End of the UK? Scottish National Party set to push for referendum on independence within 5 years aft

[mc_squared]

End of the UK? Scottish National Party set to push for referendum on independence within 5 years after securing 'historic' victory

 

By Daily Mail Reporter

 

Last updated at 4:34 PM on 6th May 2011

 

 

 

• SNP crosses 65-seat threshold for the first time ever
  
• Scottish Labour leader to quit after devastating loss
  
• Labour wins Welsh Assembly election without overall majority
  
• Scottish turnout is 50%, while Welsh Assembly sees 42% of voters at polls
  

The Scottish National Party today surged to 'historic' victory after securing a majority in parliament.

It is now likely that leader Alex Salmond will push for the SNP to hold a referendum on independence within the next five-year term.

 

Out of 129 seats available the party crossed the majority threshold of 65 earlier this afternoon - a victory that Prime Minister David Cameron described as an 'emphatic win'.

 

Jubilant: Leader of the Scottish National Party Alex Salmond arrives at a Scottish Parliament election count in Aberdeen. He hailed 'spectacular' successes for his party in elections to the Scottish Parliament

There were early shock wins after polling stations closed last night with many major Labour politicians finding themselves out of a job.

 

Today Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray announced he will step down in the autumn as a result of his party's defeat.

 

Alex Salmond's party passed the half-way point by taking its 65th seat in a historic win at Kirkcaldy, the first time gains on this scale have been achieved since the Parliament was established in 1999.

 

The decisive victory comes at the heavy expense of Labour in what were considered heartland territories, and with a collapse in the Liberal Democrat vote.

Seat after seat in Glasgow, Lanarkshire and Edinburgh fell to the SNP as well as a clean sweep of the entire north east region.

 

Candidates once thought of as potential Labour frontbenchers lost out, including former ministers Andy Kerr, Tom McCabe and Frank McAveety.

Former Scottish Tory leader David McLetchie was unseated in Edinburgh Pentlands.

Relief: Labour leader Iain Gray hung onto his seat by just 151 votes after the huge surge in support for the SNP

 

But the Lib Dems appeared the biggest losers, with heavy falls in the share of votes and a high number of lost deposits.

 

Leader Tavish Scott held on to Shetland with a reduced share but his party was beaten in areas where it had previously enjoyed a comfortable majority.

 

The party's finance spokesman Jeremy Purvis was ousted by the SNP's Christine Grahame, who took Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale with 43.5 per cent of the vote.

SNP leader Alex Salmond, who won Aberdeenshire East with about 64 per cent of the vote, hailed 'spectacular' successes.

 

He said wins across the country meant the SNP can now properly be described as the 'national party', represented in all parts of Scotland.

Mr Salmond's main opponent for the job of First Minister, Mr Gray, hung on to his seat by just 151 votes.

Mr Gray won in East Lothian with 12,536 votes compared to 12,385 for SNP challenger David Berry, who commanded a 3.1 per cent swing away from Labour.

In 2007, the SNP beat Labour nationally by just one seat to become the largest party at Holyrood, forming a minority administration led by Mr Salmond.

 

 

 

 

Majority: SNP candidate Derek McKay with his wife Jennifer after winning the Renfrewshire North and West

 

 

Long night: Election officials count ballot papers at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre after the polls shut in the Scottish Parlimentary Elections

 

 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1384148/Scottish-Parliament-success-hailed-spectacular-Alex-Salmond-SNP-make-huge-gains-Labour.html#ixzz1LaYF3Us9

[Prince Myshkin]

I would prefer they leave.

 

I don't have ill feeling toward them now, nor would I if they left, but it really annoys me when people say 'Scotland has it right with their free education and prescriptions' when the only reason why they get it is because of the rest of the UK.

[mc_squared]

I would prefer they leave.

 

I don't have ill feeling toward them now, nor would I if they left, but it really annoys me when people say 'Scotland has it right with their free education and prescriptions' when the only reason why they get it is because of the rest of the UK.

 

What about Andy Murray?:rolleyes:

[Prince Myshkin]

I don't hate Andy Murray for his nationality. I don't hate anyone for their nationality.

I hate ****s. As in the people who are ****s. Not female genitals.

[mc_squared]

Poor Andy.:cry:

[Prince Myshkin]

Do you want to discuss this topic or not?

You made the thread. I started with a reason for why I wouldn't be bothered.

