Why Scotland is different (some politics for a change)

[alitheapipkin]

I'd like to say that it's because Scots are less racist and more leftwing than the English but that wouldn't actually be true (social attitude studies consistently show little difference - for example this report (pdf) "Is Scotland more left-wing than England" finds very modest differences in concern over income inequality and support for tax-and-

Comments

On Wales

[anonymous]

The thing is, Plaid Cymru are not the unified machine that the SNP are. Would that they were. In some areas they are indistinguishable from Labour, in some they are more right wing nationalists, and their manifestos are uncosted fantasy wish lists with no international vision at all.

[drplokta]

It seems to me that the difference is that Scottish politicians don't need to blame the EU for things, because they can blame Westminster instead.

[alitheapipkin]

There is that. It does have the advantage of being more often true but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that even as a indy supporter, I'm not totally without concerns about what happens when we don't have Westminster to blame. But honestly, I look at the Scottish parliament right now compared to the utter mess at Westminster and think that if we can't do better, we don't deserve nice things!

[danieldwilliam]

(To pre-empt a post I have brewing)

I expect by the time we are independent we'll have sung our own creation myth long enough and loud enough to not need to blame anyone else for our misfortune.

[alitheapipkin]

I look forward to that post :)

[topum]

If Scotland divorced the UK and stayed in the EU we would move to either Edinburgh or Glasgow from London.

[alitheapipkin]

If it happens, I foresee quite a few people doing similarly, friends of mine elsewhere in England are also talking about it.

[topum]

We are not British (Danish / Norwegian) but have been living in Chelsea for a long time and are now watching Scotland closely.

[bunn]

Not me. Can entirely understand why people who have moved here would be thinking about it, but to be dangerously over-earnest for a moment, my grandfather fought actual Nazis with tanks and guns for this country, I will not be leaving it in the hands of god knows who because of one marginal vote. Seems like giving up way too easily.

Interesting Links for 05-07-2016

[livejournal]

User andrewducker referenced to your post from Interesting Links for 05-07-2016 saying: [...] Why Scotland is different [...]

[kalimac]

Possibly the difference between Scotland and Wales has something to do with the Scottish Parliament having more devolved powers than the Welsh Assembly, and possibly due to the differing histories of the respective nationalist parties: the SNP has always focused on the heartland, whereas PC is strongest in the remote rural districts and weak in the urban centre.

[danieldwilliam]

Banff and Buchan is pretty rural.

[kalimac]

So? They've won everywhere; I'm speaking of their focus. The first two seats it ever won in the UK Parliament were Motherwell and Hamilton, and it's continued to do well in urban areas.

[danieldwilliam]

The SNP have not always focused on the heartlands  (by which I think you mean Scotland's cities). Until devolution they mostly held rural seats, like Banff and Buchan, Argyle or Perth. Until Salmond managed the various  breakthroughs that he did the SNP were often referred to as the Tartan Tories because they were,  often as not,  competing with the Conservatives in rural constituencies.

I'm not sure why Wales and Scotland have ended up in different places on the question of the EU but I don't think the SNP being an urban party and Plaid being a rural one is the reason.