A YouGov survey has exposed 'mounting English resentment over the level of Treasury funding Scotland receives - currently 20% higher than that south of the border.' The findings also noted growing concern in England about benefits, including free personal care for the elderly and free higher education, which are available in Scotland but not in England.
But this isn't all about money. This argument highlights one of the differences between the English and Scots. We prioritise differently here. We understand our country is nothing without free education and good health care for all age groups. Our politicians understand that and know well that they would be given the bum's rush if they didn't meet the expectation of the people.
Of course the Scottish government doesn't have the fiscal responsibility of Westminster but, with the reinstatement of the Scottish Parliament, MSPs are much closer to the people. They are under closer scrutiny than a Westminster MP and therefore must be more accountable for their actions. The people appear to have more power here than in England.
Perhaps us Scots expect more from our politicians. Politicians will always whine about not having money, because that's their function, but we mustn't forget it's not their money, it's ours. If we insisted Douglas Alexander stopped behaving like the world's benefactor then there could be money available. Also, if we insisted troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan, money would be available. We all know our armed forces aren't in Afghanistan to protect us; they are there for purely political reasons.
For too long Westminster has ignored the people. When Blair ignored the millions who took to the streets of London against the Iraq war he got away with it. He stole power from the people and the Westminster government has been slowly stealing more and more, aided and abetted by the tories. It's up to the people of England to recover their power and ensure their elected representatives carry out their wishes and not those of their political party.
If I lived in England I'd be writing to my local Valuation Office Agency to check if my home has been given the code CL26. 543,373 homes have been listed in the wrong council tax band without their owners being told.
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Perhaps the fact that Brown is a Scotsman peeves everyone. Most English people do resent the fact that you have your own Government and we do not. We are the only principality that do not have our own politicians working for us. It's a case of "Whats yours, is yours and What's ours is everyones"... (I'm not sure that's right, but you get the gist).
You know what the answer is Sue. Don't wait for your politicians to resolve your problems, insist they do. Support a party which does. I support a party which wants independence here although I don't agree with some of its policies, but I know what's most important to me.
There are only 59 MPs from Scotland. Who are the remainder working for then?
YouGov are becoming no more than a mouthpiece and election tool for Brown and Labour. Though a staunch Unionist, I support The SNP as a Party that has direction. A direction other than Labour.
Many seem sceptical about YouGov OR. What is labour's direction other than making a police state and taking us deeper in debt?
Its getting nearly as bad as the 18th Century resentments of all those Scots coming down to take jobs and money. Never mind Nesbitt's triggering the crash of 1772. Of course at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries in London the locals bitterly disliked the huge number of Scots in the Metropolitan Police. Was Dixon of Dock Green born to a Scottish migrant I ask, his son was called "Andy", but not at all like Andy Stewart.
Are Scotland and England at Breaking Point?
Hopefully yes - for both their benefits.
I am doing precisely that in voting UKIP. We all have a right (if the majority wish it), to be served by our own politicians. I applaud the feistyness of the Scottish people. I wish we could get organised and speak up too.
The locals bitterly dislike the Scots in no 10 and 11 Demetrius. The circle of circumstance. :)
Yes indeed RA.
Sue, if I didn't live here I would vote UKIP too. I think it's the next best to my own choice.
"20% higher than that south of the border."
Fine, as long as you pay for it out of your own taxes,and not mine.
Also, after 13 years of the political jock mafia, whenever I hear a Scots accent, I automatically think "do not trust", I mean just look at Glasgow!
Those scumbags have stained the reputation of Scotland for a generation.
Shame, really.
Rightwinggit, so you agree with the Westminster policy of electricity generated in Scotland being sold to the English for far less than Scots customers pay?
Shame you're only able to assess the Scots from one example.
If I'd done that when I first worked in England back in the 60s I would have had a horrendous opinion of the English. As it was I was prepared to broaden my experience of the English culture and found it mostly delightful.
Subs, I didn't know about the electrickery thing, and that's not light, I mean right either.
It's not one assessment example either..bent plod, paedo rings and bent politicians all over the gaff..and not forgetting all the people that voted them in!
I visited Edinburgh once, and people didn't lock their front doors (they were on the lift latch), and they were very friendly.
But that was 46 years ago.
Rightwinggit - I'm a Scot who lives in England and an avid advocate for Scotland's independence.
Few, if any of the arguments or comments you see on Rosa's blog have any xenophobic rantings of the Scot's V English variety - as the Bard said we are, when all's said and done, Jake Thamsons bairns.
The arguments are on the quality of democracy and governance afforded Scotland (and often by definition, the regions of England) by the Westminster establishment.
This in general boils down to many sharing the pain, while a select few hog the gain. That seems more of a moral affront to the Scots than seems to apply to the South. But that could be a belief based more on the myth of spin rather than fact.
Demand your rights - demand democracy for England.
Well it's true Righwinggit, I pay an excess for electricity produced a few miles from here, which is sent to England and the Westminster government subsidises it - to the tune of a minus factor in Cornwall.
These years are long gone RWG. Mind you, I left the key in the door overnight last week with no problem.
There you are Rightwinggit, RA says it so much better than me.
Demand your rights. Demand democracy for England. Too many small parties down there. They ought to join up with that being the common purpose.
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