You have contributed very little.

[mc_squared]

Do you want to discuss this topic or not?

You made the thread. I started with a reason for why I wouldn't be bothered.

You have contributed very little.

 

Is that a crime?:P

 

Anyway, just for the (daily) record, I don't really care either way. It wouldn't affect my life.;)

[Prince Myshkin]

Is that a crime?:P

 

Anyway, just for the (daily) record, I don't really care either way. It wouldn't affect my life.;)

 

Of course it isn't a crime, just makes you look simple when your only contribution is singular sentences, puns or daily mail articles without any form of input yourself.

 

To start with an article is fine, I often start a thread in the same way and let people react before giving my opinion, since I feel it leads to better debate rather than the thread starter trying to say everything, but I very rarely see your opinion on things in this section.

 

Once again, not a crime, but people might see you as simple.

[mc_squared]

Of course it isn't a crime, just makes you look simple when your only contribution is singular sentences, puns or daily mail articles without any form of input yourself.

 

To start with an article is fine, I often start a thread in the same way and let people react before giving my opinion, since I feel it leads to better debate rather than the thread starter trying to say everything, but I very rarely see your opinion on things in this section.

 

Once again, not a crime, but people might see you as simple.

 

I thought you might have realised by now I don't care what people think.

If they want to make assumptions about people based on what's written on a message board, that's up to them.

Laconism isn't a synonym for stupidity.

If I feel passionately about a topic, there's every chance I'll write more, and I have done on numerous occasions.

Maybe you haven't been around at these times.

I just prefer light-heartedness to seriousness, that's all.

 

Anyway, it doesn't matter either way. If you wish to regard me as "simple", so be it. You're entitled to your opinion.

It isn't something I'll lose any sleep over.;)

[Prince Myshkin]

Passionate Mark. Yum, I can't wait to see that whenever the next topic comes up which he has an actual interest in.

[mc_squared]

Passionate Mark. Yum, I can't wait to see that whenever the next topic comes up which he has an actual interest in.

 

I hope you don't end up disappointed.:rolleyes:

[Guest howyousawtheworld]

To be fair I thought the SNP would win by a few seats over Labour. I wasn't expecting this. A majority SNP government is the last thing I expected. I am not a supporter of independence and despite running a good campaign the SNP do very very little to convince me that they are worthy. The pro nationalist arguments are only based on one thing - North Sea oil, completely ignorant of who has the rights to the oil and such. I would feel England would benefit from Scotland breaking away from the UK but Scotland wouldn't. Salmond advocates a position where he wants to break away from the UK but is still very much pro EU, leaving Scotland very much in the nice company of Ireland and Iceland who he championed as proud examples of what independence can do for a country. Yeah a few years after that claim and look at Iceland and Ireland. Having to get bailed out by other countries. Maybe that's why he wants to stay in the EU but not the UK. Just so he can have that bail out option available to him.

 

He's a great charismatic and sure politician but he is very much all style and no substance.

I love Scotland but an independent Scotland would not be best for me so I'm very much now going to consider job's across the border following university. Scotland is heavily over reliant on the public sector. That is not desirable for the UK, let alone an independent Scotland.

 

That said the Scottish people didn't have much choice as they couldn't vote Labour because the Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray scared everyone off with his catastrophic campaign. Mr Blobby could have run a less disastrous campaign. This will really hurt Labour badly. Miliband can talk all he wants about the council results in England and the Assembly results in Wales but this is an absolute shocker for them. Along with the Lib Dems, Labour lost out big time yesterday.

 

Regardless, I'm slightly concerned.

[Guest howyousawtheworld]

dp

[Petit Prince]

The pro nationalist arguments are only based on one thing - North Sea oil, completely ignorant of who has the rights to the oil and such. I would feel England would benefit from Scotland breaking away from the UK but Scotland wouldn't. Salmond advocates a position where he wants to break away from the UK but is still very much pro EU, leaving Scotland very much in the nice company of Ireland and Iceland who he championed as proud examples of what independence can do for a country. Yeah a few years after that claim and look at Iceland and Ireland. Having to get bailed out by other countries. Maybe that's why he wants to stay in the EU but not the UK. Just so he can have that bail out option available to him.

 

I'm no expert on this but Scottish people always tend to vote differently than the rest of the UK [the South of England in particular] so they'll probably feel under-represented by the British government?

