In the Herald today from William Loneskie of Lauder:
The Labour Party was founded on the principle that working people of all countries have more in common than divides them. The problems of workers in Glasgow are exactly those of workers in Leeds. Mr Stenton claims that Scots think differently from English. Rubbish. We speak the same international language, obey the same laws, do the same type of work, worry about the cost of living crisis in equal measure, watch the same television, take the same type of holidays, and so on.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/20128857.letters-end-myth-scots-think-differently-english/
Loneskie is a regular in the media posting conservative rebuttals of the case for independence. The UK Union Voice loved this tweet in September 2019:
His letter reminds me of another once-regular theme here – are Scots different? While I recognise that we have Tories too, fascists even, I think in behaviour there is something in the form of a stronger, not complete, tendency toward leftist politics and collectivist values here.
See this evidence:
Scotland IS different as it protects unaccompanied children seeking asylum
It is a matter of life in Scotland and death in England
Scotland IS a different place as its universities offer guaranteed places to care leavers
Abuse of women and the disabled far higher in England than in Scotland
Scottish Muslim students far less likely to report abuse or crime?
Terror de-radicalisation referral rate in Scotland less than one third per capita of that in England
Scientific evidence that Scots tend to be different from the other groups in rUK?
Who said Scots were not more left-wing than those in the rest of the UK?
Different Scotland in the UN report on ‘Workhouse Britain’
Scottish values making oil and gas firms a tad different too?
Are Scotland’s employers also different – more willing to pay a decent wage?
And this from from January 2020:
From the Scottish Government News site today:
‘Young carers going through the immigration process will be able to apply for the Scottish Government’s Young Carer Grant without fear of it risking their immigration status. The change comes following lengthy discussions between the Scottish and UK Governments to amend Home Office regulations. With a payment of £300 the Young Carer Grant helps improve the quality of life for 16, 17 and 18-year-olds who spend an average of 16 hours caring for someone who receives a disability benefit. The Young Carer Grant was introduced in 2019 with an expected investment of £600,000 from the Scottish Government in 2019/20. Current regulations state that due to Home Office restrictions, young carers who are subject to immigration control are not eligible to receive the grant’
https://news.gov.scot/news/young-carer-grant-extended
This list all needs a bit of pruning and tidying but maybe later. We’re an untidy people?
Talking-up Scotland 
This is a classic ‘straw man’ fallacy, which is deployed regularly in politics and the media. A fictitious scenario is set out purporting to be the position of an opponent and then it is refuted, and hey presto! the opponent’s argument is rebutted.
This is the ‘identity politics’ trope which the Labour party trotted out regularly in 2014, that those of us wishing Scotland to become an independent country were claiming that we were superior beings to people in other countries. In evidence they quoted the “Here’s tae, us. Wha’s like us?” line
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Yes!
I think Brexit showed the different mindset between Scots and English.
We are for the most part friendlier towards people coming from other countries.
We are all human beings after all.
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I think the real question to be asked, and answered is ‘Would Scots think and be different if we hadn’t been ‘part of the union’ for the last 300+ years?’
It’s for unionists to show we wouldn’t be, not for independence supporters.
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Yes, we do think differently from the English – we don’t want to have to go to London for our banking, our representation, our government, etc etc we strongly prefer the ‘Scottish model’ for SCOTLAND AND THE ISLES
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There’s also the fact that the Tories haven’t won an election in Scotland in over 60 years yet despite that they have been foisted on Scotland as our Government for more than half that time.
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So by his thinking that must mean that all people of all countries are no different to each other! His argument is rubbish that’s for sure. Scotland has a very different culture to that of England, and in many cases a different language (s). I’m sure the laws that the people of Scotland ‘obey’ are not exactly like the laws they ‘obey’ in England, Scots Law is not the same as English law.
Values differ from country to country, Scotland and England do not share the same values, and sharing a basic moral code does not mean that people are no different in one country to their next door country. To reject difference is rather dangerous and stems from an ethnic nationalist agenda.
Scotland is outward looking, internationalist and more social democratic than England and the majority of Scots reject the narrow British nationalist insular view of the world. Big difference.
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Boil the whole debate down to one of reality and science
All Humans are none other than a lump of DNA preprogrammed to react to environmental stimuli in a given manner
50% of this is genetically inherited
50% by to the stimuli subjected to
How can someone both generically and from the Western Isles think and act as one from the S.E of England
For starters the climates are vastly differing and climate is one of the great influences both long and short term of human behavior and activity
Genetically the gene mix in Western Isles mainly Celtic and Nordic
Whislt S.E England mainly
Anglo Saxon
This makes it impossible for both to act and think exactly in the same manner
No amount of propaganda or subtle conditioning can ever alter these basic and universal truths
Genetics and Enviroment
Reign supreme always has and shall always be so
Only knaves and fools believe otherwise
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The essence of Loneskie’s claim is this “We speak the same international language, obey the same laws, do the same type of work, worry about the cost of living crisis in equal measure, watch the same television, take the same type of holidays, and so on”
Well taking the first first, so do the Americans! Language is a tool – we can use tools in different ways. We can also work through the same laws in different ways (eg not necessarily respect laws which are respected elsewhere). Folk everywhere in the west do much the same work as each other (though clearly this varies). We watch the same TV because the same TV is beamed into our homes one way or another – ie we face the same choices. And good luck to Willie when he goes on holiday to find all those damned Germans! It’s just nonsense springing from desperation.
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Of course, most of us are different. We don’t like Westminster and the Tories and Labour and LieDems.
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British Labour’s “solidarity” with workers stops at Dover.
They have made it clear they have no wish to engage with anyone outside Greater England.
I have cousins in Canada who share the English language,more or less,but have no wish to be ruled by the government they elect,or any other government outside Scotland.
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£2Billion for more nuclear while people are starving. People in the south voted for Brexit. Illegal wars, tax evasion and financial fraud. The most unequal place in the world. Scotland’s wealth taken and wasted. The ignorance and arrogance of Westminster unionist. Not supported in Scotland, The Tories are on their way out. Scotland achieving Independence will stop the ignorance and illegal actions of Westminster.
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I don’t know about Scots and English thinking differently. After all, I used to be English(!) and my thought processes are the same as they ever were.
BUT
Scotland has a different history and a different culture and – as AH pointed out – the laws aren’t necessarily the same. And Scotland is all the better for that.
These differences are more in line with the way I was brought up to think by my rather eccentric family. They’re differences and values that I’m far comfortable with than those of my birthplace.
I think that Scotland starts from a different – and infinitely better – base, so gets different – and infinitely better – results. I want to see them grow and would have to be dragged back across the the Not-a-Border kicking and screaming.
Working in the oil industry, I’ve met many English people, who moaned incessantly about being moved up to Scotland from Head Office. Then, after a couple of months, they’d fly down for a meeting and “couldn’t wait to get back”.
So I reckon that Scots and English aren’t necessarily different, but Scotland and England definitely are.
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I always think about Germany/ Austria when presented with this ‘argument’.
The logical conclusion from that line of thinking is that Austria we’re the evil nationalists for wanting to preserve their own country & its traditions whilst the Germans were unifying people with the same language etc. under a ‘union flag’.
I like to ask them if they watch ‘The Sound of Music’ and see the Von Trapp family as the bad guys…
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