We can blame immigrants for that 
Probably that’s 90% of it 
I can’t vouch for prettier, as that’s subjective, but the London population certainly does have lower instances of obesity, which I put down to cultural/peer pressure.
People who want to ‘get on’, as you say, head for London. These same people are more likely to spend more effort on their appearance in order to help them get on, and fit in, and have more money to do so. This breeds a huge industry of gyms, personal trainers, cycling commuters and so on. Everyone always seems to be off doing some sporty activity - heck, even I have started jogging. London is also at the forefront of fashion, with many people very conscious of current trends/looks. In this regard it’s no different from other fashion capitals like NY and Paris.
Of course, there’s plenty of people in London who are ugly and obese, but the people you see commuting to their smart City and West End offices on the tube in the morning tend towards the slimmer, fitter, wealthier and more fashion conscious.
I’m starting to get the impression that Salmond realizes that there’s absolutely no way he’ll ever become Prime Minister of the UK’s Parliament, so he’s happily pandering to those he hopes will create an opportunity for him to become PM of an independent Scotland. What it does to the country (countries?) is of no consequence, of course, so long as he gets to be PM.
Is that an accurate impression?
Not in the slightest, no. He has always been an Scottish National Party* MP or MSP, his goal has always been Scottish indepenence, he is currently Scottish first minister…
*Who absolutely no one would join if they wanted to be UK PM - check the population of Scotland and compare it to the UK and consider that it hasn’t usually even been Scotland’s largest party.
Quite. If his only goal was to become a PM, he would’ve joined the Labour or Conservative parties years ago.
How much traction do those parties have in Scotland?
Labour has loads, tradtionally. Usually the biggest party.
Conservatives (well technically it’s a different party in Scotland but we’ll ignore that for now) have so little traction now that they seriously considered renaming themselves in Scotland a year or two back. That has not always been the case mind… Thatcher’s fault… by 1997 there were no Tory MPs in Scotland at all.
The Labour party has by far and away the highest representation of Scottish constituencies in the UK parliament - currently 43 MPs to the SNP’s 6. The Conservatives have very poor support north of the border. Remember that our last PM, Gordon Brown, is a Labour MP for a Scottish constituency.
Until recently, the SNP was not even the second most popular party in Scotland. The election results for the Scottish Parliament were a surprise to everybody. Labour is currently second behind the SNP in the Scottish Parliament.
It’s worth mentioning at this point that the Scottish Parlimaent uses proportional representation (while maintaining constinuency links) where as the Westminster parliament uses first past the post voting with larger constituencies.
Wonder how it will effect the SNP’s future electoral chances if the referendum fails. Perhaps the Scots can get over their dislike of the Tories.
How did defeat affect the Bloc Quebecois? I imagine they’ll keep insisting on referendum after referendum until they get the answer they like.
The Bloc Quebecois strategy was to keep on insisting on referenda until they get a “yes” to a vague question and use that as a mandate to claim the sun and the moon. I think SNP cannot go that route.
The challenge for SNP is to somehow get independence without leaving the UK. Many Scots I have noticed do not quite understand that independence=no longer part of UK.
It seems to me that Salmond wants independence for Salmond’s sake, not Scotland’s. Scotland is going to have huge problems when the oil runs out. Unlike Denmark, Salmond is going to immediately spend the oil revenue, so there’ll be nothing left. A post-oil independent Scotland has little in resources to offer apart from water, whisky, and tourism. The fisheries are about spent.
I don’t understand either part of this comment.
Where have you come across people who don’t understand the concept of independence?
The point is that many people in the independence debate do not quite appreciate what exactly it means to be a separate country or if they do have an inaccurate understanding of the facts. Many seem to think, “just the same, except no London and no Union Flag”, when its not true at all. Just look at Salmond’s frankly laughable plan to keep the Sterling.
I’m A Scott - no other reasone - I want my own government not an English one.
Can I not be a Royalist as well as a Scott?
More to do with the notes than the amount - I have had the same problem with a Scottish £20
There’s also the question of how we carve up the national debt. I remember reading a hilarious comment from Salmond that Scotland shouldn’t have to take any of the debt created by the RBS bank bailout. That’s right, the Royal Bank of Scotland.
It’s because some small shopkeepers are worried they won’t be able to spot a fake as they aren’t familiar with the notes - it isn’t some anti-Scottish conspiracy.