It is a difficult argument. I agree that it should be taught, as it is important for children to understand why the place they live is the way it is, but on the other hand I think it's pretty bad of the Scottish government to pay specifically for educational trips to "Scottish" places. It should be part of standard education, not something stuck on as an extra that takes extra money.
I've been asked loads of times before if the UK is like Germany, but I don't think I know enough about Germany's political system to compare, and I was going to write a big long winded reply on how things work here but I'd be at it for hours so you're probably just best reading the Wiki page on Reserved Matters which explains what the parliament here is permitted control over. I don't know if it's as much as the republics in Germany, since ours covers things like Scots Law (which is very complicated, as laws for things like murder are different here than they are in the rest of the UK, yet laws for buying porn are the same all over the UK :\ and I'm afraid the Wiki page is a bit vague with listing things like medicine as UK-wide matters, as Scotland has quite a different health care system from the rest of the UK).
In other parts of the UK (Wales and NI), there are independent governments from Westminster, but the really confusing thing is that by being in one of those parts of the UK, not only can you vote for your government there, but also in the general election for the whole of the UK. It causes a lot of resentment, because when a UK wide election comes around, I can vote for politics in England which don't effect me but the people in England can't vote in the Scottish elections. England technically doesn't have an "independent" government like the rest of the UK; not only does it have to cover nationwide politics, but its in charge of England too. So when the national election comes round and the parties start prattling on about education, it doesn't effect me so that's half of their manifesto out of the window.
Another confusing thing is that in Scotland, you vote for who you want to lead your party of choice as well as the party, much as you would do in a local election, but for the national UK-wide one, you don't get a say in who is the party leader. The last time there was an election in Scotland, I think it was three different sheets I had to fill in. One, you numbered your candidates from 1-6, another you had to put a cross beside a name and another you had to put a cross beside a party but that one had nothing do with the first. It was very confusing XD What the fuck is just wrong with a name with a box next to it on one sheet?
Aaaaaaanyway, I'm drawling XD When it comes down to it, each area of the UK does operate independently of Westminster except for England itself. This is where the argument of independence comes in (which I think is a terrible idea for a thousand reasons). It's like "be one or the other; you can't be both". There's supposedly a vote on independence coming up, but it won't be "for real" i.e even if the majority of people say yes for it, it won't happen - it's just to give an idea of what everyone thinks. Personally, the whole thing leaves me feeling very confused; I don't know if I'm Scottish or British (by default I guess I'm British, but I don't really identify with "Britain" the same way I do with Scotland although its hard to identify with that when all my papers say I'm British :\). As long as I have a passport that works I'm not really that bothered X3
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2009-09-19 01:39 pm (UTC)I've been asked loads of times before if the UK is like Germany, but I don't think I know enough about Germany's political system to compare, and I was going to write a big long winded reply on how things work here but I'd be at it for hours so you're probably just best reading the Wiki page on Reserved Matters which explains what the parliament here is permitted control over. I don't know if it's as much as the republics in Germany, since ours covers things like Scots Law (which is very complicated, as laws for things like murder are different here than they are in the rest of the UK, yet laws for buying porn are the same all over the UK :\ and I'm afraid the Wiki page is a bit vague with listing things like medicine as UK-wide matters, as Scotland has quite a different health care system from the rest of the UK).
In other parts of the UK (Wales and NI), there are independent governments from Westminster, but the really confusing thing is that by being in one of those parts of the UK, not only can you vote for your government there, but also in the general election for the whole of the UK. It causes a lot of resentment, because when a UK wide election comes around, I can vote for politics in England which don't effect me but the people in England can't vote in the Scottish elections. England technically doesn't have an "independent" government like the rest of the UK; not only does it have to cover nationwide politics, but its in charge of England too. So when the national election comes round and the parties start prattling on about education, it doesn't effect me so that's half of their manifesto out of the window.
Another confusing thing is that in Scotland, you vote for who you want to lead your party of choice as well as the party, much as you would do in a local election, but for the national UK-wide one, you don't get a say in who is the party leader. The last time there was an election in Scotland, I think it was three different sheets I had to fill in. One, you numbered your candidates from 1-6, another you had to put a cross beside a name and another you had to put a cross beside a party but that one had nothing do with the first. It was very confusing XD What the fuck is just wrong with a name with a box next to it on one sheet?
Aaaaaaanyway, I'm drawling XD When it comes down to it, each area of the UK does operate independently of Westminster except for England itself. This is where the argument of independence comes in (which I think is a terrible idea for a thousand reasons). It's like "be one or the other; you can't be both". There's supposedly a vote on independence coming up, but it won't be "for real" i.e even if the majority of people say yes for it, it won't happen - it's just to give an idea of what everyone thinks. Personally, the whole thing leaves me feeling very confused; I don't know if I'm Scottish or British (by default I guess I'm British, but I don't really identify with "Britain" the same way I do with Scotland although its hard to identify with that when all my papers say I'm British :\). As long as I have a passport that works I'm not really that bothered X3