A YES Vote Condemns England to Perpetual Conservative Rule?

In order to prove or disprove this statement we can take a look at the 18 UK General Election results since 1945. 

On only 4 occasions may the Scottish vote have made any difference.

1. The election of 1964 where Harold Wilson’s Labour Party came to power. Labour had only a majority of 4. The absence of Scotland would have meant that Labour would have become the major party in House of Commons but be short of an overall majority by 9 seats. Labour would still have been the party most likely to form a Government. 
2. The first election of 1974 the election result would have been different i.e. that the Conservatives would have been the largest party in the Westminster House of Commons as opposed to the Labour Party. However it is still possible that Labour would have formed a minority Government as Heath’s Conservatives had been so rejected by the electorate. 
3. The second election of 1974 would have been turned from a small Labour majority into a hung Parliament with Labour still being the largest party. It could be argued that this could have helped Scotland. It would have meant that the Conservatives may not have gotten rid of Edward Heath as leader at the time. They did as history tells with Margaret Thatcher becoming Conservative leader, leading to a lurch to the right, and who ultimately became Prime Minister in 1979. However we shall never know. 
4. The most recent election in 2010 would have been turned from a hung parliament into a Conservative majority.

So we can be assured that…

1. Scottish MPs since 1945 have never turned what would have been a Conservative Government into a Labour one. They have also not done the opposite.
2. On only 2 occasions since 1945 have Scottish Labour MPs given Labour a majority which they would not have had in England, Wales and Northern Ireland alone. Those are in 1964 and the second 1974 election. The 1964 Labour Government lasted under 2 years. The second 1974 Labour Government was propped up by the Liberals through the Lib Lab pact. Without Scottish Labour MPs but with Liberal support Harold Wilson would still have had a majority. 
3. On 1 occasion, in 2010 the presence of Scottish MPs has deprived the Conservatives of an overall majority. However the Government the UK ended up with was predominantly a Conservative one anyway, with a few Liberal Democrat policies thrown in for good measure. 
4. Therefore only in 6 years since 1945 have Scottish MPs had any real influence in the formation over the composition of the UK Government. 
5. The representation of Scotland in the UK House of Commons is also being reduced from 72 MPs in 1983 to 52 in 2015 meaning the likelihood of any future effect is also reduced.

So the answer to the question is a most definite no. Scotland becoming independent will not condemn England to perpetual Conservative rule unless England itself wants it.

References:-
http://www.electricscotland.com/history/scotland/election.htm
http://www.scottishelections.org.uk/scotland/

http://wingsoverscotland.com/why-labour-doesnt-need-scotland/

A plead from an CFS/ME sufferer to vote YES

I have a chronic illness called chronic fatigue syndrome (also known as ME) with fybromyalgia which has no effective treatment although I take medication which reduces a number of the symptoms.

I am in the red no matter what I do or what I do without

Thank you SNP Scottish Government for removing prescription charges. Being charged anything at the moment would be too much as week on week I am in the red no matter what I do, or do without. I would have to forgo some if not all of my medication if prescriptions were not free.

I am fortunate

I am fortunate I know to have worked for getting on for 20 years allowing me to pay into a UK system which I thought was there to care for me when the worst happens.

I was too ill to appear the decision that said I was in ATOS’ opinion 100% fine

It seems in that respect I was somewhat naïve, as I have been left with no income whatsoever several times during my illness as I was too ill I to appeal the decision stating that in the DWPs or ATOS’ opinion I was 100% fine. At least I didn’t die which has happened to some, and at least I had some money in the bank to tide me over.

I want the 19 years of wasted contributions back

I am also aware that if I had worked for only a year I would be receiving the same benefit, and would love now to get the 19 years of wasted contributions back.

I have been penalised over and over for being responsible when I was working

Throughout the years I was working I saved money allowing me to graduate my disappearance into poverty, although almost always I have been penalised for this as my benefits were reduced as a result.

At least one worry has been removed?

Despite my best efforts my savings are almost gone, so at least the reduction to my benefits worry has been removed!? Small comfort.

I feel as though I am being punished for becoming ill

I feel as though I am being punished for becoming ill getting the small amount of money from the DWP in Employment and Support Allowance (although at least at present I am getting it!).

Without the help of family and friends many weeks I would be going hungry

I am expected to run my house on a little over £100 per week. Out of that I require to keep the roof over my head, pay the factor, pay for food, travel, the water part of my Council Tax, electricity, etc.

I am already cold throughout the winter and have no social life to save money

Without the help of family and friends many weeks I would be going hungry. I am already cold throughout the winter and have no social life to save money.

On a yearly basis the UK Govt. and their well paid servants ATOS, threaten to take this meagre amount of money away from me

On a yearly basis the UK Government, and their well paid servants ATOS, threaten to take this meagre amount of money away from me and force me onto Job Seekers Allowance which is even less, and is designed for well people looking for jobs.

Trying to get myself well is a big enough job most of the time

I would love to get a job (although trying to get myself well is a big enough job most of the time), and I am constantly trying to think of a job which I can do whilst ill (being a blogger is not well paid, I am currently in credit by £0, although I do hope for some pin money hence the ads on this site – I get paid if somebody is kind enough to press the link on one of them – although I am rather ashamed of needing/wanting to have them here, as my country must come before me particularly on this occasion). 

In a rich country such as the UK this is obscene

In a rich country such as the UK (and in particular such a resource rich country as Scotland) it is to me obscene that ill people as left in such situations as I find myself in, through no fault of my own. I have done everything possible right yet the UK systems are failing me. The trajectory of UK social security policy is to demonise the poor and ill more and more hoping that they will somehow disappear and not be such a drain on society.

My particular disgust is always reserved for the Tories (also known as the Nasty Party)

Only two parties are ever likely to be in power in the UK system, with the Liberal Democrats possibly filling in to prop up either Conservative or Labour Governments. All 3 of these parties have similar policies these days, particularly when it comes to social security (although my particular disgust as regards this issue is always reserved for the Tories, also known as the nasty party).

The UK is not OK for the vulnerable in our society

Only by the Scots voting YES in the 2014 independence referendum can I see any possibility that things will substantially change. PLEASE, PLEASE Scotland vote for a NEW politics and give some hope to the poor, ill and disenfranchised in your society. The UK is not OK for the vulnerable in our society.

The original film of the above can be found on Youtube on the Kevin Donnelly channel at this address...
Better Together on Poverty