[mc_squared]

So England might end up getting off Scot-free!:P

[a_face_of_light]

I hope they don't leave just based on North Sea oil, production peaked more than a decade ago it's a decling field and will leave them a bit financially screwed.

[Guest howyousawtheworld]

I hope they don't leave just based on North Sea oil, production peaked more than a decade ago it's a decling field and will leave them a bit financially screwed.

 

Well there's a place in Scotland I know of called Scapa Flow (a body of water up in the Orkney Isles - where HMS Royal Oak was attacked and sunk a month after war was declared in 1939 as well the German fleet of World War One scuttled) and in recent decades the Flow has been littered with many oil tankers transferring and picking up north sea oil from an oil refinery. In the early 90s you could see 13/14 tankers at one time lying in the Flow. Nowadays there's probably only about 2/3 a month you see. Better prices elsewhere around the world coupled with an increasing decline in the oil is a reason for this.

[Guest howyousawtheworld]

I'm no expert on this but Scottish people always tend to vote differently than the rest of the UK [the South of England in particular] so they'll probably feel under-represented by the British government?

 

I think there's always been a sense that Scottish people have felt under represented at Westminster even though they we have more MPs in proportion to our population than England, Wales and Northern Ireland...AND the fact Scottish MPs still get to vote on matters solely affecting England only. But I think overall the feeling is that the government at Westminster doesn't really serve or strive to meet the needs of Scotland. Not my thoughts exactly but the thoughts of many Scots.

[a_face_of_light]

Well there's a place in Scotland I know of called Scapa Flow (a body of water up in the Orkney Isles - where HMS Royal Oak was attacked and sunk a month after war was declared in 1939 as well the German fleet of World War One scuttled) and in recent decades the Flow has been littered with many oil tankers transferring and picking up north sea oil from an oil refinery. In the early 90s you could see 13/14 tankers at one time lying in the Flow. Nowadays there's probably only about 2/3 a month you see. Better prices elsewhere around the world coupled with an increasing decline in the oil is a reason for this.

 

Yes, the fields arn't dead but definatly in a state of decline and not something you would want a Country to base the bulk of its economy on!.

[Petit Prince]

I think there's always been a sense that Scottish people have felt under represented at Westminster even though they we have more MPs in proportion to our population than England, Wales and Northern Ireland...AND the fact Scottish MPs still get to vote on matters solely affecting England only. But I think overall the feeling is that the government at Westminster doesn't really serve or strive to meet the needs of Scotland. Not my thoughts exactly but the thoughts of many Scots.

 

Well it doesn't seem right that Scottish MPs are allowed to vote on English/ British matters that don't concern Scotland because they've got their own government. I kind of like the idea of an independent Scotland but I can see that they would struggle financially so I'm not sure what to think.

[Guest howyousawtheworld]

Well it doesn't seem right that Scottish MPs are allowed to vote on English/ British matters that don't concern Scotland because they've got their own government. I kind of like the idea of an independent Scotland but I can see that they would struggle financially so I'm not sure what to think.

 

If David Cameron got his own way then Scottish MPs wouldn't be allowed to vote on English matters. He's been quite vocal about it in the past but it's doubtful whether he can make it happen.

[Prince Myshkin]

If they want to leave, they can leave. Simple as.

[Prince Myshkin]

If David Cameron got his own way then Scottish MPs wouldn't be allowed to vote on English matters. He's been quite vocal about it in the past but it's doubtful whether he can make it happen.

 

If David Cameron (or his party) got their/his way, and I could afford, I'd leave the country.

[a_face_of_light]

Because the previous Government did such a stellar job and didn't in any way piss money away on stupid things, didn't arrogantly not listen to the public or anything like that, if anything I feel the Coalition has been more pragmatic in dealing with problems than the previous Labour Government was, I'm not particularly happy with the spending cuts that have been implemented, but some of the last Governments ideas were just quite frankly moronic, ID cards being a good one, or how about Road Pricing.

[Prince Myshkin]

Because the previous Government did such a stellar job and didn't in any way piss money away on stupid things, didn't arrogantly not listen to the public or anything like that, if anything I feel the Coalition has been more pragmatic in dealing with problems than the previous Labour Government was, I'm not particularly happy with the spending cuts that have been implemented, but some of the last Governments ideas were just quite frankly moronic, ID cards being a good one, or how about Road Pricing.

 

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