On the topic of still being British...

It has drawn to a close. The IndyRef battle has been won and whether or not you agree with the result, the people of Scotland have shown that we are the best nation on Earth. I will be honest, I celebrated today but that does not mean I am anti-independence. In the end I was moved from the "No" camp to the "Maybe" camp by "Yes" voters and my current stance on the matter is "Yes, Scotland could be independent... just not yet.".

If Salmond had waited, thought out a rough plan that wasn't theoretical and not been Alex Salmond, why not, independence would be great but that is just me. Then again, my opinion doesn't matter - I was born in Scotland and my family are Scottish but we had to move just before I started school and despite my passion and my willingness to have my voice heard, it never was and so it is irrelevant. I am only here to offer condolence to those who are disappointed.

My town is a Tory town in rural Leicestershire, the residents have voted Conservative for a century. Our Working Men's Club is now a private school and we are so depleted in terms of left-wing seats that my Dad has considered taking on the role himself for the sake of a fair vote. Talk about not getting who you vote for, it amazes me that my parents even bother. It amazes me that I bother. Yet here I am and I can safely say that even Tories are sick of the Tory government. I had my friend, who is as Conservative as they come, willing to join me on a march against NHS privatisation. I have friends who have had the Daily Mail on their kitchen table their whole lives who are likely to vote Labour or even Green in the next election. Confidence in David Cameron's government is dying out here (in a Tory safe haven) just like Scotland. England is sick and ENGLAND WANTS CHANGE.

A reoccurring theme on today's social media has been "Scotland has lost its bravery". THIS IS NOT THE CASE. If anything, Scotland has just chosen the difficult road. It would be cowardice to simply turn our back on so many who are suffering across the rest of the U.K under the Conservative's iron rule, wipe our hands of our debts and walk away. We have chosen to stay together and Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland CAN bring Westminster to its knees. If Scotland could almost do it on their own, imagine what can be done as a union! Millions upon millions of people all standing up together to fight against Thatcher's legacy. It is Scotland that has started this off, it is Scotland that has given Britain its voice and it is Scotland that will make a change. If that isn't bravery, I do not know what is.

Scotland had its highest voting turn-out in history yesterday. Use that to your strength. Come next May, go to your ballot station and vote for the left. Do everything in your power to make your voices heard because they can no longer be ignored. Farage is terrified, he wants English consolation and why? Because Scotland has stood up to be counted more so than ever and each new voice is a voice against him. It isn't England who are the opponents, it is the right and we already have them on their knees.

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Bannockburn is not relevant?

1314 is a date that has rung through the Scottish media with great volume over the past few years. Being the year of Bannockburn, the date has a huge amount of significance to Scotland as we beat the English against the odds sending them homeward to think again. 700 years on, Scotland faces a new battle with England, the battle for independence.

Many see what Salmond is doing. It is clear that he deliberately chose 2014 as the year of the referendum because of Bannockburn in order to obtain as many "yes" votes as possible. He hopes to rouse up the Scots with ancient jingoism and delusional patriotism. The idea of 'fighting for freedom' will appeal to many Scottish citizens who have a chip on their shoulder about how the "English" have oppressed and exploited them throughout history although the idea that the English hate the Scottish is yet another misconception. In fact, living in England and being being Scottish by birth and by ancestry, I see a lot more hatred being subjected from Scotland's court than England's.

"Nationalist" Scots confuse the English for the Tories, which is of course is a ridiculous and xenophobic statement to make. Yes, Thatcher fucked Scotland right over and the reason Scotland faces so many of the problems it does is down to her and her elitist government but she also fucked over Wales and everywhere north of Leicester. A lot of Scotland's hatred is based on the assumption that all English people voted for Thatcher and compliment her policies. This is not true in the slightest. It is probably an accurate statement that without Scotland in the Union, Labour will face real difficulty gaining power in U.K Government but that's not to say that austerity hating, worker loving people don't exist in England. It's very far from the truth. The SNP are not turning on their enemy, rather the opposite, they are turning on a true ally.

