DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Is Union sleepwalking towards poll disaster? By Daily Mail Comment PUBLISHED: 00:59 GMT, 15 February 2014 | UPDATED: 01:00 GMT, 15 February 2014 Step by dismal step, the Union between England and Scotland – the most mutually beneficial partnership between two nations in history – seems to be sleepwalking into disaster.
Only a few months ago, the received wisdom was that it was inconceivable the Scots would vote Yes in the September referendum on independence. Now this paper is not so sure.The rancour between both sides is plumbing new and unedifying depths. On 18 September Alex Salmond (pictured) will take Scotland to the polls to vote on independence Complacency reigns in the pro-Union camp, which lacks energy, focus and eloquence. Alex Salmond’s Scottish Nationalists – who are gaining in the polls – ruthlessly exploit Westminster’s weaknesses and miscalculations, of which there have been far too many. No, what worries this paper is that the negative, threatening approach by the pro-Unionists is proving counter-productive. Scots MUST vote for independence! It'll save the rest of us a fortune, says SIMON HEFFER. By Simon Heffer PUBLISHED: 22:12 GMT, 18 September 2013 | UPDATED: 10:30 GMT, 19 September 2013 Over the next 12 months, it will be distressingly hard to avoid Scottish voices on TV and radio droning on about whether or not Scotland should vote in a referendum to leave the United Kingdom next year.
To make matters worse, it is increasingly a debate from which the English, who as taxpayers send a hefty subsidy to Scotland each year to keep that country afloat, are wilfully excluded. In a true democracy we, too, would be allowed our say, with a vote of our own next September, since there are two of us in this particular marriage. Since the mid-Nineties I have been convinced that England and Scotland would benefit from a divorce, or at least from a trial separation. Over the next 12 months, it will be distressingly hard to avoid Scottish voices on TV and radio droning on about whether or not Scotland should vote in a referendum to leave the United Kingdom next year There is another problem. Metro_land: Paragraph of the season. Nigel Farage bundled into police van after being barricaded inside pub where he was going to promote Scottish by-election candidate.
Protesters shouting 'racist Nazi scum' storm UKIP press conferenceThey then lay siege to the pub forcing police to barricade doorsMr Farage is in Scotland campaigning for Aberdeen Donside by-election.
In the red: Ministers serve up £1,000 bottles of Bordeaux from the government wine cellar (plus champagne, brandy and gin) Whitehall functions enjoy 5,000 bottles of wine and spirits in the last yearBill includes a 1906 bottle of Hine Grande Fine brandy worth £1,472Critics say officials should opt for 'modestly' priced drinks By Gerri Peev Published: 18:15 GMT, 7 February 2013 | Updated: 01:30 GMT, 8 February 2013 GUests at Whitehall functions enjoyed £1,000 bottles of Chateau Margaux 1982, an older vintage than the bottle pictured MPs and peers have been drinking bottles of fine wine costing more than £1,000 each at the taxpayer’s expense.
Ministers, officials and their guests got through nearly 5,000 bottles of alcohol worth more than £55,000 in the last year, the annual report into the Government’s wine cellar revealed yesterday. The official figures show that guests at Whitehall events were treated to 23 bottles of a 1982 vintage Chateau Margaux Bordeaux, which sells for up to £1,100 a bottle. In total, 4,651 bottles were taken and £48,955 was spent replenishing supplies. Wimbledon 2012: Why English support for Andy Murray was not all it might have been. By Nigel Jones PUBLISHED: 12:22 GMT, 9 July 2012 | UPDATED: 13:01 GMT, 9 July 2012 Though no tennis fan, Andy Murray's gallant attempt to oust Wimbledon's king Roger Federer from his throne has prompted me to ponder weighty matters that go far beyond sport into history, patriotism, and the ancient ethnic loves and hatreds uniting - but more often dividing - England and Scotland.
In the wake of Murray's defeat, some Scots have voiced well-grounded dark suspicions that the loyalty of many English tennis enthusiasts to Andy, the first Briton to reach the Men's final since 'Bunny' Austin in 1938, was at best lukewarm. Indeed a good few English fans - judging by their Twitter and Facebook remarks - went so far as supporting his triumphant Swiss opponent. So why should this be so? Cameron kicks off bid to stop Scottish independence with 'Tartan and Shortbread' pic at porridge factory. Cameron: 'I hope that when the time comes, Scots will vote to stay in our shared home' He said Scotland had been a 'pioneering country all its life' but the UK provided a 'warm and stable home that billions elsewhere envy'First Minister Alex Salmond condemned PM's 'threadbare' case for unitySalmond: 'The Prime Minister is on very shaky ground if he believes people in Scotland will be fooled again' By Emma Reynolds Updated: 11:47 GMT, 17 February 2012 If there's one thing that's certain to set Scottish teeth on edge, it's the idea that their English neighbours can't see past the well-worn tourist cliches of 'Tartan and Shortbread'.
So the Prime Minister's first stop on his trip North to stop Scottish independence immediately raised eyebrows when his advisers managed to score an unfortunate hat-trick in one photo-op. Tartan? Check. All they needed, some observers might have thought, was a man in a kilt with bagpipes. Scroll down for video A man is taken away by police in Edinburgh. What if Scotland did go it alone? By Andrew Roberts Updated: 13:25 GMT, 14 January 2012 Leading historian Andrew Roberts predicts that an independent Scotland would soon be begging to be part of the UK again.
Alex Salmond: The SNP victory in the independence referendum of Tuesday, June 24, 2014 was impressive by any standards The SNP victory in the independence referendum of Tuesday, June 24, 2014 was impressive by any standards. Despite being held on the 700th anniversary of the battle of Bannockburn — where Scotland’s Robert the Bruce defeated the English forces under Edward II — few independent commentators thought that as many as 60.4 per cent of Scots would vote Yes to the question ‘Do you think Scotland should become independent and leave the United Kingdom?’
Only 38.4 per cent voted No. PM heads north for crisis talks with Alex Salmond over Scottish independence poll plans. By Tim Shipman and Alan Roden Updated: 23:34 GMT, 10 February 2012 David Cameron will travel to Scotland this week for crisis talks with Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond over plans for Scottish independence.
The Prime Minister will make the journey to the Scottish nationalist leader’s ‘back yard’ despite demands by Tory MPs that he summon Mr Salmond to London instead. He is set to travel north for the showdown on Thursday, after the First Minister meets Scottish Secretary Michael Moore on Monday. Heading north: David Cameron, the Prime Minister, will travel to Edinburgh for talks with Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond over independence It will be the first meeting between the two leaders since the SNP leader announced plans to hold a referendum in the autumn of 2014.
The date of the poll has been set to capitalise on the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn, Scotland’s greatest military victory over the English. Their meeting was initially arranged for last month. Lotto winners pay to break up Britain. By Michael Tait Updated: 01:46 GMT, 6 November 2011 The couple who won £161 million on the EuroMillions lottery are to fund SNP leader Alex Salmond’s campaign for Scottish independence.
Colin and Chris Weir – who won the largest-ever EuroMillions jackpot in July – have pledged a ‘seven-figure donation’ to the campaign.