

(366 Posts)


Not4turning Sat 08-Dec-12 02:39:22

The minute Scotland leaves the uk, if I find that one penny of my tax goes there, I will start the revolution myself. I really mean it.

I believe that as an Island we are alright, thanks but when the scots go into the EU we will have a problem protecting the uk because they will be part of Europe.

ALMOSTMRSG How do you know that? I think that the whole of Glen Douglas will open up like a scene from Thunderbirds should the big red button get pressed grin

Storage is theoretically all well and good, but however unlikely the possibility of an all out thermonuclear war is...would the other side be kind enough to wait until we pop down to Coulport, dust down a few warheads, then wonder where they could launch them from, have a AIBU MN discussion on the matter, before realising there's only the lucky few humans left alive in the Glen Douglas and London bunkers?

As ItsAllGoingToBeFine indicated, the whole area is Nuke Central. Whether subs, underground command centres, or weapon storage, it would certainly be a priority target.

Nuclear strike capacity is just willy-waving of the highest order... sad

ItsAllGoingToBeFine Mon 26-Nov-12 09:07:30

Almost Nukes are stored at Coulport, about 25miles from Glasgow. I think that is close enough to be slightly concerned, and then of course there are the nuclear warhead equipped subs which potter up and down the Clyde...

Beveridge Sun 25-Nov-12 23:03:16

The Queen currently IS Elizabeth the First of Britain and Scotland. She's only Elizabeth II of England, Wales and Ireland.

But you'd never know that by the postboxes.

ALMOSTMRSG Sun 25-Nov-12 23:00:50

WASLOST - Nuclear weapons are not stored at Glen Douglas.

prettybird Just you and I left to thrash it out on this Thread I think! Can the last Tory left in Scotland please turn the lights off on their way out grin

Re: above comment - here, have my shock 'ed face....though why I should be shocked at anything the Tories do to Scotland I don't know (Poll Tax introduced here one year before England, Wales, and N.I. Was only south of the border 'Poll Tax' riots that got any attention 12 months later) I have driven through Glen Douglas a lot of times, and have always found it creepy - would give my eye teeth to have a look at the underground network that is below the seemingly innocuous above the few ground roads and bunkers.

Never mind the oft fabled 'North Sea oil revenues', rental charges for storing nuclear warheads (post-Independence) should see us right for a few years.

prettybird Fri 23-Nov-12 17:25:00

I've just seen an article that was in the Telegraph last month saying that if Scotland achieved independence and decided it didn't want to enter into an agreement with England to continue to host Trident, there was nowhere suitable in England because "Devonport in Plymouth has too large a population in the surrounding area to safely store nuclear warheads"

Population of Plymouth 260,000
Population of Glasgow and environs 1.2 million


prettybird When the Scots vote for Independence, and if they choose to retain the Monarchy it will be Liz the 1st, then Chuck the 3rd, and then King William (which will really cheer up The Rangers and make all their current woes seem insignificant)

Rugby here too...no time for that Blue/Green embarrassment.

prettybird Fri 23-Nov-12 14:35:04

Just had a spurious thought: if the Scots vote for Independence and if they choose to retain the monarchy, would our Queen then be Queen Elizabeth I ? wink

prettybird Thu 22-Nov-12 15:12:14


PoppyAmex Thu 22-Nov-12 10:35:13

(and the idea that David Cameron is keeching his pants at the thought of going down in History as the man who failed to prevent the break-up of the U.K fills me with delight)

How didn't this occur to me? Yet another very valid reason to vote YES grin

prettybird Thu 22-Nov-12 10:31:19

Don't you mean The Rangers? wink

That's part of why ds plays rugby and not football

All good then Prettybird grin

I'm a YES voter.

Head says: tackling the difficulties regarding poverty, social iniquity, urban vs rural issues, and other problems that I feel are particularly Scottish (Rangers/Celtic sectarianism) would be (hopefully) less challenging when dealing with a population of @5 million as opposed to a population of @60 million, when there are historical, logistical, societal, and political ideology differences between them.

