AnnaLee said:
I think that the high number of Conservative seats won in England will probably increase any present divide between Scotland and England and could make the opportunity for an independent Scotland more likely. I have to say, I am really excited about the result and so interested to see where it leads.

Jenni said:

Really? I don't entirely understand why people support the SNP and want Scotland to become self-governing. I know there's historically been a huge rift between Scotland and England, but what are the current Scottish reasons for wanting independence?

Personally, I'm sitting on the fence on the issue. But I'm just curious about what Scotland wants to gain out of seccession.

Freedom to decide what kind of society we want to live in and how we want to interact with the world around us. The ability to make our own decisions, to earn and spend our own money, and to take responsibility for our own lives.

As a nation, we accept the independence of other countries as normal. We do not think it strange that the people of Norway and Denmark run their own affairs. We would not expect the people of Ireland or Sweden to ask another nation to take decisions for them because they didn't feel up to the job. Why should the people of Scotland be any different?

Most of us also want our communities to have more independence. We want to have a greater say in deciding how our public services should be funded and delivered, we want to participate in decisions which affect the environment around us and we want to contribute more to the communities we live in.

Although the Scottish Parliament has brought a new level of democracy to our country, its powers are strictly limited and therefore there is a limit to what it can achieve. With devolution Westminster keeps control of crucial areas like the economy (including our oil), taxation, benefits, pensions, immigration and asylum, broadcasting, defence and international affairs. It also retains the right to legislate in all areas - devolved as well as reserved - and can over-ride the will of the Scottish Parliament without consent.

On key issues such as economic growth or pensions it remains powerless and on matters as basic as whether or not to send Scottish troops to war it has no voice.

Independence would also give us control of energy policy %u2013 and bring home Scotland's share of North Sea oil and gas revenues.

More than 90 per cent of the UK's oil revenues come from the Scottish sector of the Continental Shelf. So it really is Scotland's oil.

In addition to oil, we have vast renewable energy potential. Scotland has 25 per cent of Europe's wind and tidal capacity and 10 per cent of its wave power. There are huge, untapped opportunities for offshore energy production and for clean carbon technologies like carbon capture. An SNP government will harness this potential and turn it into a profitable and environmentally sustainable industry.

Independence would also give Scotland a voice on the international stage; a voice we can use to promote peace and reconciliation, and fairness.