Quote Originally Posted by js207 View Post
MMI: "Why would Scotland want to appease Gadaffi; it has no foreign policy? Brown must have had Salmond's arm up behind his back while he did so."

Actually, that near-absence of any official "foreign policy" would have been one factor pushing Salmond in this direction: Scotland has very little authority over any form of foreign policy, and Scottish politicians in general and Salmond's party in particular has yearned from the outset to change that - hence sending Scottish delegates to any foreign event they have an excuse for, renaming itself the "Scottish Government" rather than "Scottish Executive" and other little gestures in that direction. They've been trying to gather influence like this for years, for example over work permits: one of my co-workers a few years ago had a Scotland-specific work permit (for working in Scotland after graduating from a Scottish university) - as it happens her desk was actually in London, but for legal purposes she was being employed in Scotland to qualify for that visa.
I'm sorry, but you'll have to explain how not having a foreign policy would cause Scotland to want to appease Gaddaffi ...

... and also how attendance at international events serves as a substitute for a foreign policy.

Meanwhile, I understand from Wikipedia that, although the Scottish Executive was renamed the Scottish Government in English, the Gaelic name, Riaghaltas na h-Alba has not been changed. The Gaelic translates as Scottish Government. This suggests that the English version of the name was mistaken originally: I'm sure Gaelic has a word or phrase for Executive that could have been used otherwise.

I don't know anything about how visas are issued, but it would surprise me if foreign students were not subject to certain restrictions if they are to be allowed to stay after graduation. In the case you cite, it seems entirely reasonable to stipulate that the graduate be employed in Scotland (or England, Wales or NI for that matter) if that's where she studied. But being employed in Scotland will not prevent her from going anywhere else in Britain, or anywhere else in the world, to carry out her duties, if that's what her employment entailed. Are you sure that the young lady in question was not given a British visa that happened to be issued in Scotland (just like some passports are) rather than a "Scottish visa"?

Or perhaps the visa was issued by the Scottish Government under powers devolved to it by Westminster.