Once another referendum is called we could ask TS to make a book on how long after a "leave" result will Scotland cancel free tuition fees, free elderly care, free prescriptions etc. etc.?

At this point I'd actually lowkey advocate for only partially funded University fees (at the same level as now but allowing Universities to charge as much again covered by loan) because increased funding for Universities can only be a good thing, and I think there's a slight issue at the moment with Universities taking on more students than they can realistically teach well in order to cover costs as they can't increase fees. That said, I'd cap them at around £4k other than for intensive courses like medicine, dentistry, law, maybe heavy engineering courses etc. because the £9k fees in England for basic Arts Faculty bachelors degrees are utterly ludicrous.

I also think the situation with prescriptions is actually fine in England; free to those on low income (I'm not sure if everyone realises that this is the case in the rest of the UK. There are huge flaws with the "free for all" prescriptions model... it's a disproportionate financial burden when the money could be much better spent elsewhere in the NHS. Especially with people filling prescriptions that they don't even need, to have them sit in a medicine cupboard gathering dust. It might also make people think twice about over-using antibiotics, if they had to pay for them. I'd make an exception for people with lifelong conditions like type 1 diabetes though, with a cap on medication costs per month no matter what their income is. :hee:

Elderly care is of course a thread in itself because we (the entire western world) have an aging population and we're ALL kind of ****ed when it comes to care of the elderly and pensions :joker:.

Ours are capped at €3k here

That last para... it IS a thread in itself. And what a bloody mess it is. It's distressing to see how elderly and frail people are treated. Families used to take care of their own, but now everyone lives miles away from each other and let's face it, some families just don't want to take care of an elderly relative. It's a worry. It's off-topic... but it's still a worry.

Not a fan of neverendums but i’m not a Scot so not my business.

What do the polls say,Do Scots want a second ref?

Under Half does


Its all to do with Brexit

I think changed circumstances with work are a huge factor as well... my grandparents-in-law are all over 80 now and one of her grandads needs full time care, but her parents both work full time as does her uncle who lives nearby so there's no one who even COULD be a full time carer if they wanted to. And the quality of care varies so widely from home to home it's bewildering, and doesn't even seem usually related to cost. Some NHS homes are great some are shameful. Some private places are top notch, others put on a good facade when there are eyes on them but then are just as bad as anywhere else when there's no one watching. And the costs per week are just mind-boggling.

Thankfully(...? I guess that sounds bad :umm2: ) the only relative I have that's older than my sister (36) is my dad (64)... and his new wife is 39 so he's her problem! She knew what she was getting into :hehe:. I do find it an odd choice really. I mean, I know you can't choose who you fall in love with, and he's not "old" for 64 or anything... but realistically, she's got like 5 - 10 years of a normal marriage and then 10+ of being a carer?

**** I hope my dad doesn't secretly read TiBB. Haaa...

Probably not and the result will probably still be "no". I personally think this is premature. I don't think the question should be put to bed forever, but I do think it should be after Brexit settles and things can be assessed rationally, so 2025 and beyond. Everyone is suffering political fatigue at the moment, surely.

Ahh... the heart wants what the heart wants, TS. She must really love him.

That's creepily similar to my dad who is 64 and his wife is 38.......... whom I have never and will never meet either

Niamh are we secret siblings? My dad's mum was Irish :omgno:

:o


Is your dads wife French? :suspect:

No she's extremely English. Oh well, it was a shortlived dream :flutter:

:laugh:

can see this independence not going through


what i can see happening within UK is, after 29th of March bigger rivalry happening between England and Scotland, and Wales and Northern Ireland

Ahh yes, the age old battle between the Welsh and Northern Irish peoples. Bloody it has been, Nicky. Bloody and senseless.

i'm looking forward to the time Scotland is independent and has a football team to be proud of :dance:

(i wont hold my breath)

Please tell me I don't have to describe the differences between countries and counties and why your argument is ridiculous.

Oh please do....I can't wait.

:joker:

Doesn't matter anyway cause in this vote for brexit..jock from oban is exactly the same person as shiela from Shropshire. ...so my ridiculous argument about all being one and therefore allowing all to decide individually, rather than allowing a whole nation who didn't even vote as a nation if they want to be in eu or not is not as ridiculous as first thought...

The issue, Parm, is that "guaranteed EU membership" was used as a major selling point by the "no" campaign during the Scottish independence vote ("Stay in the UK and you'll have EU membership; leave the UK and you might not!"). That alone is a perfectly valid reason to call a second independence vote, as it seems that the exact opposite is true: Leave the UK and have a chance at continued / renewed EU membership, stay with the UK and we're out.

Well you see Parmy, Britain isn't so much a country as it is a union of four smaller countries. A country is really different to a county as a county is a division of land within a country. It doesn't typically govern itself, it's not independent but a part of the larger country it's situated in. Scotland and NI are not counties within England or Wales, they are countries within the United Kingdom, a union.

If a country within a union is unsatisfied with the direction the union is going, they have the option to leave.... Hmm, that sounds oddly familiar, doesn't it? Counties are not countries surprisingly enough and don't have the same rights, as for individuals, we can all leave the UK when we wish, it's this process that's known as emigrating.

im all for it, its really not on that students in the UK end up with a 27k debt while in the same Union they exit with 12 or none

9k a year is crazy