General Chat

Can anyone enlighten me as to what the constitution of an independent Scotland would be?
I am leaning towards the conclusion that it would have to be a Republic.
Chances are that its first President would be Nicola Sturgeon.
A State visit to rUK by President Sturgeon would be interesting, to say the least !!!!

Why in your opinion could Scotland not carry on with the House of Windsor whose ancestors have been Sovereign in Scotland for over 500 years?

Oz Canada and the kiwis seem to be content with our Queen as head of state while wm & Kate and their offspring seem popular too.

The French are nuts about our royal family and follow them avidly. royal visits v welcome. Maybot less so.

is Trump's visit to Scotland still on? At least he has a golf course to play on.

Umm because they want to leave everything that is British unless it suits them?
My late Grandmother always refer to the Royals as your royals they were never the Scots....I'm guessing she wasn't alone in that thought but that's not to say some Scots like Emma won't like them :-D

Surely the SNP are unlikely to count having the "English" monarch as their head of state as being "independent".
Not that I've seen their proposal for what their constitutional status might be, hence my question.
And would Scotland apply to join the Commonwealth? I guess not if they want to join/remain in the EU.
So what is their plan "post war"?

The Scots problem is not with being British but with the Tories. They are just not on the same book let alone page. The current impasse has its roots in the imposition of the unlamented poll tax in Scotland first.

The current messy devolution cannot work. A better scheme would be full federalism with only defence, foreign affairs and central budget reserved to London. If May offered that to the devolved nations then Sturgeon's fox would be shot and May really would be leading a union.

Although May is right to demand any new poll after 2019 when the Scots will bevable to judge for themselves if brexit is a pig in a poke a generous offer would work better.

As it is never may never will ultimately ensure NI and Scotland go their own way.

Malta Gc and Cyprus are both members of the Commonwealth.
The Isle of Man and the Channel Is are not part of the UK but have the Queen as head of state.
The union of the Scottish and English crowns predated the union of the parliaments by 200 years when James Vi of Scotland became James 1 of the UK.
So why couldn't an independent Scotland continue with the Queen as head of state?
The SNP, even Salmond, are firm about this.
Red herring Brian.

No it's the Scots treating the rest of the UK like an old fashioned Woolworths on a Saturday morning at the pick and mix or whatever the sweet part was called.....I want one of those and two of those but not those they cost too much.......

So all we have to do to shoot the SNP fox is to elect a Labour government?

The poll tax was actually a fairer system: each adult person contributing to the government services they use. The value of your property has no direct relationship to your consumption of centrally provided services. That is the function of income tax. The error was in trialing it out on only one part of the UK rather than universally.

Oh hard hat on jumping into trench as BrainW types.....

someone will jump on the poll tax was a fair system...... :-)

Is there such a thing as an electable Labour government these days ?

I agree with Brian. When you look at the systems, the poll tax was the most fair system.

A prequisite for a Labour government is to have a Labour party. Kezia Dugdale is nearing divorce from her erstwhile comrades in Berwick and points south. As a result Labour in Scotland is slowly rising from the dead.

South of the border the bag of fighting ferrets is def not the Labour party which is missing possibly extinct.

There is going to be a rather messy sort out in England & Wales changing all three major parties. On current trend the bag of ferrets calling itself Labour will be annihilated. The other bigger bag of ferrets will fall on each other. May does not call an election as controlling a far right rabble with a majority of 200-300 would be impossible. She is hoping for a proper opposition. No harm in hoping.

way back in the C19 the Tory party repealed the hated Corn Laws. Much good it did them. Let's see if they can get a result out if brexit. Expecting kindness from our two historic enemies may one day be seen as foolish.

"Sell in May and go away."

Agree Brian the unpopular community charge 1989 (as it was known)should have been tried out universally.

Also agree it is a fair system

I may be wrong here, and I am sure someone will correct me if I am, (won't you Rollo), but I heard that the French have a similar tax to the poll tax, and when a left wing government tried to change it to a property tax there were riots in the streets.

There are two different French property taxes
The habitation tax is based in habitable area not the number of people living in the house. The tax foncière us based on the value of the property. Which tax is heaviest depends on location. Property taxes are squeezing ordinary people out of locations such as Paris. Unoccupied houses get a 50% discount - this is mostly used for holiday houses. Property owned by companies is liable to an annual 3% tax on value.

The system is ancient and very unpopular. Anything like the poll tax would cause a riot which the French are v good at. Macron aims to have a root and branch reform which will hit the wealthy hard and make things easier for the middle classes. The poor would pay much less while the farmers and landowners stand to clobbered.

hmm Bob I think that's you corrected...I think bit hard to follow in places...

No one likes being taxed but it's a necessary evil.

I agree, Rollo, from what our friends in the south of France have told us, the system is disliked where they are. When they explained it to us in detail I was amazed that people put up with it, knowing that the French take to the streets when they are unhappy about anything, however, the Gallic shrug seemed to be the order of the day when people spoke about it.

After more than 20 years there our friends may have to return to England following Brexit as the largest-paying pension they have (a government-employee one) is payed in Sterling (no choice there) and they are losing a substantial amount in exchange to Euro.

We are waiting to hear. It will be something of a mixed blessing for them as they have children there and here.

I am being completely selfish when I say that I would like them to live near me again because they are fantastic friends whose company we have enjoyed for 50 years but it is a dilemma for them, as I expect it is for anyone thinking of an unexpected, somewhat-enforced uprooting.

It gives a slight taste of how displaced persons must feel; and here I mean not for economic reasons but for fear of death and torture.

Perhaps the last few postings ought to have been under 'French Farce' too?