Jaggernaut

Already a couple of folk who didn't have a season-ticket last season have said that they'll get one this season. If that's at all representative of the support as a whole then sales might well improve healthily, which is excellent news.

Why then, should it be true.... They get a kick at Ochilview?

Below is a letter cut and pasted in its entirety from today's Herald. During the recent Scottish election all three of the now-departed leaders of the Labour, Conservative and LibDem parties claimed to be strong supporters of the Union, but they all failed to produce specific reasons why it should continue in its present form. Instead they patronised the voters with simplistic assertions such as “we are stronger together than apart”, but provided no detailed evidence of the benefits of being bound together in what seems to be an imbalanced and increasingly dysfunctional partnership. In the forthcoming referendum, how can we make up our minds without honest and reliable information? How does Scotland benefit from sending to the London Treasury all the personal and business taxes collected in Scotland, and then getting back an annual block grant which may or may not be a fair return? What advantage is it to have all decisions on our economic and taxation policies taken by a UK parliament in which we have less than 10% representation? As one example, how do we benefit by having junior UK ministers representing our important fishing industry interests at European summits? What are the attractions to the English of being tied up with a small country to the north, which many see as a nation of scroungers and whingers who pay no taxes and rely on Barnett Formula subsidies from English taxpayers to keep them in booze and from having to work for a living? Perhaps the benefit is being able to base the UK’s nuclear arsenal and submarines as far away as possible from London, or the constant supply of Scottish soldiers to fight in illegal or pointless wars? If there is to be a referendum in three years’ time on Scotland’s independence, whatever that may mean in today’s world, let’s use the time to have a meaningful debate on all the pros and cons, and don’t insult us with patronising statements that Scotland is too small or incapable of supporting its own economy. New Zealand, with a smaller population, seems to have managed to do that for the last 100 years on just sheep and butter. Surely Scotland has at least as much potential and natural resources, and the ability to manage our own affairs? Let us have a grown-up debate with all the real facts and figures, not political propaganda or sexed-up dossiers. And then let the people decide. Iain A D Mann,

Done!

Easter Road or Tynecastle: which is nearer the main line into Edinburgh?

I heard that at Somerset they're taking a hard line on that kind of thing, and that you now have to sit on the terracing.

Wot? No Erskine??

O'Connor was a hero in Easter Road.

Not to mention the fact that Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, Lithuania, Estonia etc etc and many others are smaller than Scotland and bordered or surrounded by bigger countries. They co-operate with their neighbours, but run their own affairs, including their foreign policy, their broadcasting etc. etc.; precisely what unionists are happy about denying us.

But maybe they weren't deliberately spitting. That's just the way they speak.

A few years ago there was a list of businesses which offered a discount to season-ticket holders (if my memory is right, but it probably isn't). I'm sure that such a list existed, though.

As far as I could see not one of them was working, but they've got a hoose, food, drink (including bevvy), fags, dugs and cats, a car, mobile phones, the latest H*n and tim taps, etc etc. Where's the money coming from? But it is sad to see people's lives wrecked like that, especially as some of them are basically still youths.

Anybody watch this last night? Why pay soap stars and script writers hundreds of thousands of pounds when you've got this "brilliant" tv right on your doorstep? Talk about desperate lives..... What an advert for Kilmarnock (though yes, it could be in any of a number of towns across the country).

Better still if the form was downloadable from either the official site or here.

I'd happily get along with everybody if people just stopped p*ssing me off.

...a warrior! Check the number of asterisks.

As long as you don't try to focus on Elvis' attire and footwear as he moves around.

Good on ya. Cheque going in the post tonight. Monra Jags. Edited to add: Err, I'll wait until I get the renewal form.

Me neither. Shaggy's a w*****r!

