all the intelligent Sassenach's know that Scotland is a massive surplus of resources that England can barely afford to be alone.

[segano1]

@indirectapproach No mair free Scottish Taxes, Scottish Oil, Scottish Water Scottish Exports and Scottish Renewable energy for the future, no more free space for stinking nuclear reactors, no more of all that for a leeching near bankrupted broken nation like England.

The English are 'Subjects' of their nation, whereas the Scots are 'Sovereign' of theirs,

English sovereignty lies with the English parliament (a non-entity since 1707) hence why Westminster will never give you back your parliament.

[markgr101]

An independent Scotland will likely become England's closest ally. Self determination for all the home nations would be a great thing for the people, a scary prospect for the Westminster political establishment! Can anyone identify a single country that has gained independence & later regretted it?

[PaulieInsideOut]

John Harris is probably still picking up his teeth!

I also thoroughly enjoyed the Guardian editing - get some 12 year old tree hugging tart to espouse her utterly ignorant views (do some research you young fool) and intersperse it around the Salmond interview.

[alexfnoble]

dont see scotland fighting its own war? good.. either do i ... because we wont go invading other peoples country's... problem solved!!! you can go back to reading your sun newspaper now you muppet

[malechauvinistxy]

@alexfnoble come on!!..Alex Salmond will probably get invoved in Afghanistan still mainly due to his inflated ego problem and wanting to prove that scorland can play with the big boys.

Alex Salmond should fuck off to Norway.

And I liked the answer "I would vote yes just to stick it to Cameron"..lol

[alexfnoble]

@malechauvinistxy thats BS do you know him? he was the MP for my area growing up.. hes salt of the earth.. he will stop in the street to talk to you about any problems you have and actually take them on board listen to what people actually need in his area.. alex salmond actually represented the people he was supposed too,, and now he represents scotland.. He can come across as a cocky git on TV but i think its often out of contempt for the media and the muck they want to throw..

[pragmatismnotidealis]

@alexfnoble 86% of the english public opposed the Iraq war and over 12 million marched on london.to prevent it. 

[krackersdave]

@pragmatismnotidealis And it achieved absolutely nothing. It proved for all to see that democracy is dead in the UK (if it ever existed) and convinced me 100% it's time to get out of the Union...

I want a real country.. with a real constitution... with protected rights... with a parliment that's closer to me - not futher away.. I WANT A MODERN DEMOCRACY NOT THE WESTMINSTER LIE!

[pragmatismnotidealis]

@krackersdave well technically it was democratic, Blair was voted in (twice) as was donald dewar in scotland and both did plenty of fucked up things the electorate didn't want. scotlands history is just as dirty as britains

[krackersdave]

@pragmatismnotidealis I agree - but I want to look forward - not back - I want a better country - I want more democracy not less and I 100% want nothing to do with Westminster and the broken corrupt system it represents any longer.

And I don't think I'm alone in this and it's not just Scotland- people in England need to wake up and take their future back from this den of liars and thieves..

[pragmatismnotidealis]

@krackersdave i agree 100% 

[krackersdave]

@pragmatismnotidealis Actually - thats made me recall an old phrase from some commentator a few years back about the UK not being a democracy at all but simply a nation that elected a new dictator every 4 years from a very limited pool of candidates. I think Blair/Brown and the new lot have proved the point - they just cannot be removed by any legal means and their power is almost limitless...

[alexfnoble]

the fat girl.. i dont think we could do it.. that was her best effort..and the classic,, i think he gets into peoples head.. wonder who gets in to her head and tells her to eat whet ever she sees..... these are people who get there information from the sun or the daily mail

[alexfnoble]

the people who give reasons against it are brilliant..none of them make any sense at all, have any factual information or have any grasp of the situation .. the best one is.. "i dont think we have the brain capacity" is that really the best he can come up with, what a waste of space

[sortedm]

John Harris is just another lefty twat who thinks it's perfectly fine to twist democracy in order to suppress the will of the English people. We have the right to vote for the Government we want, not what John Harris and his cunt friends at the Guardian think we should have.

Let Salmond take Scotland out the equation, they're welcome to the oil if it means real self determination for the English and an end to the reign of the Westminster parasites.

[Vietcelt]

We cannie do it son!

[Vietcelt]

"We don't have the brain power in scotland to run our own affairs", "we wouldn't be able to fight wars" and we would "fall apart"; the enlightened voice of Unionism from the streets of Edinburgh! Also listened to the full lenth audio version where a chap on the street said scotland would go into economic meltdown. Really profoundly stupid but commonly held views! Scotland produces just under 2% of the worlds oil and is the 19th biggest oil producing country on earth (biggest in the EU)