Scotland should not go independent. We are stronger together and I hope they stay with us. But if they do decide to go separate, then we should re-build Hadrian's wall and ask them to get Visa's to visit GB.
I am English, but I love Scotland. After seeing Ed, Dave and Nick this week I would be tempted to vote Yes. Anything is better than this.
If they go, give it a few years, when they go bust, buy it back cheap This is the biggest privatisation of them all, after British telecom, British gas, Royal Mail, and now the oil field rights. Bet we get bugger-all for them though, far too loud and aggressive to make us much money!
Forgive this Colonialists ignorance but wasn't there some type of vote 10 years or so ago about Scottish independence? I remember reading that after the movie Braveheart about William Walllace that there was some resurgence of a desire for an independent Scotland and it happened years ago? Does Scotland have an industrial base of sufficient size to support itself? As I recall Texas, after becoming independent from Mexico just could not support itself so joined the Union a few years later for economic stability.
No and here's about 80 pages summarising the arguments for and against http://scotlandseptember18.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Scotlands_Decision.pdf
It's not about common sense, it's about independence silly. Scots hopefully will do the the sensible thing and vote no, and get more autonomy in the deal, but there's a lot of 'Celtic scots' out there that might want to give England a kick in the bannockburns. If that happens, they will last five minutes till their bailout is requested. Thing is, the EU will be their target, but Scotland is not the home of your typical European mentality. They won't want to conform to all the BS rules, and as a result get a raw deal
The Yes campaign is assuming they will automatically become part of the EU, but I don't think it will be so clear cut. The Spanish Government will be dead set against it for a start as it would give further impetus to the Independence campaign in Catalonia. As an Englishman I couldn't really care from an emotional standpoint. However from a practical one I thing it would cause economic pain for both Scotland and RUK (as the media is calling it). Nevermind the arguments over single currencies etc there will be huge costs just in updating systems for things like the tax authorties the NHS and the DVLA. - Good time to be in IT!
I had a debate up here with an employee about currency use post-independence should the Yes vote prevail. She told me that we'd continue to use the Pound and that the likes of Westminster couldn't stand in the way of Independent Scots. When I pointed out that Scotland would not have control over the currency if leaving the UK and that the Bank of England would not guarantee savings north of the border if Scotland became separate from the UK. She told me that Scotland had the Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland. Well... yes, but both of those are high street banks (i.e. businesses) and don't control base rates or guarantee savings. Also, apart from being 81% owned by the UK government: Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds to move HQ's south after Yes vote | Herald Scotland So, moving on... the Bank of Scotland is part of Lloyds Banking Group, which is registered in Edinburgh and also 25% owned by the UK government. A Scottish bank, perhaps? No, they'll move their registered address to London in the event of a Yes vote prevailing because then they'll still be part of the EU and able to trade in Europe more easily, taxes would remain a bit simpler, and most of all they'd continue to receive the protection of the Bank of England in times of crisis: Exclusive - Lloyds could move south if Scots vote for independence So not only does Scotland not have an equivalent to the Bank of England, the high street banks that people mistake as equivalents need the Bank of England and would leave Scotland to maintain ties to it. Independence really would be a disaster for Scotland, yet most of the Yes voters I've talked to seem to have demonized Westminster as the source of all their woes and accuse No voters of being "too scared to vote Yes" or "too scared to give Scotland a chance". I'm sure there must be done slightly more informed Yes voters out there somewhere, but to date I've been unable to find them. I voted No. All the best, Andrew.
So, are the talking heads predicting the outcome yet? FWIW, I also voted no. What's next? Independence for the sheep shaggers? For Wessex? The Isle of Wight? My guess is many of the "yes" folks, once they get behind the voting curtain, will just quietly vote "no"....... Cheers, Ian
We've already got it covered; - Neuro's up there. - Kraftwerk's on the other side. Between them, setup a nice little "prohibition style" smuggling chain. Problem solved. Cheers, Ian
First declaration for......... NO! In a part of the country that was expected to be a strong Yes vote too. This bodes well. All the best, Andrew. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Some actor railing against the "Westminster elite". All the best, Andrew. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Orkney votes No, as expected. All the best, Andrew. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Shetland Islands vote No. All the best, Andrew. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Eilean Siar votes No. It had been anticipated to be a Yes vote, so this is excellent news. All the best, Andrew. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
We were discussing this at dinner and my daughters were very interested in the why and how of the situation. I did my best to bring them up to speed but my ties to Scotland are a very thin family thread at best (part of the Buchanan or Graham clans). It seems to me that in this day and age it would be very difficult to disconnect from the UK but I certainly understand the emotional need to be independent.
Wow, Inverclyde was close - only 86 votes in it! Just voted No. All the best, Andrew. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Renfrewshire votes No. Dundee votes a resounding Yes. Things are looking a lot closer now! All the best, Andrew. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
It gets even closer. West Dunbartonshire votes Yes. Midlothian votes No to claw back the advantage for the Better Together campaign. All the best, Andrew. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Results coming in fast! All the best, Andrew. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login