"nasty element of anti englishnes and sectarianism that was common" - that is complete and utter rubbish and your "knowledgeable" colleague is painting a totall

"nasty element of anti englishnes and sectarianism that was common" - that is complete and utter rubbish and your "knowledgeable" colleague is painting a totally inaccurate negative picture about the attitude of Scottish people towards religious, racial and cultural tolerance. He should be ashamed. I will conceded that there are still some problems (which are being addressed) at old-firm games (Rangers vs Celtic) in relation to sectarian chanting, but that's tiny vocal minority who are given a disproportionate level of press coverage. The vast majority of Scottish football fans have no truck with this outmoded behaviour. As regards "anti englishnes [sic]" - there's always going to be a small minority of idiots who the press can't seem to ignore, but Scotland isn't a xenophobic country. Have you ever trawled the BBC News website comments section whenever a Scottish matter is opened up to discussion? It's a bit of an eye-opener. There's a very vocal bunch of folks who view Scotland and Scots as a bunch of soap dodgers and benefit lackies. Your pal's assertion cuts both ways there, but I don't view English people as "anti-Scottish" just because of a few feeble minded idiots (e.g. the English Defence League lot). "I could see a post Independence Scotland pandering to right wing anti emigration lobby and or religious or anti gay presure" - sigh. Have you looked at the electoral map of Scotland (for both Westminster and Scottish Parliaments). The only viable right of centre Westminster party in Scotland (The Scottish Conservative and Unionists) got their arses handed to them back in 1997 and lost every seat. Since the 2001 general election they've only managed to win one seat in Scotland. Nigel Farage (UKIP) was more or less told to fuck off and don't show his face again earlier this year when he appeared in Edinburgh. Scotland as a nation votes centre-left and has centre-left sensibilities culturally and politically. I could say something flame-worthy about Scottish Labour, but Scottish Labour voter's hearts are in the right place despite their Scottish leadership continuing to have its strings inextricably pulled by Westminster Labour - remember Brown's slap down of Wendy Alexander after her "bring it on" referendum challenge to Alex Salmond [1]?) [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Alexander#Scottish_independence_referendum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Alexander#Scottish_indep...