Who knows what the difference might be? If you never try, you'll never know. We've tried 300 years of London, and that's enough, thank you. So you want to divide a stable democracy where there are about 500 000 English living in Scotland and the same if not more Scots in England to basically "give it a go"? Again you use London. Geography. In England. Despite it being one of only two really international global cities where people from all over the world are attracted to (the other being New York) somehow as it's based in that far away land of England then it's bad. What is there to be frightened of? Would independence mean the end of stable democracy? Of course not! Do general elections every 4-5 years signal the end of stable democracy? Of course not! Your point about the numbers of people from outwith Scotland living here, or Scots living elsewhere is irrelevant to the question of whether Scotland should/is capable of governing itself, and might do a better job of it for all the people who are living here. [i]Oh, I forgot, the unionists in Holyrood blocked the only serious attempt to address alcohol abuse.[/i] Minimum alcohol pricing is a tiny piece of what is needed. Culture needs to change. Moving away from "getting on the bevvy" plus councils and police already have huge powers to control drinking via current laws which are never used. Agreed, but legislation as a tiny piece is at least a start. Just look at the change in attitudes towards driving after having had one or two drinks compared to how it used to be, or to wearing seat belts to how it used to be. Or to smoking in bars, restuarants, in offices etc. Legislation can play a role in helping to change attitudes. The unionist parties blocked the SNP's proposals for petty political reasons. Yes, many people migrate, but it's usually because their economic and/or social situation makes their native country no longer attractive enough to keep them. We live in a globalised world. Populations move all the time. 100 000 Poles came to Scotland at the peak and the majority all worked. Where did these jobs come from and why did native Scots not take them? There is a over reliance on the state and a work ethic that has been diminished in many parts. The left leaning SNP (when it suits them) wont help that. Entrepreneurship and getting off ones arse will help. Nationalism does not promote openness but inward looking and accusing fingers of not being Scottish enough and being a traitor wont attract people, keep them or open up investment. I think the main reasons people leave is the weather and the sense of adventure. That will never end. Agreed about the globalized world, and there's nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is the illogical accusation of narrow-mindedness and xenophobia leveled at SNP supporters by British nationalists, by which I mean many (not all) of those who are desperate to save the union. Overall to me nationalism is a bizarre political viewpoint. By luck you are born in Scotland. If you were born in England would you be a supporter of the English Democrats? Would you want to give two fingers to people in Newcasle, Liverpool, Leeds etc and say I'm doing my own thing. Thanks for Welfare State, NHS, ability to bail ourselves out from the credit crunch but GTF anyway and look at Ireland and Iceland who were part of the once mythical "Arc of Prosperity". Not really sure what you're getting at here, but it's impossible to state that that the world economic crisis would have affected Scotland in a worse way if we had been independent, because the entire economic context would have been different. And don't forget the the UK is trillions (yes trillions) of pounds in debt, that will probably never be paid off. That Arc of Prosperity wasn't at all mythical for as long as it lasted, and those countries will eventually recover. There are other small countries with a much higher level of prosperity than us.

We won't concede any goals next season.

Nice, apart from the annoying adverts.

London, Brussels, Edinburgh. What's the difference? East coast good. Brussels good. London bad. Who knows what the difference might be? If you never try, you'll never know. We've tried 300 years of London, and that's enough, thank you. Has our health and life expectancy improved during the SNP governance over the past 4 years? Health can be improved by social learning and promotion of better habits. A lot of our problems can be cured via families and people showing their children the right way to live. If people cut down on cigarettes, drink, ate less fatty foods and went and did some exercise then the stats would improve dramatically. You don't need politicians for that. You really expect health and life expectancy to have improved after 4 years of the SNP governing under the constraints imposed on them from Westminster, the same constraints that Scotland has had imposed for 300 years? Politicians can give guidance and leadership, and even take measures to try to facilitate the right way to live. Oh, I forgot, the unionists in Holyrood blocked the only serious attempt to address alcohol abuse. As for people having to "abandon their country". What's wrong with moving, living a different culture, improving your job prospects or simply enjoying better weather? Nothing. Sounds like your nationalism is showing through. Oh, I never thought of it like that. People are individuals and can move if they want. Migration is used by politicians for political means. Germans and English moved to America in huge numbers but this is totally ignored by people for their own political hunger instead talking about poor Scots having to move to flee economic and political pain. Yes, many people migrate, but it's usually because their economic and/or social situation makes their native country no longer attractive enough to keep them.

So what do you propose? More of the same from another 300 years of being told by Westminster what we can do and what we can spend? Another 300 years of having no voice at the UN or in Europe other than the one that Westminster allows us to have? Another 300 years of having some of the worst health and lowest life expectancy among industrialized countries? Another 300 years of so hundreds of thousands of Scots experiencing "the benefits" of the union to the point that they prefer to abandon their country to settle somewhere else? I think you've been watching listening to and reading too many british nationalists.