The English Independence Thread

[pierrelm]

I'd like to remind our politicians and media that there is life outside of London, despite what they would have us believe.

[pierrelm]

Originally Posted by mizlaplan

I think that's a chance we're prepared to take.
Blame Salmond.
He put the idea in our heads.

Salmond is a shocking opportunist leader without a clue - south of the border he'd be in UKIP

[windymiller]

Originally Posted by pierrelm

I'd like to remind our politicians and media that there is life outside of London, despite what they would have us believe.

And therein lies the problem with the UK. Everything the Westminster parliament does is for the benefit of the city of London. There's a strong argument for allowing London to become completely autonomous and govern itself for its own benefit and let the rest of the UK be governed for the benefit of the majority who don't live in London. Westminster serves the city of London and sticks two fingers up to the rest of us.

[pierrelm]

Originally Posted by windymiller

And therein lies the problem with the UK. Everything the Westminster parliament does is for the benefit of the city of London. There's a strong argument for allowing London to become completely autonomous and govern itself for its own benefit and let the rest of the UK be governed for the benefit of the majority who don't live in London. Westminster serves the city of London and sticks two fingers up to the rest of us.

And let the non-London taxpayers have our services paid for and managed locally; our laughably named 'national' government is a swollen, bloated self perpetuating all consuming monster, populated by specially bred parasites.

And that's me in a good mood.

I'd liken us to an upside down Italy. A nation divided by century old divisions with marked cultural and historic ethnic differences, evident in the east/west divide, let alone north/south. We look suspiciously at our neighbours, with envy at the standard of living enjoyed at one end of the country and incredulously at the cast aside impoverished regions that formerly generated the wealth this country was built upon. And regions become more insular, whilst being homogenised by print and visual media which looks to control and turn us all into conforming ripples generated from the capital.

And whilst the south gets richer and the north gets poorer (for 'south' lets read anywhere along the commuter belt into and out of the capital), we have an obscene, bloated self-regarding government, populated and perpetuated by morally corrupt leeches.

If we could start again we wouldn't want what we've got - and the controls exerted by our governors are exactly that - measures designed not for our own good, to build a society where there is genuine equality of opportunity, but controls designed to milk the system, maintain financial harnesses and see that the country thinks it votes for a democracy, whereas we are in fact dictated to by a capitalist elite, which the politicians bow and scrape to.

I used to think I'd mellow as I got older - I just became more cynical and sickened by the hypocrisy of it all.

We have bizarre arguments, utterly irrelevant about the monarchy etc. They make no difference in truth to who really runs the country - the money men...their interest is the 'City' - London.

[billybunter]

England deserves a regional parliament at least. If I could I would vote for it. England has given much to the world, and i'm an Irish nationalist.

[tygrkhat40]

Originally Posted by pierrelm

I'd like to remind our politicians and media that there is life outside of London, despite what they would have us believe.

I would like to have the politicians and media in Albany be told there is life outside of New York City. I would assume that other states have similar dilemmas, one large metropolis that dominates the state, such as Illinois with Chicago, Georgia with Atlanta and Colorado with Denver.

[Fatvanbelly]

People who live in Countries or States make money. That money then flows to the capital city where the owners of the state live (or at least store their wealth). That is what capital cities do. You really didn't know that????

[haroldeye]

Originally Posted by pierrelm

Salmond is a shocking opportunist leader without a clue - south of the border he'd be in UKIP

No Salmon wants an independent Scotland within the EU. He is too far up his own posterior to realise the irony of it.

He would be in the EDL or some such other looney group though I'm sure he is not a fascist. Ideally he would start his own Alec Salmon party.

As to a English assembly that would mean more politicians and no problem was ever solved by throwing more politicians at it.

[Wendigo]

Originally Posted by haroldeye

As to a English assembly that would mean more politicians and no problem was ever solved by throwing more politicians at it.

That's exactly the argument against almost all regional parliaments, imagine your local council bloated with excess like Mr Creosote.
If the answer is more politicians it must have been a really stupid question

Power corrupts, Politics corrupts absolutely

[Mal Hombre]

They have enough trouble getting people to vote for the Local and National government We have now,The likely turnout for an English Assembly would be very low.That probably accounts for the popularity of the Monarchy,You don't have to vote for Them...