SNP to wipe the floor with Labour?

[Arginald Valleywater]

Sorry mate but living within 9 miles of the border I have a better insight than you. The area around Peebles is almost Cotswoldsish in wealth and a lot of the locals are very keen on cross border trade and don't want the red suited dwarf to ruin their livelihoods.........

[alicia_fan_uk]

Argie, living in close proximity to something *may* give an individual better insight, but your logic muddles the possible (in some contexts maybe even probable) with the empirical.

Also, I'm confused by your geography; you say "the Borders" may go over to the Tories but when DJ challenges you on that you cite the Peebles area as evidence. However, Peebles can't "go over" to the Tories as they already hold it! (For how much longer, we can only speculate...)

[David Johnson]

You may well know the Borders better than I. However the Ashcroft poll and it is only a poll, I realise, predicted 56 of the 59 seats going to the SNP with Labour holding 1 or 2 seats and the SNP being neck and neck with the Tories in another one.

Now given Dumfriesshire is the only seat the Tories currently hold, I suspect the move of the SNP from the 6 Westminster seats they currently hold to potentially 56 is much more significant than the possibility of the Scottish Tories holding their seat or even gaining one.

[Arginald Valleywater]

If the SNP get 56 seats Labour is fucked permanently.

[David Johnson]

You could well be correct, Mr. Valleywater

[Arginald Valleywater]

Good God he agrees with me. Time to emigrate.
In truth we are going from the trad 3 party to a much more locally focussed group of politicians. SNP, Welsh Nationalists, Ulster Unionists, Murdering Fenian Bastards (aka Sinn Fein), UKIP, Nu Labor, Conservatives. The Greens are a non starter and the Glib Dums are a spent force.
If the SNP think they are going to tell someone in Exeter how to live their life then they can fuck right off and live off their rapidly dwindling Oil revenues.

[fatmick]

Up here the under 25's are a VERY interested group of voters!
As for DJ's points I do not think another referendum on independence is likely or called for for 5-10 years to be honest. I believe the will
for the majority of Scottish voters would be for home rule/federalism...ie self government with the exception of foreign policy , defence etc.
The SNP will not enter into a coalition with the tories under any circumstances.
I believe the best way forward both for the SNP, and the UK as a whole would be for informal coalitions/minority government.
I believe the SNP were a better government for Scotland between 2007-2011 when they were a minority government. As a majority government they have done ok but sometimes been too dogmatic.
To summarise, I think all the "minor" parties should vote as per their own manifesto on an issue by issue basis. I hope and pray the days of majority government in a first past the post system are gone forever!

[Porn Baron]

The under 25's I speak to feel these politicians don't have anything in common with them. Everything they say is about London. A different planet. The average salary is ?16k here. Like a third world country compared to London and the south east.

Britain has changed. The time of the big two parties is over. I remember when they got about 98% of the vote between them. Now it's about 60%
Maybe it's time for proportional representation?

[Essex Lad]

Porn Baron wrote:

> The under 25s I speak to feel these politicians don't have
> anything in common with them. Everything they say is about
> London. A different planet. The average salary is ?16k here.
> Like a third world country compared to London and the south
> east.
>
> Britain has changed. The time of the big two parties is over. I
> remember when they got about 98% of the vote between them. Now
> it's about 60%
> Maybe it's time for proportional representation?
>
Yes, if you want weak government.

[Stripey]

A Labour/SNP coalition is a sure-fire route to Devo-Max, which was always the most popular option before the - ironically - the SNP insisted referendum should be a straight yes/no.

The trick will be pulling Devo-Max off without causing resentment in England, Wales and N Ireland.