I know it won’t happen, but it should.
The LibDems are being described as ‘KingMakers’ but if the Conservatives in Scotland really believe in democracy, they can ensure the SNP’s power is not watered down by going into coalition with them. A minority coalition of Labour and the LibDems is the last thing Scotland needs and exactly what they did not ask for.
The Conservatives could ensure that Scotland gets to express its opinion in Independence and also show the Scottish electorate whether the SNP is able to run the country as they claim.
| Party | Seats |
|---|---|
| SNP | 47 |
| LAB | 46 |
| CON | 17 |
| LD | 16 |
| Others | 3 |
The announcement by Cameron that the Conservative Party in Scotland is going to be outsourced should enable this freedom. A unionist party is, today, as relevant as would be the Communist Party. Parties should stand on principle — I’ve said it many times since Cameron started abandoning it — but when something becomes irrelevant there’s no sense in hanging onto it. If we were to leave the EU (one can dream) then pro-EU parties would share a similar relevance to the “and Unionist” part of the Conservative Party’s name has today.
Let’s see the SNP and Conservatives work in coalition in Scotland. Let’s see bravery in our parties.
May 7th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
ORIGINALLY POSTED BY BILL (SCOTLAND) (Homepage) at 1.35pm
Most unlikely, but even if it did the two parties together couldn’t command a majority in Parliament; perhaps Independent MSP Margo MacDonald could be persuaded to join - she certainly wouldn’t block an independence referendum.
I don’t, for the life of me, understand why the LibDems are so opposed to a referendum; I am totally against ’separation’ or ‘independence’ or whatever you want to call it, but I think a referendum would be highly unlikely to yield a positive result for the SNP - it is a possibility of course, but if we pretend to live in a democracy then we shouldn’t shrink from asking difficult questions, even if that particular answer would appal me.
May 7th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ME at 3.18pm
Absolutely. There seems to be a reluctance to grant petitions to causes that are not supported by the ruling party. This is dangerous and promotes the supposition that General Elections etc are referendums…
The UKIP policy of allowing referendums on items with popular support is a great idea so long as it does not allow suppression of a minority by the majority.
EU membership, EU treaties and English devolution are three items I believe we should have immediate referenda on.
May 7th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
ORIGINALLY POSTED BY TIM ROLL-PICKERING (Homepage) at 3.35pm
My understanding is that the Lib Dems oppose a referendum on two grounds:
1). They believe in parliamentary democracy and feel that referendums undermine this. I think they feel an election should be the mandate for independence. (Fair enough, it’s a common view.)
2). They think if the SNP were able to hold a referendum then until that point everything would be done with the aim of stirring up support for independence, rather than running Scotland in its best interests.
May 7th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
ORIGINALLY POSTED BY DAVE at 3.51pm
But the problem with referendums is sometimes politicians will keep asking until they get the result they want and then wont ask again. Thats hardly democracy is it.
The another problem is how to treat a very low turnout, I don’t think you can just assume the non-voters don’t care, they could well just be sick of politicians who will do what they want anyway, for example the EU constitution.