dougiedanger

Exactly, the fundamental issue is do we want to run our own affairs or do we want to continue to be dictated to by Westminster, everything else is secondary.

Saw youse at Barrowlands supporting Northside, thought you were going to be big. What happened?

...whilst you just keep on completely ignoring the arguments of others and making assertions based on no facts or rational argument at all. Without repeating the arguments you chose to ignore, let me just say that I too have an unshakable belief in social healthcare. The difference in our views appears to be that I acknowledge the fact that significant parts of our publicly funded health service are delivered by the private sector whilst you appear to be unwilling to acknowledge that fact. I am not telling anyone what is right. I am simply offering a few facts and giving a few opinions of my own. I am not telling anyone what they should be thinking but I am asking you what you are thinking and you are not rising to the challenge. Let me put it simply; do you think that current private sector service delivery in the NHS should be phased out and replaced with public sector provision? My view is that where private sector service delivery allows public money to be spent more efficiently then the government should make use of the private sector. That is because where the private sector can deliver services more efficiently it releases public money to spend either on other public services or tax cuts. That is a view shared by all the major political parties and, I suspect, by about 99% of the population. Where the parties disgree is whether savings made in this way should be reinvested into other public services or used to cut taxes. What is your view? Do you share the view of the SNP or do you take the view that poorer public services or higher taxes are an acceptable consequence of keeping the private sector out of publicly funded healthcare provision? It's a simple question and I really would appreciate a straight answer. Well you seem to have moved the goalposts somewhat, from promoting a US style healthcare system to now posing a rhetorical question on a common sense policy. Anyway, great to see you backing SNP policies.

It really looks to me as if this thread has partly degenerated into the argument that, in order to achieve a meteoric rise to the top of Scottish football, it has not been worth losing the opportunity to make a complete @rse of yourself in the Howden End on a Saturday afternoon. There is a lot more to supporting football than the rather 70s fads of swigging Scotsmac, licking stamps and a severe reluctance to admit that one's days of adolescence have long gone. Maybe you're right, but then again maybe you just don't get it that some people's adolescent experiences were not limited to the thrills of the Scripture Union quiz night or the BB camp at Carrbridge.

Yeh.... to the extent that the status of Inverness football has plummeted from the HighlandLeague to the top half of the SPFL Premiership. Right on cue.

To think of this in terms of numbers only is to accept the limited perspective of a science teacher. Just as important is type, the kind of supporters lost, dismissed by some as riff raff and deadwood, but who were the actual fans who went out and supported the HL teams and kept them going, and without whom there would have been no viable bid for senior league status. If the new club lacks character and the new stadium lacks atmosphere, it is because of the loss of these kinds of fans. For all the smugness and condescension of some on here the loss of those fans has fundamentally weakened the club.

You have a very naive view of the US healthcare system, as I say everyone gets their cut, and it is completely inefficient. What is clear is that your views of traditional British values are quite different to those of many Scots, and you are sounding increasingly like a desperate Tory if you think that having an unshakable belief in social healthcare equates to being a big bad "Marxist." But anyway, you just keep on telling us what is right and what we should be thinking.

If you had ever used the US healthcare system, I doubt you would be holding it up as an example of good practice, and certainly not of efficiency and value for money. It is absurd to say that the drive for profits cuts out inefficiency; everyone wants and gets their cut, so that costs are sky high, as are profits. The great irony in this and in the broader referendum debate is that it is the Scots who are holding to traditional "British" values, and that it is the erosion of those values by the market-driven ideas espoused here that has created the chasm that may well lead to a definitive parting of the ways.

Never voted Tory in my life and unlikely to start now! Sounds hoora like a Tory "healthcare" policy.

A Thatcherite speaks and tells us what to think. Thanks!

Saw plenty of reasons to dislike him but his nationality wasn't one of them.

Will Savage apologize for saying all Yes voters are basically anti-English?

What an embarrassment Savage was, warbling on about being English, divided nations and fears for after the vote. Came across as a buffoon.

Question Time from Inverness, by feck that Highland accent is fair changing. And Savage comes across as uninformed and self-serving.

CB's non-irritating, refusenik alter ego--I knew it.

Clacher is basically right, fear and ignorance are BT's only weapons and we either stand up and overcome them or fall into line and know our place like we have done for centuries.

Granvillesque.

With respect, SP was making a valid point from the perspective of someone born in the Highlands, and that perspective mirrors that of many in subsequent generations. It is great that you have witnessed progress in your time here, but again with respect, the experience of people born and bred here may not exactly reflect your own. And yes, begin governed from London is indeed a yoke and a shackle as you put it, for countless reasons.

