Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris
Something like that. However in that same plan you can see the evidence that Salmond is becoming slightly unhinged. He believes too much of his own legend ... the canny operator, the high-stakes gambler ... he's so enamoured of his own perceived reputation that he seems to have forgotten that he lost the referendum, or else he seems to have convinced himself that the decisive "no" was actually some sort of deferred "yes".
The polls that are giving the SNP a big lead over Labour look fantastic until you view them in the context of the referendum. Last September the SNP successfully crystallised the issue of independence as an actual, concrete thing that could happen, rather than an abstract concept. They also firmly welded themselves to it. We are only just six months on from the referendum and naturally, those who voted Yes are now vowing to transfer their parliamentary vote to the party that stands for Yes.
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My fear is that we now seem to be heading towards independence and none of the mainstream parties seem to know how to stop it. In fact they seem not to care at all. If we let the SNP dominate Scottish Politics then I can't see Westminster being able to hold off on another referendum if the SNP win majorities at Holyrood and become the third largest party in Westminster.
I have no idea why people aren't taking this more seriously. It's the same complacency that helped Yes gain so much ground in the referendum and cause this division in the first place.
The best strategy I can think of is to step up regional devolution. Spilt up the UK into regional departments with more devolved powers and, crucially, do so in Scotland as well. This would bypass the Scottish Parliament to a degree, help address some of the concerns of moderate Scottish voters and place the SNP in a difficult position of Independence being seen as a move to centralise powers in Edinburgh. The SNP haven't been fans giving power to regions (outside of devolution to Scotland as a whole obviously) precisely because they're worried it would undermine Independence.