Scottish independence: Barack Obama backs 'strong and united' UK

Independence for Scotland is about getting away from Westminster and the Tory Governments continually voted in by stupid English voters, rather than the Union itself... I'm English, I live in Wales and when the time comes I too will vote for Wales to leave the Tory Dickensian Nightmare. English middle class have themselves to blame. as to what Obama's opinion on the subject .... who cares? When I watch a puppet its to be entertained not to be taken seriously.

a reply to: Soloprotocol

Is there any reason to believe that Scotland, and by extension, Wales, wouldn't remain closely aligned with England?

I've no idea of the strength of the independence movements in either place.

a reply to: seagull

I'm pretty sure Obama would have been asked by that snivelling fool Cameron for his opinion, just like he asked Putin for his. Fortunately Putin had the sense to tell him to get lost and deal with his own issues. It's a shame Obama didn't just say the same thing.

Anyway - 100 days to go!!!!

originally posted by: seagull
a reply to: Soloprotocol

Is there any reason to believe that Scotland, and by extension, Wales, wouldn't remain closely aligned with England?

I've no idea of the strength of the independence movements in either place.

As we are trading partners with both England and Wales of course we will remain closely aligned...

a reply to: seagull

No there isn't, no reason whatsoever.
Except, even though I am Welsh, Wales has a cat's chance in hell of making a success of going independent. They just don't have the resources. But that's just what I see at the moment.

It's not so much that Obama voiced his opinion on the Independence issues, it's what has come to light about the Government telling the BBC reporter to ask the question and Obama agreeing to give his support to the NO vote. For our Government to basically 'rig' the whole Q&A session goes against the policies in place about what you can and cannot do for fair electioneering in the UK.......somebody's head should roll for that....it's manipulation of the press for one sides benefit, or not as the case may be here.

Rainbows
Jane

BBC Lawbreaking

a reply to: crazyewok

Barack Obama's endorsement of a No vote is the same as David Cameron's meaning it will only sway the undecided voters to indeed vote YES. LoL

a reply to: Soloprotocol

Quote from your link...

This ought to be an absolutely huge scandal which leads to resignations at the BBC. Yes, it is not unprecedented for officials to ask a journalist to ask a helpful question. The Tories might well ask the Sun or Telegraph to ask them something. But it is a completely different thing when it is a state broadcaster legally obliged to neutrality and part of a referendum or election campaign.

Thank you

Rainbows
Jane

"The third way to look at it, if this is all true, is that perhaps figures within the Scottish government such as the First Minister Alex Salmond would make the point that if David Cameron is having to request the assistance of the US president to weigh into the Scottish independence referendum debate then perhaps it is not the 'Yes' campaign that is on the back foot, it is the 'Better Together' campaign." lol
Deary me

Things could get quite interesting if Scotland does go it alone - indications are that such a vote could well lead to the Hebrides voting to join Norway!

That would be oil revenues up the swanny for Scotland as well as England then..........

a reply to: Flavian
Highly unlikely to happen if Scotland gets Independence.

This has been discussed at some length further back.

Rainbows
Jane

a reply to: Flavian

angelchemul raised the following issues with that claim on these posts much earlier in the thread.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Mclarenmp4 & Angelchemuel:

Thanks for those links. Hadn't read all the pages - to be honest getting a bit bored of the whole thing! What am i unsure of is why the islands wouldn't get extended maritime boundaries? Surely it would extend as per other sovereign nations? If not then China has more issues with their claims for the Spratly Islands than they seem to think!

To be honest though, i am fed up completely with both sides in this argument. The no camp don't seem to have clue and just focus on the negative aspects whilst the yes camp (Salmond and Sturgeon in particular) can't answer any questions and just basically put their fingers in their ears and whistle loudly when confronted with aspects they do not like (such as being told that EU membership isn't an immediate given).

Frankly speaking, they all appear to be full of the proverbial.

a reply to: Soloprotocol

Well I am astonished that people are astonished! Good grief, it has been blatantly obvious for some considerable time now that the BBC is nothing more than a Government mouthpiece. Study it closely, listen to the propaganda. Take the Ukrainian issue - Very one sided BBC reporting. Nothing, or next to nothing, about the cluster bombings that have taken place. Water, electricity being cut off, people needing food and medicines. Always referring to the annexation and invasion by Putin of Crimea. It goes on and on and it will continue because the truth doesn't support the American and British agenda. Yes it is a disgrace if you pay attention to it. I don't. Pick a channel, they are all the same, they are all in the Government's pocket! It will get worse and worse propaganda wise approaching the referendum date too. Just watch and listen. The same happened with the last Labour Government, as the BBC was referred to as 'Brown's Broadcasting Company.'

My assessment, as a foreigner in Edinburgh, is that this issue is still fluid, nothing is certain.

The Yes campaign had momentum until perhaps 4 or 5 weeks before, there was a pause. The former UK PM Brown still has respect here amongst working classes on the center left, he is still a man to be reckoned with (in Scotland anyway). That plus the elections to the EU Parliament have blunted activity somewhat, the media in Scotland is still very UK & Londres centric & much prominence was given to UKIP & Farage than any other politician. In fact there was a demonstration of many hundreds in Glasgow outside BBC Scotland HQ last week about MSM bias against the Yes campaign, although it was not reported widely (how apt).

I have followed this issue closely. I still think it will come down to the working class, central Scotland electorate, how that will swing. There is a sectarian divide in these communities, between catholic and protestant. To be blunt, many catholics want Yes and many Orangemen want No. But speaking to colleagues and friends, many are putting away their instinctive sectarian rivalries and looking for something else ... and the Yes campaign benefit.

