Scotland Independance Referendum

[Tourist since 1971]

Read some of the White Paper and I think if I was Scottish I would be voting Yes, but Im English and would prefer Scotland to remain part of the UK.


Incidentally the White Paper states - On independence, Her Majesty The Queen will remain our head of state, just as she is for 16 Commonwealth countries. Scotland will be a constitutional monarchy for as long as the people of Scotland wish us to be so. Scotland will take our place amongst the member states of the EU and the United Nations.

Really? Have you asked them yet? You can't just roll up and join you know, just ask Turkey.

 

[the god Gerry Gow]

Read some of the White Paper and I think if I was Scottish I would be voting Yes, but Im English and would prefer Scotland to remain part of the UK.


Incidentally the White Paper states - On independence, Her Majesty The Queen will remain our head of state, just as she is for 16 Commonwealth countries. Scotland will be a constitutional monarchy for as long as the people of Scotland wish us to be so. Scotland will take our place amongst the member states of the EU and the United Nations.

Serious question!

Will Scotland be part of the commonwealth if they vote yes?

If the answer is no then we should inform the Queen not to be their head of state.

According to their White Paper they will remain a Commonwealth Country, the comment above is a direct copy from their WP

But the question is not for them to answer. That decision would be for the other commonwealth countries. The same for Salmonds claim to EU membership. Again not his call. Keeping the pound - not his call.

There are lies, damn lies, statistics and The Scittish Independence Ehite Paper

 

[Matty]

Read some of the White Paper and I think if I was Scottish I would be voting Yes, but Im English and would prefer Scotland to remain part of the UK.


Incidentally the White Paper states - On independence, Her Majesty The Queen will remain our head of state, just as she is for 16 Commonwealth countries. Scotland will be a constitutional monarchy for as long as the people of Scotland wish us to be so. Scotland will take our place amongst the member states of the EU and the United Nations.

Scotland have never been granted membership of the EU, as such their is no such thing as "our place". The UK gained membership as the UK met the criteria to gain membership. Will Scotland, in their own right, with their own separate economy, be able to meet the entry criteria, criteria that will have evolved since the 1970's? This is just another of Alex Salmond's "assertions" that, when delved into, has no actually basis in fact at this stage. He can assert whatever he wants, but many things are unachievable and others, such as EU membership, are beyond his control.

 

[Gabriel]

That's exactly how the UK/Eire system works. They are independent end of

No its not, you can wander off the ferry in to Dublin with no passport get a job, live there and vice versa, no need for large physical borders either. I'm all for them supporting themselves financially but theres no need to be petty.

There's a HUGE physical border between the UK and Ireland, it's called the Irish Sea!!

What we have to realise here is that, at present, the UK has no physical borders with any other country (save the Ireland/Northern Ireland one, but messing with that is fraught with political, and terrorist, issues. Plus there's still only airports and ports that you can use to get to the mainland). We are an island, and the sea is our border. Scotland will border England physically, as a land mass, and as such we'd need to consider what we did about the border. Are we happy for people to gain access to Scotland, something we can do nothing to control, and then allow them to simply walk into the UK? Are we willing to trust that Alex Salmond and his cronies are capable of creating, and maintaining, an independent border control agency, and policing their ports, airports and coastline?

Surely the bulk of immigrants would just as likely enter England directly and not through Scotland, as they currently do. Moreover, given the complete shambles that is, and has been, UK border control, I can't think of anyone and his cronies who couldn't do a better job.

If the Scots do dissolve the United Kingdom, does anyone know what the remaining parts will be known as?

 

[wayne71]

That's exactly how the UK/Eire system works. They are independent end of

No its not, you can wander off the ferry in to Dublin with no passport get a job, live there and vice versa, no need for large physical borders either. I'm all for them supporting themselves financially but theres no need to be petty.

There's a HUGE physical border between the UK and Ireland, it's called the Irish Sea!!

What we have to realise here is that, at present, the UK has no physical borders with any other country (save the Ireland/Northern Ireland one, but messing with that is fraught with political, and terrorist, issues. Plus there's still only airports and ports that you can use to get to the mainland). We are an island, and the sea is our border. Scotland will border England physically, as a land mass, and as such we'd need to consider what we did about the border. Are we happy for people to gain access to Scotland, something we can do nothing to control, and then allow them to simply walk into the UK? Are we willing to trust that Alex Salmond and his cronies are capable of creating, and maintaining, an independent border control agency, and policing their ports, airports and coastline?

