Originally Posted by Courtney
We can't keep on having referenda and votes on everything just because some people didn't like the result the last time we did it. All done now.
Tell the SNP! And Biggus. In a referendum the number of votes is what counts, in a General Election it is the number of seats.
Also -
There was no rise in Scottish nationalism: Understanding the SNP victory
It is a mistake, committed by many, to equate a substantial SNP vote with an alleged rise in nationalism or nationalist sentiment in Scotland, argues Jan Eichhorn (@eichhorn_jan). The evidence indicates the contrary: data from the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey suggests that fewer people emphasise their Scottish national identity distinctively.
The 2015 general election will be memorable for many reasons, a key one being the remarkable victory of the SNP gaining 56 of 59 seats in Scotland (increasing their share dramatically from just 6 seats in 2010). Naturally, such a landslide attracts the focus of journalists, commentators and politicians who aim to assess the outcome of the election. Since the exit polls closed a lot of people have tried to make sense of what happened in Scotland. Unfortunately a lot of them made statements that have to be rejected as simply inaccurate.
It is a mistake, committed by many, to equate a substantial SNP vote with an alleged rise in nationalism or nationalist sentiment in Scotland. It may seem a plausible assumption to engage with (if you do not understand the attitudes of the Scottish electorate), but it cannot be supported by any empirical evidence. To the contrary: the best evidence we have to give us a long term perspective, data from the high-quality, face-to-face Scottish Social Attitudes Survey (SSA) suggests that, if anything, fewer people than before emphasise their Scottish national identity distinctively.
Later....summing up:
Crucially, commentators need to stop painting a picture in which the majority of Scotland predominantly base their political decision making mostly on their national identity. There has been no rise in nationalistic sentiment in Scotland. As we (amongst others) have repeatedly shown in our research, the strongest determinants of both independence and SNP support were pragmatic evaluations about economic prospects, trustworthiness and political personnel. For most people in Scotland the SNP is a normal party, that they like, hate or are indifferent to, but those evaluations for most are based on whether people agree with their policies and how they evaluate their representation.
If commentators want to understand why the SNP is successful, they need to make a greater effort at properly understanding how public attitudes are formed in Scotland. Suggesting that it is down to sentiment is lazy at best, but actually misrepresenting the majority of Scottish voters. For political parties trying to challenge the SNP, first and foremost Scottish Labour, a similar message applies: to have a chance of engaging them successfully, they need to stop focusing mostly on high-level questions about different types of nationality. Instead they need to challenge the SNP on concrete policy debates around issues that affect people’s lives and which voters in Scotland are much more likely to base their votes on than identity-driven arguments.
Turning to the issue of SSBNs and their replacements, you may find this informative:
The Continuing Role of Strategic Deterrence and How the United States Navy Meets the Demands
For the SWS, the Navy is working to ensure both the shipboard systems and the flight hardware will be ready to deploy aboard OHIO Replacement. To do this, the Navy has developed a shipboard integration program. By 2020, each of the shipboard sub-systems on the current OHIO Class submarines, such as fire control, navigation, and the launcher, will be refreshed. This shipboard system configuration will serve as the initial configuration for OHIO Replacement.
Concurrent with the shipboard integration program, the Trident II D5 Life Extension (D5 LE) program will ensure the missile systems maintain their effectiveness. The Trident II D5 – and its five predecessors are more than just a missile. It is a complex system composed of solid rocket motors, numerous electronic packages, a guidance system, and reentry bodies. As the overall system ages, each of these subsystems presents their own unique challenges in regards to life extension and modernization. However, the Trident II D5 is a proven system. To date there have been 150 successful test flights. Rather than develop a new missile system, it was proven to be more cost-effective to replace components that were reaching or had reached obsolescence. The D5 LE will provide the additional missile assets needed to extend the service life of the weapon system.
One key benefit of the D5 LE is that the Navy can avoid developing an upgraded or new weapon system at the same time we are building a new class of submarine. That will reduce the cost and design risk of the OHIO Replacement, but this also means that the Trident II D5 will last more than twice as long as any previous missile system – more than 50 years (Trident I C4 was in service for 24 years).
For the first time, the Navy is building the missile compartment in a series of four-tube quad packs that will be used not only on the OHIO Replacement, but also aboard the United Kingdom’s SUCCESSOR SSBN through the 1963 Polaris Sales Agreement. SUCCESSOR is scheduled to achieve initial operating capability before OHIO Replacement. This will be the first time that the United Kingdom is purchasing a deterrent system that has not already been deployed or tested by the United States.