From: "Dave Coull" <d.y.coull-AT-dundee.ac.uk>
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 1999 12:42:18 GMT
Subject: Re: Is Anarchy in fact Barbara Cartland?


Andy wrote

>Pausing  from  wondering whether it's entirely co-incidental 
>that Mills and Boon originated in Scotland

Official Post Office statistics show that the Scots write 
far more, and far longer, love letters, than any other
group in the United Kingdom or Ireland ; and also that 
they send more valentine cards, spend more on valentine
cards,  send more flowers by interflora,  and so on.
In this case, I think the statistics are probably right.
Of course, I don't see myself as a statistic. So far
as I am concerned, my Californian poppy is unique.

>what's the spin being given on the Euro-debacle 
>by the Scots elite?

I haven't spoken with any of the Scots elite recently.
I'm not sure I ever have had a conversation with them.

>In London, the Greens were claiming a lot 
>of the Labour Left had de-camped to them. 

Is de - camping like going straight ?
Or are they just pretending to be macho ?

>Will Blair reckon that his move to the right is vindicated 
>by these results [i.e. Tories always turn out, and while 
>they'll vote against Europe, they won't vote for Haig 
>if Blair can continue to occupy the right]?

Less than one fifth of the electorate actually bothered
to vote. Certainly very few working class people did.
In Scotland, the SNP ran Labour very close indeed,
but just failed to get a third MEP because the working
class had stayed at home. People see the European 
Parliament as being totally remote and irrelevant 
to their lives. Although the Tories got more votes 
in England because their strenuous efforts succeeded
in getting the fanatically-anti-foreigner-minority vote 
out, as I understand it the actual number of votes cast 
for them represents about seven percent of the electorate. 
Which proves absolutely nothing. If Blair continues 
on his present path I think it a certainty that he will 
lose votes to parties (plural) on his left. 

So far as Scotland is concerned, I would expect that 
turnout at the next Scottish Parliament elections will
be higher, that the SNP will win, that the Scottish Socialist 
Party etc. will increase their number of MSPs, and that 
they will in fact declare independence within a very short 
time ; but turnout at the next Westminster election (assuming
there is one) could be low, because people will increasingly 
see Westminster as being irrelevant to their lives, just 
like the way they already see the European Parliament.


Dave