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A new mandate?
Nicola Sturgeon has warned it would be “completely outrageous” for UK to block a second referendum after her party’s election victory. The First Minister claimed another vote was needed after the SNP and Scottish Greens achieved a majority for independence in the Scottish Parliament.
Why waste another penny on it? Concentrate on what is needed – extra teachers for smaller classes to help the struggling children who have missed so much through Covid and finding work and creating jobs for families.
Lynn Perkins Messing about with numbers and percentages will not change the fact that the SNP have a working majority in all but name and the majority who voted for them knew full well that the SNP wants Scotland to leave the Union. This issue will not go away and I for one will be glad when the Scots leave if that’s their choice and the rest of us can get on with our lives without this constant screaming match.
Allan Moore The rise of the SNP has a lot more to do with the demise of the Labour Party in Scotland, and the vast majority not being able to bring themselves to vote Tory, than any mandate for independence.
Phil Smith
When independencesupporting parties got less than 50 per cent of votes (and only around a third of registered voters) it’s a bit disingenuous to suggest it is the democratic wish of the Scottish people.
Pete Sharwood-smith
Perhaps if more than half of the population had voted for her party she would have a case. They didn't. They chose parties that represent Scotland's place in the Union.
Caroline Currie
This was an election, not a referendum. It’s seats at Holyrood that count. There is now a pro-independence majority. That's what gives the Scottish Parliament a mandate.
Steafan Lindsay I think the Tories and the SNP would love a summer of fighting talk about a referendum. Get the dopey voters caught up in it all then they will all forget about how both parties mucked up the UK economy over the past year.
Daniel Masterton If the democratically elected Scottish Government put together a Bill and seek the powers to run Indyref2,
then Boris refusing it would only fuel the desire for independence, so it will be granted for pragmatic reasons. For me the next issue is that we start to see some real plans about what independence would look like in a post-covid world so that the Scots can exercise their right to make decisions based on full disclosure and a proper fact-checked plan.
Robert Ramsay
Just have a referendum this July. Put it to bed once and for all. Let's see what they have
Ian Mowbray
Go for it then. This year. Let's see what way it goes without a plan or even giving us a vague outline for our economy, how to split and fund the NHS, the border that EU would insist on imposing between Scotland and the other UK countries and how we build the economy after the Greens insist that North Sea oil stops. What about the currency, pensions, educatio – we have not had one answer or any outline of how these things would happen.
Kristian Cooper Most people will have voted for her because she's done not a bad job of steering us through the pandemic, not because we all want independence.
Isobel Logan
The argument right now is not whether Scotland should be independent or not but the fact that due to the election results the Scottish Government have the right to hold a referendum. There's no doubt about that.
Daniel Daibhidh Clouston
If people don't think there are enough people who would vote for independence, why are they so concerned about a vote going ahead?
David Funnell
Off the rails
A Scotrail passenger who dodged train fares over a five-week period has been made to pay more than £990.
I simply wouldn’t pay it. The worst they can do is chuck you off. Scotrail is extortionate. I have no remorse over the travel I’ve stolen over the years.
James Rees
Well done. It costs me nearly £1,900 a year for a season ticket between Bathgate and Edinburgh. So no-one should be dodging fares.
Davie Richardson
They will try to catch fare dodgers but they won't do ticket checks. I managed to travel from Kirkcaldy to Oban and back on six different trains and never had tickets checked once.
Bryan Wood