The SNP are nothing to worry about, really. They're centre-left and moderate. They might campaign for another referendum but it would be silly to class them as xenophobic.
However, from a technology perspective the new Tory majority really worries me. They have no understanding of tech. They want to reintroduce sweeping surveillance legislation that was blocked by the Lib Dems in the previous government.
They also want to ban encryption (!) and will continue to attempt to censor the internet.
They will also likely fail to reform the current system that sees people being arrested for making jokes on Twitter (or, more widely, our terrible libel laws). They also have no real interest in ensuring widespread rollout of high-speed fibre broadband. They'll pay lip service to it, but that's easy to do.
They are also unconcerned about data protection and will likely continue to allow more care.data-style schemes with little effective oversight.
The only upsides: GDS and open data initiatives will probably survive.
I have Scottish family, but I have always lived in England. Most of the Scots I'm related to or know are fairly anti-SNP/anti-independence. I don't really care (a sentiment shared by many outside Scotland) - although I suspect Scotland might struggle as an independent economy.
I don't think the SNP are necessarily bad for tech savvy people - I just don't think they care much about any of those issues at all. By contrast, the Conservatives are looking to enact actively anti-tech legislation.
To counter your claim I'll point out that the Inland Revenue (non-uk people, that's the IRS/tax central) for the whole of the UK is based in Scotland. Under international law (EU law?, IANAL) it is illegal to keep or administer tax records for a foreign nation(1). Thus, the Inland Revenue for England and Wales would be forced to move from Scotland once Scotland gained independence. The economy could first see high unemployment with the knock on effect of falling property values and a few other negative side effects. Maybe in the long term, for many voters, it's worth it, or maybe not?
1.Source: a civil servant with 40+ years experience in the Inland Revenue (not me).
I think you may have misread the comment -- it's the Conservatives (who now have a parliamentary majority on the national level) that will prove problematic on technology, surveillance, and encryption issues, not the SNP.
The SNP is centre-left (and probably to the left of Labour at the moment, which is one reason for their victory in Scotland) and oppose the Conservative position on those issues.
I think you've misunderstood GP's comment, the second paragraph onwards is about the tories (conservatives), not the SNP. AFAIK the SNP has regularly condemned surveillance plans and monitoring expansions.
Nationalist in this context has nothing in common with how the word is generally used in politics. The SNP are in favor of ethnic diversity, this is about control of resources, both natural and political, for the people who live in Scotland (wherever they came from originally). IT's about wresting control from the south of England who Scots feel have marginalized their country (yes, 'country', although technically no longer a country in the proper sense, I should like to point out to other HNers that Scotland has retained judicial, taxation and education systems separate from England and Wales).
There is definitely a pretty strong element of 'us vs. them' with the SNP, but I wouldn't say it's any different to the same sort of thing which happens in almost any nation state. i.e. they're nationalist in the same way that a French person believes that France should be a nation. There is, I would say, unpleasantness and irrationality in it, but no more so than in the usual way that people rally round to defend against foreign criticism, or judge practices or ideas in terms of whether they are 'truly British', 'anti-American', or whatever.
No reason to worry, they're left-wing nationalists who want an independent scottish nation.
They're civic nationalists and social democrats, in German politics they're around the Greens, maybe mixed with a bit of SDP, in the European Parliament they're currently part of the Green/EFA alliance (same as the german Greens and Pirate Party)
"Nationalist Party German History" peek what google has to say about that topic if your memory from school and grand parents isn't sufficient already. ;)
> Pffft. Same argument can be used against socialism.
Sure, but it's understandable that a german would be slightly worried no? Though nationalism in general is benign in most of the world, it remains a worrying sight in Germany (IIRC a few years ago there were comments that Germans only allowed themselves waving the flag for football matches) for perfectly good historical reasons.
*edit: deleted a sub comment after being shown that I misunderstood something.