[Englishman]

I agree, but this was the sort of thing that sparked the rise in support for a Scottish Parliament, the idea that no matter how Scotland voted, their electorates aspirations could be blocked by how the votes went elsewhere. This is also why an English Parliament is necessary, not regional parliaments. Certain local decisions can easily be brought under more local democratic control through the councils which are already there, without an English parliament UK democracy is unbalanced. The frustration of Scottish voters during 18 years of tory rule is being matched by the frustration of English voters under a Scottish influenced Labour Party.

I agree with that. Maggie was one of the greatest enemies the Union has ever had.

I don't know why you would think this. I would estimate the chances of a Scot being elected to an English constituency and an English born person being elected in Scotland are the same.

I'm not talking about someone simply born in England but an English person in general.

There has been an increase in anti-Englishness in the Celtic parts of the UK in recent years. It is partially because of this that the English have themselves retaliated by becoming more English rather than British. I don't know whether you've been there recently but Glasgow is not the best part of the UK to be English.

[Rinty]

There has been an increase in anti-Englishness in the Celtic parts of the UK in recent years. It is partially because of this that the English have themselves retaliated by becoming more English rather than British. I don't know whether you've been there recently but Glasgow is not the best part of the UK to be English.

I don't agree, as someone who lives in Scotland I would say the anti-English sentiment peaked during the thatcher years and is on the wane. And when it did reach prominence in the press, disrgruntlement with 'white settlers' as they were refferred to was predominantly in the pictish and nordic North East rather than the Celtic South and West, so I don't consider your analysis of this being a problem in 'celtic' parts of the UK.

At the same time as the alleged rise in anti-Englishness their has been a significant increase in English people moving to Scotland and in the amount of tourists and visitors. This could in theory lead to a rise in number of reported anti-english incidents but whether or not this would be a proportionate rise would require more in depth analysis.

It is also worth noting that in areas where anti-english incidents were reported in the press there was also substantial resentment of people moving North from South and Central Scotland. This mirrors the same resentment that is often found in rural areas of England often caused by resentment of outsiders pushing up property prices and securing top jobs. That sort of resentment in rural Scotland is a general resentment which I doubt is actually anti-english as such and more anti-outsider. It is also similar, in my opinion, to the ill-informed resentment of asylum seekers, refugees and other immigrants across the UK.

As for Glasgow, yes I have been there recently, in fact I am there several times a week. Recently most of my visits have been work related for a contract I am carrying out for an Englishman's company in Glasgow. He moved his company and family up here 4 years ago after holidaying here for years and finally deciding it was a better place to live and for his kids to be brought up.

I am not English so I admit that I may not notice anti-English sentiment as you would but I have never seen it as a problem in Glasgow, elsewhere in Scotland perhaps at times but not in Glasgow.

To further question your 'celtic' basis for the prejudice I would suggest that evidence suggests that in Glasgow and the main population centres of the central belt that anti-Irish feelings and incidents have been far more prevalent and at times have been a real problem. Without doubt these are on the wane but still result in deaths every year. Also anti-asylum feelings were high in Glasgow, also resulting in violence and death, the same could be said of ant-pakistani or other asian attacks.

So if there is anti-English feelings in Scotland I would say they are on a small scale compared with other prejudices and I would say that they are on the slide rather than on the rise.

[Englishman]

No anti-Englishness in the Celtic parts of the UK?

Did you see the Wales v Scotland match in the Six nations recently when their fans were singing at each other We hate the English more than you

[Rinty]

No I don't watch Rugby, it's not a popular sport in Scotland really apart from in the borders area. But I would say that this is more sporting rivalry and tribalism. You could easily witness similar instances in other sporting crowds with London teams and Liverpool teams and others united hatred of Manchester United and small teams in Scotlands supporters united hatred of Celtic and/or Rangers.

I didn't say that there was no anti-english sentiment in Celtic parts of the UK, I simply didn't think that Celtic or any other definition of the problem is the correct context. Parts of Scotland are "Celtic", parts are not. As I pointed out, the higher instances of anti-englishness often happens in the parts that are not, so I don't see where you are coming from when using a Celtic definition.

Cornwall, which many would define as "Celtic" has had many incidents caused by resentment of outsiders moving in and the effect that has on local house prices etc. This would not be classed even by you as anti-englishness.

I don't believe that an English candidate would have any more or less of a chance of being elected in Glasgow than a Scottish candidate in London, which is what I think we were initially discussing.