Some joke that if England progresses in the soccer world cup that Scotland's independence is guaranteed, such trivia things sometimes grate with the Scots that you wouldn't think possible, they can be a nasty, petty & small minded nation at times. Some Yes people claim "you are a traitor to Scotland if you vote No !". For that is how many see the referendum, they see no benefits by remaining in UK. Some in the No campaign are as mad, predicting armageddon if the Yes campaign is successful, with neverending stories of doom and disaster if Scotland votes Yes. PM Cameron wins votes for the Yes campaign merely by landing his airplane in Scotland, he is a walking talking vote loser for Better Together, as are the UK cabinet members.

In fact, when you consider the No campaign, there's so few of any substance who aren't tainted by the last UK Labor government or the current UK coalition. All many see is Darling & Brown, the two men most responsible for the financial catastrophe. Or Danny Alexander, the treasurer minister, an ineffectual man of the peculiar sort, you would "not have him to tea" as a friend has said !

For those 15 hours on referendum day, only the people of Scotland will have their say, for the first time in over 300 years they will be able to vote as fully sovereign electors, only their vote will count. That itself is a remarkable tribute to the UK and the ease at which the four constituent nations of UK are with each other, that such an important issue is peacefully decided.

It's a historic vote and one the Scots don't squander or live to regret. I doubt this choice will come again in many generations, they need to get it right.

My prediction ?

The polls say one thing but my gut feels another, I think the outcome might be truly earth shattering for UK, EU & OTAN/NATO !!!

A letter sent to Obama today...by Duncan Forbes.

Hello Mr President. I write this correspondence both in anger and disbelief.
You allowed yourself to be duped by what has transpired to be a Westminster orchestrated BBC criminal partisan piece of bad journalism. It may even have made you an accessory.

If I or any other Scotsman had dared to suggest that we be allowed to interfere in any U.S. plebiscite, you would be justifiably angered and offended. If I had suggested that I should be allowed to purchase another country lock stock and barrel for a court accepted £20,000 sterling, to be distributed amongst standing politicians or representatives so as to secure the parliamentary vote in my favour, your country, the community of nations and the U.N. would be up in arms, probably threatening military reprisals and sanctions etc.

Well Mr president that's exactly what Lord Gillingham of Westminster did. He paid the Duke of Queensberry that odious figure and with the rate of exchange that became £240,000 scots. Lord Archibald Campbell's share being £1,100scots and made Lord Chatham all the way down to Lord Banffshire's derisory £11 and 2 shillings. All of which is illegal under scots law and morally wrong under any court in the world.

Our national bard "Robert Burns" nailed it in verse several times "sic a parcel o rogues in a nation" and "chains and slavery".

When you divide the £20,000 sterling into the round figures 4.5million scots it equates to two a penny "bought and sold for English gold". So you as a black man who has fought like your forefathers to be all you can be, striving for equal rights, race laws, equal opportunities, the million man march, a seat on the bus and finally the presidency are backing Westminster. The institution that only made owning another man illegal in the sixties, that is fighting to keep the nation it bought for £20,000 sterling, with the shortest life expectancy in the British isles, the smallest average wage, highest cancer rates, the hardest working race and the greatest contributor per head to their coffers.

They cleared millions of us off our land and shipped them to the colonies (sound familiar) and only stopped this when the army needed highland troops that weren't theirs.

A black man who made the presidency supporting the same principles of suppressing and controlling another race for personal gain? Can you justify this to your electorate? You are going to have to Mr president.

So I ask you, is this what you want to be in bed with? Will your wife and kids respect you more or less for this?

How many "Mac's" on your countries boards? How much corporate sponsorship will you possibly lose?

As a black man in power, how could you live with yourself?

You have fallen a great distance in my eyes, remember the audit trail and facts as you look in the mirror.

As you kiss your wife and kids good night,will they have the same pride in their eyes when they find out? Well will they?
Think about it!, in disgust. Duncan Forbes

P.S>I am one of the "one hundred" mentioned on our "declaration of independence" and I defy anyone or anything to tell me to live under Westminster rule.

2 things:

1. Obama was asked his opinion. He gave it.

2. Who gives a crap about scottish independence ?

Next insignifant Obama 'scandal', please stpe forward!

a reply to: VirusGuard
I hope not and VERY much doubt it. I want Scotland to do what SCOTLAND wants ,we in the US will back them even if our Govt sucks. I'm on oxygen at night and require albuterol to live but I would LOVE to visit and and see it there.



I won't bring my guns...unless they ask for them as aid,hey, that is what they were bought for really. My freedom their freedom,everybody's freedom.

originally posted by: TownCryer
2 things:

1. Obama was asked his opinion. He gave it.

He was asked a loaded question by, what is supposed to be a neutral and impartial broadcaster, at the behest of the UK government, against UK broadcasting regulations. This is a VERY serious breach of protocol, highlighting a BIAS in the UK media, and particularly the BBC, who MUST be impartial (It's in their Charter, AND they are funded by Scottish License Fee payers, as well as the rest of the UK ones!)

2. Who gives a crap about scottish independence ?

I do.
Oh, and so do the other 5.3 million people in Scotland.
Oh, and so do most of the other 58.4 million people in the rest of the UK.
Oh, and so do most of the other tens (hundreds?) of millions, of Scots descent the world over.

It is the single most important decision that the people of Scotland will take in their lives, (and probably in the last 300 years!)
It would be nice if everyone respected that fact (especially given the rightful significance that is placed on America's own declaration of Independence).

a reply to: LeBombDiggity
You still trying to convince everyone you are a Frenchman...lol

Well sussed out a long time ago Central Scotland Boy.