The vote was a squeaker, but the chamber’s own applause pointed one way: the only arguments to earn any respect were from Yes voters, even as No voters supplied more of the posted case. This was a narrow decision with a surprisingly clear hierarchy of arguments.
The Yes side framed Holyrood as an expensive distraction from failing public services, dismissing devolved government as “progressive policy trinkets” while “health and education fall to pieces”. Its more constructive strand proposed shifting power out of Edinburgh and towards Glasgow, Dundee, Aberdeen, Perth and Inverness.
The No case was constitutional as much as practical. Its strongest voices argued that “the Scottish people” alone had the right to abolish their parliament, warning that a “heavy-handed decision from Westminster just serves SNP arguments”; another conceded the administration might be “financially inept” but said that was no reason to remove the institution itself.
The two sides repeatedly talked past each other: Yes voters saw local councils as a route to more accountable government, while No voters saw abolition as an assault on the democratic settlement and a gift to independence campaigners. The exchange over whether Holyrood was “brought in with English permission” — answered by “There is no English Parliament” — captured the wider argument’s mixture of constitutional grievance, devolution and territorial distrust.
The result was a narrow win for abolition, but the debate’s more respected voices were not calling for power to return simply to Westminster; they were asking whether Scotland’s politics should be made more local.
10 Opinions
Was brought in with English permission!! Ha
Just because the SNP appear to be financially inept the case for denying the Scottish nation a democratic parliament would be misguided and likely to reignite the independence movement, a move that would be catastrophic for the UK as a whole.
With the curent PM pushing to devolve more power to the regions of England why close one that is already established and working, although not always for the best of Scotland? It is up to the Scottish people to elect MSPs who will do what is right for the area unlike the SNP members, as will happen in other regions as more power is devolved
I can't think of one way in which Holyrood, the Sennedd or Stormont have improved people's lives. It's all progressive policy trinkets, while health and education fall to pieces . It is Westminster's duty to protect all its UK citizens from suffering. Intervene and stop this.
The Scottish Parliament was brought into existence by the Scottish people in 1997 and they are the only ones who have the right to abolish it. A heavy-handed decision from Westminster just serves SNP arguments and pushes Scotland further towards independence.