[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by James

She could never PM of a country she wants to break up.

Wolf in sheep's clothing, in my opinion.

Obviously.
Her calibre of leadership is what I admire.

Had it been possible for her to be PM of the UK, then I think she'd have the conviction, passion and compassion to unite far more than the present PM ever could or in fact will.

She can contrast firmness with fairness and compassion, they're all qualities I admire in any politician.

In fact I actually thought too that Ruth Davidson was good in a leadership role too.

With so few ' quality ' leaders in all 4 Nations of the UK, for Scotland to have had 2 of the better candidates is quite something in politics.

However, no, you're right she couldn't be PM of the whole UK, which in my view then leaves UK politics the sadder for that fact.

[Oliver_W]

Sturgeon is clearly leaps and bounds ahead of BoJo, and I'll bet it boils his piss.

But further devolution would be crap, we've been essentially one country for ages now, no need to break it up.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Oliver_W

Sturgeon is clearly leaps and bounds ahead of BoJo, and I'll bet it boils his piss.

But further devolution would be crap, we've been essentially one country for ages now, no need to break it up.

Is she? the SNP can make decisions with no accountability.

she locked down in September as this was hailed as fantastic etc etc and despite that 2 million Scots are now under Tier 4 lockdown until 11th December so not sure what it is that is fantastic about her

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Oliver_W

Sturgeon is clearly leaps and bounds ahead of BoJo, and I'll bet it boils his piss.

But further devolution would be crap, we've been essentially one country for ages now, no need to break it up.

There is a clear and present need, and as I said I'd go further and devolve the English regions into pseudo-"states" with control of their own budgets.

Westminster policy is geared towards the functioning of the City of London and has been since the 80's, it clearly and demonstrably does not work for anywhere other than the South of England, and it can't really ever work, for obvious reasons. Scotland, and several large regions of England, have very different needs to London and the South. I get (to an extent) not supporting independence, but I can see no valid reason to oppose full devolution of regional budgets (up to and including health services, education, benefits & social support etc.)

Scotland is finally getting there with Social Security Scotland being in transition from the England-based DWP, still a few years until that's fully active, and I think it will make an absolutely massive difference. But again, I think there are several English regions that would be better served by similar devolved services in place of the massive, bloated country-wide systems.

[Oliver_W]

Originally Posted by Cherie

Is she? the SNP can make decisions with no accountability.

I didn't necessarily say she's good, just that she's much better than BoJo

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Cherie

Is she? the SNP can make decisions with no accountability.

she locked down in September as this was hailed as fantastic etc etc and despite that 2 million Scots are now under Tier 4 lockdown until 11th December so not sure what it is that is fantastic about her

To be fair, that's not actually because it didn't work, it was working and cases were coming down, but they went ahead with harsher restrictions anyway which I personally think is complete overkill and I have my doubts about the overall effect. I think it will damage compliance, which has been good so far. The aim I think is to go in hard now to limit the effect of allowing Christmas gatherings. I do have my questions about this, I think it's a misfire to be honest, but it's not because earlier actions weren't effective or are in need of criticism.

[Oliver_W]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

But again, I think there are several English regions that would be better served by similar devolved services in place of the massive, bloated country-wide systems.

I agree, parts of England such as Scot"land" and Devon are too different from London for their policies to apply

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Oliver_W

I agree, parts of England such as Scot"land" and Devon are too different from London for their policies to apply

Scotland has never been a part of England

[Oliver_W]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

Scotland has never been a part of England

Sorry Braveheart

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Oliver_W

Sorry Braveheart

I mean it's slightly irritating but more than that it's just historically/geographically not correct - I suppose a unionist might argue that Scotland isn't a country, but that doesn't make Scotland a part of England... basically, if Scotland isn't a country but a region, then England also isn't a distinct country but a region (and Wales and NI too). UK would be the country. you can't have it both ways! I'd almost be happy to say there's no such thing as Scotland if it means there's also no such thing as England . We'll take the hit.

[Oliver_W]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

I'd almost be happy to say there's no such thing as Scotland if it means there's also no such thing as England . We'll take the hit.

DEAL!

but the whole of the UK is also called England

[Toy Soldier]

Originally Posted by Oliver_W

DEAL!

but the whole of the UK is also called England

No because then we'd have to use the English flag as our only flag instead of the Union Flag, and everyone would think we're all white supremacists because of the unfortunate links between the St George's Cross and racist hooliganism

[Oliver_W]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

No because then we'd have to use the English flag as our only flag instead of the Union Flag, and everyone would think we're all white supremacists because of the unfortunate links between the St George's Cross and racist hooliganism

Fine, keep your dragon flag and shamrocks