Great post SP, people in Scotland will only realize their full potential if they free themselves from the very culture of control and domination that you describe and which is very much alive today. Maybe in the future so many young Scots won't have to leave to realize their ambitions.

Hardly think you can slate DD for his views considering you were all for the forced marriage of ICT Anyway I see the Orange Order of Scotland have now thrown in their weight for the Against campaign and with that comes tens/hundreds of thousands of NO votes Dougal Including your own perchance?

Sadly, many do not see this as a 300-year old 'marriage' as you put it, and have a quite different view of history as a process of assimilation, marginalization, and at times outright mistreatment, especially in the Highlands. That is a valid perspective for many, and this arrangement is anything but the benign relationship that you seem to see.

This really illustrates the farcical nature of the process we are going through. The referendum is about the ongoing future of Scotland and not the make up of the Government for just the next 5 years. Yet it appears that we may choose to discard 300 years of history as part of the United Kingdom based on the fact that at one particular point in time in Scotland a particular Scottish politician is more popular than a particular English politician. The implications of this are just too depressing to contemplate at the moment. No offence, but for many those 300 years would be quite gladly discarded, and it has nothing to do with who happens to be in power at the moment. Indeed the prospect of such a break is far from depressing; it would be a thing of great joy and the fulfillment of a lifetime's wish.

Difference between a lead and a win I suppose.

New poll in the Daily Record, very positive for Yes. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/bombshell-daily-record-poll-shows-3678091 Latest Daily Record poll will be a boost to Alex Salmond The prospect of another five years of David Cameron as Prime Minister would be enough to convince Scots to vote for independence, a bombshell poll reveals today. The dramatic survey for the Daily Record shows the Yes campaign will win a majority if they can persuade voters Cameron is heading back to Downing Street in the 2015 Westminster general election. The Survation poll of 1004 Scots also found the Yes and No camps are virtually neck-and-neck with less than 100 days to go until the historic referendum. A total of 39 per cent plan to vote Yes on September 18, with just 44 per cent saying No. If you remove those who have still to make up their mind that would give a wafer-thin majority to unionists, with a referendum result of 53 per cent No and 47 per cent Yes. The figures mean there has been a tightening in the race since the last Survation poll for the Record four weeks ago. Then, 37 per cent were intending to vote Yes compared with 47 per cent backing No. The results come in the wake of the European Parliament elections, where the success of Nigel Farage’s UKIP in England was used by many Nationalists as an argument for independence. But the most dramatic results in the new poll came when we asked how Scots would vote if they were sure Cameron would remain PM. Then, the figures change to 44 per cent Yes and 38 per cent No – giving a comfortable referendum victory to the nationalists, with a result of 54 per cent Yes and 46 per cent No. The change is caused mostly by Labour supporters changing their referendum vote. The news is a major boost for First Minister Alex Salmond, whose life-long dream of independence now seems in touching distance. The figures will worry the No campaign, who know the Tory-led Government could be one of their biggest weaknesses in the campaign in the weeks ahead. Polling expert John Curtice said: “This should act as a warning sign to the No side that they can take nothing for granted about the result.” The Strathclyde University professor added: “One of the things to watch over the summer is that a rise in the polls for the Tories as far as the Westminster general election is concerned could mean some Scots reconsidering their referendum vote.” Labour leader Ed Miliband remains ahead in the race for Downing Street, with one poll published this week saying he leads the Tories by four points. But the Yes campaign has made it one of their central arguments that a separate Scotland would never get Tory governments Scots didn’t vote for. Salmond has also tried to capitalise on Cameron’s unpopularity north of the border by demanding he take part in a TV debate with him. The Yes campaign was last night celebrating the best poll result they have had in several months. Yes Scotland chief executive Blair Jenkins said it confirmed their message is “getting through”. He added: “This is the best Survation poll – the gap between Yes and No has halved since last month – and Yes now only needs a three-point swing to move ahead. The poll also highlights the strong appeal of the guarantee that Scotland always gets the government we vote for only with independence - instead of being inflicted with Tory governments. “This independence guarantee is undoubtedly a major factor in persuading more and more Labour voters and members to vote Yes.” Better Together chief Blair McDougall put a brave face on the results. He said: “This is yet another poll showing the campaign to keep Scotland in the UK ahead.” But he admitted it showed “there can be no complacency from those of us who passionately believe that being part of the UK secures the brightest future for Scotland”.

Nice perspective, our system of governance is really an outdated anomaly.