Dally wrote:
I am not clear why you are so sure that the SNP will fade and Labour resurrect. The Tories have never recovered in Scotland, despite being extremely strong in the past. On holiday in Scotland last year I was surprised just how strong SNP sentiment is.
The Tories aren't interested in Scotland at the moment. Which is why they've never really poured serious money into the region in an attempt to buy votes.
Support for the only real Scottish Party has pretty much always been strong. I mean, why WOULDN'T it be (kind of makes one wonder how the SNP could possibly have lost its referendum ...)? But it's one thing to exert influence within the over-arching framework of British government - a bit like a Turkish satrap who ultimately must bow before the Great King of Persia. It's something else to tell Artaxerxes you're going to run his kingdom for the greater benefit of his subjects. Especially when you wield absolutely no political clout and don't possess a couple of thousand bloodthirsty Macedonian mercenaries to serve as an incentive.
Until this point the British establishment has been happy enough to indulge the SNP's little fictions of power. But the moment they decided not to stick to the rules and called for a referendum the gloves came off. They might as well have brandished an IRA flag because from herein they represent a threat to hundreds of years of "successful" establishment.
This election result will only exacerbate tensions. Sure, the SNP can rely on the average Scot's sense of patriotism and dislike of England. But that only stretches so far. If history teaches us anything it is that it doesn't take a great deal of economic strife before even the most entrenched loyalties begin to disappear.
Salmond and company will very shortly reap the whirlwind. And it won't be pretty.
