Scottish independence
Scottish Independence: Inquiry into row over Alex Salmond’s EU ‘legal advice’ stance
An independent inquiry will be held into the row surrounding Alex Salmond over legal advice on EU membership, the First Minister today confirmed.
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Scottish independence: Case for UK split falls apart under scrutiny says David Cameron
DAVID Cameron waded into the row engulfing Alex Salmond over EU membership yesterday, claiming the case for Scottish independence “completely falls apart” under scrutiny.
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Scottish independence: SNP government ‘no place for answers’ on EU membership
BUSINESS leaders have so little faith in SNP ministers knowing the answers on EU membership after independence that they have called on the UK government to provide clarity, it emerged yesterday.
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Independence referendum consultation: ‘Most Scots happy with one-question referendum’
Fewer than a third of respondents to the SNP’s consultation on the independence referendum supported having a second question on the ballot paper, the government disclosed yesterday.
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First Minister says legal advice on an independent Scotland gaining access to EU will not be released
ALEX Salmond has said that the Scottish Government will not be publishing legal advice it receives on an independent Scotland’s membership of the European Union.
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Scottish independence ‘could force UK to deactivate Trident nuclear deterrent for decades’
AN “INDETERMINATE period” of unilateral nuclear disarmament could be imposed on the UK if Scotland becomes independent, according to a Westminster committee.
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UK government muzzled Scottish ministers at EU meetings, Fiona Hyslop says
THE coalition government has blocked SNP ministers from speaking out at key EU meetings, it emerged on Tuesday.
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Scottish independence: Trident could move to US or France, says Alex Salmond
ALEX Salmond has said Trident could be relocated to the US or France after independence, as he ruled out the prospect of a “Cyprus-style” leaseback scheme that would see the nuclear weapons system remain in Scotland.
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Scottish independence: Row over SNP bid to ‘rig’ cash limits for referendum
THE SNP government is set to impose strict limits on spending during the independence referendum campaign, amid fears the Nationalists could be outspent by their pro-Union opponents.
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Analysis: Why Alex Salmond put forward his nuclear submarine alternatives
The US and French facilities Alex Salmond refers to as a potential base for the UK’s four Vanguard-class nuclear missile submarines are the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in the state of Georgia and L’Ile Longue Submarine Base, near Brest.
3 commentsScottish independence: Fear of a Tory Westminster win ‘would boost Yes vote’
More than half of Scots would be likely to vote for independence if they believed the Conservatives would be returned to power in Westminster at the next general election, a new poll has found.
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SNP party conference: MacAskill vows to show the UK how policing can be done
An INDEPENDENT Scotland will show the rest of the UK how “policing can really be done”, justice secretary Kenny MacAskill said yesterday.
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We owe it to ourselves to think through our arguments on independence
A NUMBER of years ago at an SNP branch meeting, the late and much missed Dr Allan Macartney suggested that it could be illuminating to get members at all levels to describe how they came to support the SNP and Scottish independence. He thought it would be good to understand how people from a wide variety of backgrounds had arrived at a shared political position, and how some of their stories might resonate beyond SNP ranks.
11 commentsSNP party conference: UK held back by ‘chippy nationalism’
THE UK is viewed as a nation held back by “chippy nationalism” and a “fear of outsiders” by other countries around the world, a leading SNP cabinet minister said yesterday.
4 commentsSNP party conference: Building firms ‘clinging on’
DEPUTY First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will today warn Chancellor George Osborne that Scottish building firms are “clinging on by their fingertips” and demand a change of course on the economy.
SNP party conference: 77% want answers on EU membership
More than three quarters of Scots believe the SNP Government should come clean on the legal advice it has about an independent Scotland’s membership of the European Union, a new poll has today revealed.
SNP party conference: Get nuclear guarantee from Nato, leadership told
THE SNP leadership is to be urged to obtain a written guarantee from Nato pledging that it would accept a nuclear weapon-free Scotland as a member.