Back to Bannockburn. People were outraged that Armed Forces Day was on the same day as the Bannockburn celebrations and claimed the clash had an underlying agenda. Not the case. There has been no mention of Bannockburn in England (in fact if ashamed to say that it would have gone straight over my head if I hadn't been told by my Gran), as far as I know it isn't on David Cameron's radar at all. This is a sting but extinguished the idea of agenda on the Conservatives' part. This is because a battle 700 years ago is irrelevant to today's society.

Yes, it is Scotland's heritage but honestly, how many of us actually can safely say that 700 years ago their ancestor actually fought against Edward? I know that I can't. Just over 100 years ago, the majority of my family were living in Ireland. I also have descendants from Northern Europe. I know that really, my ancestors probably didn't fight at Bannockburn and would say that most Scots are the same. Also this is ancient Scotland we are talking about. The Scotland fought over in 1314 is in no way the Scotland we see now. We cannot take political and cultural inspiration from something that happened close to a millennium ago. Take the American constitution, although Republicans frequently tell us that 'the constitution states I have a right to _____ because of the _____ amendment' (written in 1787), it is a document that is becoming increasingly irrelevant to many of its citizens as the America of the founding fathers is no longer the America we have today. This is a document that until 1918 didn't allow women to vote in America - it is obviously obsolete and out of touch with the modern world.This is a way of thinking that is almost 500 years younger than Bannockburn yet we are told to believe that it is our destiny to take it further. 

The Scots that fought at Bannockburn are not the Scots that will vote this September in terms of politics and culture. This was in the days of feudal society and clans. Today, Scotland is a place of materialism and class. Your surname is of no more importance in terms of status than the kind of toilet roll you buy. We are not Ancient Scotland, we are Modern Scotland. The Scotland that Robert the Bruce fought for no longer exists so why take influence from it when September comes? 

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Scotland, listen to Hillary.

I don't like America. They're greedy, warmongering capitalists who will do anything to dominate the world whatever the cost. At least that is what it used to be like. Since Obama came into power, becoming the first black President of the United States, and we saw a change come to America. Obama has been a huge contrast to the Republican government that preceded him. Led by George W Bush, America invaded a middle eastern nation for no real reason and have yet to apologise for their actions. He took us to war in Afghanistan and is one of the leading figures in the huge rise in Islamophobia in the past ten years (of course Blair doesn't get off unscaved). Under Obama, America is set to leave Afghanistan next year, has legalised gay marriage in various states and is set to roll out free health care across the country. This, to Republican's despair, has caused America's reputation as the GLOBAL SUPERPOWER to fall by the wayside a little and America now has a softer look on the world.

This week parts of Iraq were invaded by Islamists who have taken control of the countries second largest city, Mosul. Since then, eyes have been on America (who invaded Iraq and started a war to "liberate" the Iraqi people from an Islamist dictatorship) to see whether or not they would take military action against the terrorist group. Obama made a statement yesterday telling the world that American troops will not be entering Iraq as he felt that this was a conflict that had to be sorted amongst themselves. I sighed a sigh of relief when I watched him make his statement and thought about how different it could have been if Romney had been elected in his place in the last election.

On Thursday's Newsnight, Hillary Clinton took part in a 20 minute interview with Jeremy Paxman where she discussed the situation in Iraq and whether or not she will run for President in the next election. At a point in the interview, Paxman brought up the issue of Scottish Independence, to this she said she was against the idea of it. Naturally, she took J K Rowling's

place as the SNP's most hated woman of the week but surely her statement is sending alarm bells ringing throughout the whole of the SNP's agenda.



Clinton is arguably the most powerful woman in the world, she was in charge of foreign policy in America for four years - she knows her stuff! To me, the only politicians in the world who think independence is a good idea is the SNP. It seems to be becoming more and more apparent that the SNP's manifesto is a clumsy one based on grudges rather than politics. More and more great powers are saying this is a bad idea, why not listen?

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"The Sun is an unashamedly positive celebration of Englishness"

Ed Miliband has apologised for any offence caused by a picture released of him with a free copy of the Sun Newspaper. The picture was viewed as controversial because the Sun is #1 a right-leaning newspaper and #2 because many Labour supporters condemn the paper for its involvement in the Hillsborough disaster coverage. As a Labour member, I was slightly disgruntled to see Mr Miliband appearing with my most hated paper (yes, more than the Daily Mail) but I was more annoyed with the statement made by the Sun in response to the event.

