Off Topic Political Debate

Brittany has about 20% of their population who speak Breton and since 2008 it has been legally recognized. More and more as you drive around France you will come across signs that are in dual languages.
Going to Corsica next week I will find everywhere signs that local government is doing well, with separate tax systems, a regional government that is different to anywhere else in France and of course all the road signs that do not correspond to a map or SatNav. As a relatively small island though it is difficult to believe that it could survive without financial assistance from mainland France. Moderates accept the status quo, but there are those nationalists who will always wish for total independence.

 

The name of the only person I knew that my Dad worked with there was Ray Grey, who he knew from when he did his apprenticeship after leaving school in 62 (they were both plumbers by trade), and he remained friends with since and was also the one who hired my Dad as he was Head of Maintenance at the time. I can't remember when he started there, as he was self-employed most of his working life, but my Dad was there for the photo shoots for the new millennium.

 

In the Jersey Evening Post this week, there was a story that if Britain do leave the EU, it cause problems for our trade. I only saw the headline, as I rarely buy the JEP. We aren't officially a member of the EU, but apparently we're an "associate" member - I've lived here nearly 20 years and only just found that out, and not due to that article.

 

Two pieces of nonsense in one sentence.

The Scots are a separate race - The 1707 Acts of Union joined two parliaments together, parliaments from separate countries. They did not erase the ethnicity of either.

Scots have never governed the UK. Presumably you are referring to the likes of Gordon Brown - Scots who were elected as leaders of political party by the predominantly English membership. Using your logic, it would mean that Canada has governed the UK as well - which is plainly a nonsense.

 

Not all Scots are Celts, though, BB. As not all people who would describe themselves as English are WASPs.

 

I don't think it really matters here. Scotland was once a country in it's own right and that's the important point. Most of the industrial south of Scotland was of either Anglo Saxon or Danish origins and never spoke Gaelic - the highland line was as important a border to them as was the border to England. But does it matter - the Dutch and the Austrians are not ethnically distinct from the Germans but they are still separate countries.

 

Did Ray have a beard and played golf at Berko golf course with my friend Ron?

 

And not all Celts are Scots either. The term can describe ethnic peoples of Ireland, Wales, Scotland, parts of France and even England.

You confused me a bit there, andy - I didn't think I'd made any mention of Celts...

 

If we want to become racist then your argument is valid. Personally I was born in England with heavy celtic welsh and minor celtic irish and norman blood. Many Scotts are similar and many English similar. We are of multicultural origin in these isles and not separated by some arbitrary border. Scotland is no more a country in my mind than Wessex, you can go back as far as you choose for your own convenience to draw borders. What we have is a union of kingdoms, not in my mind nations under one sovereign rule and it serves very well. Pedantics Gordon Brown was Scottish, John Smith would have made a great country leader and was a brilliant politician, the influence of Scots and Welsh (Nai Bevan was possibly the greatest politician on par with Winston C in influencing the evolution of Britain). Its sad that the current inepts in Salmond, Sturgeon and the like are not of the same moral or intelectual calibre and therefore attempt to create a small pond that they can prosper in rather than work for the greater good of the Scottish and other British peoples.

 

[QUOTE="aberdeenhornet, post: 9217822, member: 1000497" Scotland is no more a country in my mind than Wessex. [/QUOTE]

And therein lies your problem. Perhaps you should look up the definition of Scotland - or even that of the UK.

 

It was the only way I could understand Scots as being from a different race to me. What did you mean by different race?

 

Just read the through most of this and it's an interesting debate.

I'm not a Scot, but if I were I would want independence. As I'm English, I massively respect and value our Scots neighbours including the union. Their (including our Welsh neighbours) intelligence and common sense is the only thing sometimes that makes this United Kingdom's future bearable. Their jont influence has often kept rabid Tory dogma in check.
I thought Nicola Sturgeon the best and most plausible person to vote for in the last GE. SNP and Plaid Cymru didn't stand in Hertfordshire, more's the pity.

We need them more than they need us, IMHO. We need to treat them better, let them know how we value them and their opinions. It's like this 'red herring' only English MPs to vote on English matters. What a crock. We have e.g. a Dept of Education where they all went to public schools deciding policy on state schools - I think SNP/Plaid Cymru MPs who went to state schools, whose children are at state schools, should have more say than the likes of Gove, Gove-clone Morgan, et al.

Stay with us, Scotland/Wales - we need you.

 

Then you must agree that institutions at the macro EU level are not required - you cannot support regional governments and the EU.

 

I can and I do support this, my ideal EU. would be a confederation of regions rather than nations.

 

He had a beard but I don't know if he played golf.

 

There are many things I can do for myself, which require no level of government help. Then there are things that do need some form of control, e.g. planning or I might object to every proposal. Then there are things that need even more input from local, even national government, things like education power supplies, defence. The final level is the EU that sets standards for goods to ensure my safety, creates regulations to ensure that workers are treated fairly, and works on trade deals between nations to provide the everyday things we take for granted at a reasonable price.

As far as I as an individual am concerned it is not difficult to find fault with every level, but accept that all tiers of government evolve with time to suit the changing circumstances. There are so many technological things today such as the internet that do need much wider monitoring to prevent child pornography, or parting the elderly from their savings for example, but this is a problem that needs rather more than me as an individual saying I want the laws changed. The more countries working together in an acknowledged framework is what is required. Yes let's have as much local government as possible, but not believe that it can deal on it's own with this modern world.

 

The size of government matters a lot less than the quality of the governors!

 

I have to admit that that was a tad confusing - but it was a response to comments which had muddied the waters somewhat by using the terms 'race' and 'nation' interchangeably.

 

To a point I agree Frenchie. There are so many areas which need a global or collective response, Co2 reduction being one of the most important. On the other hand we also need a strengthening of, not only local government, but also a relocalization of production....with more and more areas aiming for some sort of self sufficiency wherever possible ie. in those products which do not need to be imported. It becomes problematic when you have too many levels of government because transparency is often lost ie. nobody knows any longer exactly where laws originated (or in what form they were when actually printed)......governments can always say about unpopular laws that they originated from the EU. and nobody is any the wiser.....also the EU. does not have a medium of direct communication with its population as national governments do. There is also the danger of blocking and counter blocking of legislation, leading to inertia. This is especially true in Germany - where we are ruled from the EU. then the government in Berlin, then the state government of NRW. then the `Regierungsbezirk Köln` (untranslateable this one), then the Kreis (constituency), and then lastly the commune (in my case Engelskirchen). The responsibility for unpopular decisions can always be passed on to another sphere of government, like passing the buck, and the people are no wiser as to where the regulation actually came from.

 

Looks like the Independence campaign is back on. Should make for an interesting summer...