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SNP party conference: ‘We’re ruled by a bunch of Snootys,’ says Alex Salmond video
ALEX Salmond launched an explosive attack on the Westminster government yesterday, asking why a “bunch of incompetent Lord Snootys” still held power over Scotland.
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SNP conference: Narrow vote ends party’s opposition to Nato - as it happened Picture gallery
DELEGATES at the Scottish National Party’s conference in Perth have voted to overturn the Nationalists’ long-standing opposition to Nato.
87 commentsSNP Conference diary
There was a bit of a William Hague moment in the Perth conference venue yesterday when 12-year-old Makki Tahir delivered a speech to party delegates.
Catalan Scots could face both home and away referendums
Scots resident in Catalonia will soon face a referendum on independence in their adopted land if Catalan president Artur Mas has his way.
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‘Who dares wins’: Cheers and boos as SNP votes to end opposition to Nato
After a passionate and tempestuous debate that put the SNP leadership’s grip on the party to the test, Nationalists have backed an independent Scotland becoming part of the Nato nuclear alliance.
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Tom Peterkin: One-man rescue operation keeps leadership’s Nato plans on track
There appeared to be an air of calm around Alex Salmond as his right hand held his voting card aloft, signalling his support for an independent Scotland joining Nato.
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‘It’s not just about the constitution’ says Alex Salmond
Independence is necessary to give Scotland a more prosperous economy along with a just society, First Minister Alex Salmond will insist today.
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SNP conference: Scotland’s recession ‘made in London’ claims John Swinney
INDEPENDENCE will end the “economic mismanagement” of successive Westminster Governments which has plunged Scotland into recession, finance Secretary John Swinney told the SNP conference today.
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Scottish independence: Allowing same-sex marriage could lead Scotland ‘lurching down road to fascism’, says former SNP leader
SCOTLAND risks “lurching down the road to fascism” if the law is changed to allow gay couples to marry, a former SNP leader claimed.
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Scottish Independence: Alex Salmond’s financial claims put under the microscope
ALEX Salmond made a bold claim about Scotland’s finances yesterday. “At the last count, Scotland received 9.6 per cent of the UK’s taxation, and received 9.3 per cent of the UK’s spending,” he said.
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Scottish independence: Support for referendum Yes vote slips to 30%
SUPPORT for Scottish independence is falling, according to the first poll published since the agreement was signed this week paving the way for a referendum.
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SNP conference: ‘Game on’ for Scotland’s ‘biggest community-led campaign’
THE drive for a Yes vote on Scottish independence already has the “biggest community-led campaign in Scotland’s history” behind it, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told the first day of the SNP conference today.
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Scottish independence: SNP ‘prioritising referendum over economy and jobless’
THE SNP was today accused of focusing too much on the independence referendum and not enough on the Scottish economy after the latest jobless figures revealed a huge rise in long-term youth unemployment in Edinburgh.
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Scottish independence: Call for SNP to put off divisive Nato vote as senior party MSPs speak out
THE SNP leadership is facing a call from a senior Nationalist MSP to postpone a vote on its controversial plans to ditch its anti-Nato stance, as opposition grows to the move at the start of the party’s annual conference.
97 commentsScottish independence: Troops ‘may not want to join Scots forces’
More than 11,000 Scottish troops in the UK military could not simply be “co-opted” into any new Scottish defence force after independence, Ministry of Defence chiefs have warned.
11 commentsScottish independence: Funding fees for EU students would cost £150m, Mike Russell reveals
Scotland would face a bill of £150 million to fund students from the rest of the UK who would be entitled to free tuition after independence, it has been revealed.
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Scottish independence: Let Scotland borrow £1bn from UK in hard times, say Lib Dems
the Scottish Parliament should be given powers to borrow up to £1 billion from UK coffers in the hard times to boost the country’s economy, an influential Liberal Democrat Commission is to recommend.
10 commentsScottish independence: Nicola Sturgeon in talks on vote issues
NICOLA Sturgeon is to begin talks with the Electoral Commission in the first of a series of meetings aimed at resolving the issues of campaign spending limits for the independence referendum and the wording of the question Scots will be asked in 2014.