Heart says: I hope, I wish, that Scotland could fulfill the potential of its people and again demonstrate that they are still great inventors, artists, writers, pioneers, explorers, and thinkers.


prettybird Thu 22-Nov-12 07:53:01

If you could see my dh, then yes! winkgrin

Prettybird Surely you understand the temptation faced in 1588 by DH's Great Granny (too late for me to work out just how Great!) when she chanced upon a bonny, if slightly waterlogged, Spanish seaman on the beach? Sounds like you're reaping the benefits today so can overlook the slightly less than 100% grin

prettybird Wed 21-Nov-12 23:19:22

...although that would mean he's not the 100% he claim he is grin

prettybird Wed 21-Nov-12 23:17:43

We think there is some (Northern?) Irish - but definitely the same principle as the "dark" Lewismen! wink

His and ds' skins are really olive - and dh's eyes are almost black.

Prettybird Lots of dark eyed, Spanish looking men on/from Lewis. There were Spanish sailors shipwrecked there long ago. Your DH may have Highland ancestry? smile

prettybird Wed 21-Nov-12 19:38:33

I seem to have most European countries in my ancestry (can trace my father's family/surname back to the 1500s) - with the exception of Scotland grin

My friends call me a "pedigree mongrel" smile

Ironically, dh, who claims to be of 100% Scottish ancestry, looks less Scottish than me (although if anything, I look Scandinavian). I swear that there is a shipwrecked Spaniard somewhere in dh's family tree! wink

ItsAllGoingToBeFine Wed 21-Nov-12 19:27:58

The whole question of identity is a really interesting one.

I am technically English, born in England to English parents. I have no Scottish Ancestry at all. I moved to Scotland when I was wee, and was bullied mercilessly in primary school, and half way through secondary (my point of difference being that I was English)

Yet I now love Scotland, it's a great wee country. If I could revoke my British citizenship and get Scottish I would. I want nothing to do with the politics of the Westminster government, they are cruel, short term and text book Tory.

prettybird Wed 21-Nov-12 18:22:02

..but I never known the "other" nationality from my perspective - so for me, living in Scotland wasn't living overseas, it was living at home.

I left there when I was three, my parents had no pride in the place, but they loved Scotland. As it happened, my mum happened to have been born in Scotland - by pure chance, as her father was working here during the war. It meant that it was easier for her to bring the family in on "her" passport as it were. (My dad could have claimed a British passport but it would have been long winded as his mother was half German, half English). I then became naturalised British as soon as soon as I could (or rather, my parents did it on my behalf).

Now, when we emigrated to New Zealand in my teens, that was living "overseas", even though it was planned to be a permanent move. It never felt like "home" to my parents, so we came back to Scotland. Politics played a part in that decision: quite apart from the parochialism that they felt (they made the mistake of not going to one of the big relatively speaking cities), the last straw was a general election being fought and won on the basis that the government would sent the All Blacks to play in South Africa with its blessing . They didn't miss their old country - they missed Scotland.

I suppose I'm also used to having family all around the world - and of many different nationalities. Amongst my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and 2nd cousins (blood related) I have: Danish, German, English, Australian and South African. I don't love them any less because I am Scottish. smile

Solopower1 Wed 21-Nov-12 17:57:14

I don't really understand what you feel, Prettybird, although I'm glad you are happy where you live smile. I have lived overseas too, for several years, but never felt it was home. I've never wanted to change nationality.

For me, home is where my family is - I don't really care where that is, although it happens to be in Scotland at the moment.

And Aitch, I really feel I have nothing to be proud - or ashamed of - in my family.

prettybird Wed 21-Nov-12 17:42:32

My ds loves that as part of his heritage he can claim a connection to the country where I was born. But it doesn't make him feel any less Scottish.

My parents, who made the choice to emigrate here, felt/feel Scottish because they wanted to be Scottish. That's "good" nationalism. Nationalism that borders on racism is when you're not allowed to be [a particular nationality] because you don't fulfill some arbitary "rules" - and are simultaneously hated or discriminated against because you are not [a particular nationality].

I choose to be Scottish. Doesn't mean I don't enjoy visiting the country of my birth and feeling an affinity with it when I do (despite its problems) - but I love coming home to Scotland smile

PoppyAmex Wed 21-Nov-12 17:36:29

Hi Katie - do you mind if I ask what are the principal reasons you're voting yes?

Live in large town
Scot married to a Scot
MA in Politics
Work in Public Sector

Will be a yes from me, DH, DD and all of our friends.

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