Haggis!!!

> Quebec, in Canada, is a
> good analogy for this,
> as they have a strong
> separtist party. In the
> 1990s they almost
> managed this…with a
> poll famously showing
> how most Quebecers
> thought when they
> separated from Canada
> they would still receive
> Canadian welfare,
> unemployment, medical
> care, and be able to use
> Canadian money and
> passports.

Absolutely! “Divorce with bedroom privileges.”

I love Quebec and wouldn’t be bothered in the slightest to see it become independent (the eastern, Maritime ROC wouldn’t like it, on the other hand, would feel like Bangladesh). But so many of the people there are as you have described, unrealistic.

Related to this (you probably know this but other readers here may well not) is the question of secession. Why does a referendum on secession have anything other than a clear question on secession? “Do you wish to secede from Canada?” or “Do you wish to become an independent nation?” count. Some activists, as it has been said, would claim “Do you like gravy on your roast beef?” is a clear question on the issue of secession (”separation”).

The one thing I’ll point out in defense of the Quebecois is that many of them know the question isn’t clear, but they still vote Oui in order to cast a no-confidence vote on the government at the time in Ottawa and simply to be heard.

Quebec, in Canada, is a good analogy for this, as they have a strong separtist party. In the 1990s they almost managed this…with a poll famously showing how most Quebecers thought when they separated from Canada they would still receive Canadian welfare, unemployment, medical care, and be able to use Canadian money and passports.

But what will the English do without Scotland. The Scots are the only people whose cuisine the English — a people who invented the deep-fried Mars bar, I would remind folks — can legitimately mock.

Dr. Johnson – the inventor of the English dictionary – was a profound hater of Scotland and things Scottish. He had some great lines:

“The noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees, is the high road that leads him to England!”

He would not allow Scotland to derive any credit from Lord Mansfield; for he was educated in England. “Much may be made of a Scotchman, if he be caught young.”

Johnson, when asked by a Scot what he thought of Scotland:
“That it is a very vile country, to be sure, Sir”
“Well, Sir!” replied the Scot, “God made it.”
Johnson: “Certainly he did; but we must always remember that he made it for Scotchmen, and comparisons are odious. God made hell too.”

To the Scots, the modern EU would make Scotland perfectly palatable as an independent nation. I just don’t think the EU wants yet another tiny country to support.

The lady suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked me in amazement: “Oh laddie! We are not English…We are Scottish. Haven’t you read history? All the wars that we have fought…”