Scottish independence: Alex Salmond’s Nato U-turn is right, but Trident must stay, says Liam Fox
FORMER Conservative defence secretary Liam Fox has backed Alex Salmond’s Nato U-turn, but warns the move means the First Minister must now reassure allies he will keep Trident on the Clyde “for as long as it takes to move it elsewhere”.
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Scottish independence: Michael Moore, the Westminster point man
SCOTTISH Secretary Michael Moore has led for the UK government during the lengthy talks with SNP ministers this year.
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Scottish independence: ‘An historic day’ as referendum deal is signed video
DAVID Cameron and Alex Salmond have signed a historic deal to ensure Scots make a “decisive and respected” call on whether to create a country independent from the rest of the United Kingdom in two years’ time.
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Scottish independence: ‘SNP’s day is coming’
IN 2014, the SNP wants to use the 700th anniversary of the battle of Bannockburn as a reminder of Scottish independence and an incentive to reassert that independence.
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Scottish independence: Handshakes and smiles all round... now it’s game on
An HISTORIC milestone on the century-long march to Scottish independence – or the moment the Union finally out-foxed the biggest threat to its existence in 300 years. Whatever the upshot of yesterday’s momentous deal to stage a referendum in 2014, that fate now lies in the hands of Scots themselves.
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Scottish independence: A long and winding road to get where we are... now there’s only two years to go
THE deal to transfer the legal power to hold a referendum from Westminster to Holyrood comes after months of protracted negotiations and political conflict between the Scottish and UK governments.
Stephen Noon: Referendum choice isn’t about fear of future
The choice is a nation that serves the people or one that simply serves the Unionist interests, writes Stephen Noon
18 commentsScottish independence: ‘Deal suits the interest of a few’
The decision not to allow a second question offering some form of extended devolution was criticised in some quarters last night.
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Analysis: Rules, regulations and even a referee, but don’t expect a gentlemanly fight
All might be fair in love and war, but the same is not true in referendums. Since 2000, when the Westminster parliament passed the Political Parties, Elections and Referendum Act, Britain has had some of the tightest and most regulated procedures in the world.
Signed, sealed and delivered: The main points of the referendum agreement
Under the terms of the deal Holyrood has been handed the power to legislate for a referendum any time before the end of 2014.
Eddie Barnes: All is changed – the independence genie cannot go back in the bottle
LIKE a couple arriving for their big day, David Cameron and Alex Salmond smiled awkwardly for the cameras as they met on the steps of St Andrew’s House, neither man in the knowledge of quite where yesterday’s signing ceremony was going to end up.
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Scottish independence: David Cameron and Alex Salmond sign referendum deal - as it happened video Picture gallery
Follow the reaction to today’s historic meeting between the First Minister and the Prime Minister after they signed off the deal on the Scottish independence referendum in Edinburgh.
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Scottish independence: The key battlegrounds in run-up to the referendum
THE economy is certain to be a key battleground in the lengthy run-up to the referendum, with the SNP under pressure to set out its stance on key issues, such as currency and interest rates.
33 commentsScottish independence: The agreement
Section 30 order transfers the power to hold the independence referendum from Westminster to Holyrood – making the vote legal and protecting it from legal challenges.
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Tom Devine: Today is the most important date since 1707 Act of Union
THE agreement signed today marks the end of the twilight war before the real debate begins on the historic choice which confronts the Scottish people in 2014.
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- Scottish independence: SNP government ‘no place for answers’ on EU membership
- SNP party conference: ‘We’re ruled by a bunch of Snootys,’ says Alex Salmond
- Neil Lennon’s pride and pain as Celtic are so close to point at Nou Camp
- Scottish independence: Row over SNP bid to ‘rig’ cash limits for referendum
- Scottish independence: Case for UK split falls apart under scrutiny says David Cameron
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- Incredinburgh? Animated rap ad to help sell capital
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Weather for Edinburgh
Thursday 25 October 2012
Today
Light rain
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