The issue in question is the free copy of the Sun released to celebrate England's participation in Brazil's World Cup. The issue was described by the Sun as being:

"An unashamedly positive celebration of Englishness" 

which made me rock my head in a disapproving manner. As a Scottish/British who has lived in England for most of my life, I have a very balanced view (I like to think) on the England vs Scotland rivalry. This is the main reason I support 'Better Together' and condemn the SNP and why I really hate Thatcher and the England football team. To me, the patriotic England issue (which all three of the main parties' leaders were photographed with) was in bad taste considering we are less than 100 days away from the Scottish Referendum. 

Here is why:

When I said I hated the England football team, I didn't mean the likes of the 11 players who kick the ball around and disappoint everyone every four years by being utterly CRAP. These are the men my brother has looked up to since he was 6 years old and, for a time, I did too. What I mean is THE FANS. English "yob" football culture is one of the most exhausting things I have ever witnessed. The drunken bias and bitterness that seeps from football fans every 2 years (counting the Euro) is just not necessary. I was at Soccer Aid on Sunday and the hatred towards Edgar Davids after he fouled Johnny Wilkes was disgusting - it actually ruined the game for me. He was booed every time he touched the ball and, to be honest, that is not what a charity event for Unicef should be about. If it had happened the other way round, most certainly the England fans would have been silent. It isn't just me who is irritated by this, and no doubt many more find it more irritating than I do.

Considering the SNP are such an influence on the Scottish people and it is very plausible that Scotland will say "yes" to independence (which, as far as I know, is something the Government and EU does not want to happen), you would expect for English bias to be turned down a notch until September in the media. 

It is unfortunate that the World Cup and Scottish Referendum are months apart and I understand that the English do want to be patriotic - I know if Scotland were in the World Cup there would be ten times the party but Scotland leaving the U.K seems very likely to me and personally I think more needs to be done to turn people against it. If Scotland votes "no", which it is still probable that they will do, there will be a huge debate sparked about why Scotland is so unhappy within the United Kingdom and I believe that English bias in the media is one of the main problems.

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Leave JK Rowling alone.

98 days until the Scottish referendum, will it go ahead or won't it? Are we reaching our final days as the "Great Britain" we know and hold dear? Nobody knows. SNP stickers are popping up all over Twitter making it seem that the party had lots of support (although by that logic the rest of Twitter is against it) including celebrities and journalists (many of whom are not Scottish/ or live in Scotland). The "Better Together" campaign, less so on Twitter although they too have had a lot of support from onlooking celebrities.

One of the celebrities is writer J K Rowling who recently came out in support of the "No" campaign by giving them £1million. This has sparked outrage amongst SNP supporters who think she needs to shut up. Granted, Rowling is only 1/4 Scottish and so you could argue that her view is biased and invalid but she is a highly intelligent woman who has made millions through the Harry Potter franchise, a franchise that has brought happiness to millions all over the world. Despite her wealth, Rowling is a long running Labour Party supporter and regularly donates to charities and good causes. This is why SNP supporter's reactions sadden me deeply.

Throughout the day, many Scots have called J K Rowling a Tory which is unfair and completely wrong. As a Scottish person, I get deeply offended by generalisations made and satire found in the Scottish people -"Monopoly money" is a term I particularly hate. I do agree with the view that the English (overall) underestimate and undermine the Scottish (and Welsh) people subconsciously. The misconception that "English" and "British" are synonyms, the change in the media of Andy Murray being "British" or "Scottish" depending on whether or not he won the final of a competition or not. The undermining of Scottish sport in general. I get it and I hate it. Despite this, I am not a suspect of using double standards. Just because Scots are met with prejudice by some of the English doesn't mean we should subject the English to the same kind of prejudices. Just because Rowling is English does not mean she is a Conservative. Just because she dares have an opinion does not mean she is a bitch or any less of a successful human being.

People are rich and sometimes they give to needy causes. Yes, she could have given to food banks or to the poor but she didn't, she gave to the "No" campaign and in my opinion that money will go to good use. She is just as entitled to have a voice and an opinion as you or I - so let her. Just because Thatcher was a bitch doesn't mean that every successful woman in England is too!

Here is her statement.
Here is a selection of Scotland's finest political opinions.


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