It all depends on the new Scotlands immigration policies as to if you would need border controls I suppose. It does seem a bit ott to consider suddenly fencing off Scotland which would need to be done if they followed your train of thought?

 

[Chancy Termites]

Well I'd call Machina a good album.

 

[Tuearts right boot]

Where would the UK recruit the majority of our special forces, we're doomed.

 

[laserblue]

If the Scots want to go in a free vote let them go. As long as they take their fair share of the National Debt with them and don't assume they'll be keeping the Pound Sterling as their currency. Maybe the 'yes' camp should also reflect on having the biggest smug twat in Europe as their post-independence Prime Minister.

 

[nmc]

As someone born and bred in England - I have little or no interest in Scotland. This is purely a matter for the scots - the English should keep out of the debate. Let the scots decide - but once they make a decision they should stick with it. I wouldn't want the UK disrupted by an ongoing campaign - so let the scots decide yes or no and then let's get on with it. I do find the English attitude of 'let's tell them to go' pathetic. Who will be next the Welsh or Cornwall?

 

[Balti]

As someone born and bred in England - I have little or no interest in Scotland. This is purely a matter for the scots - the English should keep out of the debate. Let the scots decide - but once they make a decision they should stick with it. I wouldn't want the UK disrupted by an ongoing campaign - so let the scots decide yes or no and then let's get on with it. I do find the English attitude of 'let's tell them to go' pathetic. Who will be next the Welsh or Cornwall?

London

 

[Bluesince1979]

If the Scots want to go in a free vote let them go. As long as they take their fair share of the National Debt with them and don't assume they'll be keeping the Pound Sterling as their currency. Maybe the 'yes' camp should also reflect on having the biggest smug twat in Europe as their post-independence Prime Minister.

I bet you now they don't take there share of the national debt. Has this even been discussed. I imagine salmon is thinking he can walk away and start afresh debt free.
I'm not too fussed either way what they do to be honest but if we (england) subsidise Scotland to a large extent wouldn't we as a country be better off?

 

[BlueBearBoots]

If the Scots want to go in a free vote let them go. As long as they take their fair share of the National Debt with them and don't assume they'll be keeping the Pound Sterling as their currency. Maybe the 'yes' camp should also reflect on having the biggest smug twat in Europe as their post-independence Prime Minister.

I bet you now they don't take there share of the national debt. Has this even been discussed. I imagine salmon is thinking he can walk away and start afresh debt free.
I'm not too fussed either way what they do to be honest but if we (england) subsidise Scotland to a large extent wouldn't we as a country be better off?

Apparently not with North Sea oil. From the White Paper - "Even without North Sea oil, Scotland's economy produces almost exactly the same amount of output per head as the rest of the UK. With oil and gas, we produce nearly a fifth more."

 

[west didsblue]

If the Scots want to go in a free vote let them go. As long as they take their fair share of the National Debt with them and don't assume they'll be keeping the Pound Sterling as their currency. Maybe the 'yes' camp should also reflect on having the biggest smug twat in Europe as their post-independence Prime Minister.

I bet you now they don't take there share of the national debt. Has this even been discussed. I imagine salmon is thinking he can walk away and start afresh debt free.
I'm not too fussed either way what they do to be honest but if we (england) subsidise Scotland to a large extent wouldn't we as a country be better off?

I think Salmond's plan, if he can get away with it, is to end up owing the rest of the UK their share of the national debt rather than owing the external creditors. It's then quite likely that he would default on it.

 

[Balti]

would you buy a used car off these lardbuckets?

 

[Blue Til Death]

If the Scots want to go in a free vote let them go. As long as they take their fair share of the National Debt with them and don't assume they'll be keeping the Pound Sterling as their currency. Maybe the 'yes' camp should also reflect on having the biggest smug twat in Europe as their post-independence Prime Minister.

I bet you now they don't take there share of the national debt. Has this even been discussed. I imagine salmon is thinking he can walk away and start afresh debt free.
I'm not too fussed either way what they do to be honest but if we (england) subsidise Scotland to a large extent wouldn't we as a country be better off?

I think Salmond's plan, if he can get away with it, is to end up owing the rest of the UK their share of the national debt rather than owing the external creditors. It's then quite likely that he would default on it.

Scotland will be a parody of benefit street within 5 years, let them eat cake I say, would be a landslide if they let us vote as well ..!

 

[west didsblue]

I bet you now they don't take there share of the national debt. Has this even been discussed. I imagine salmon is thinking he can walk away and start afresh debt free.
I'm not too fussed either way what they do to be honest but if we (england) subsidise Scotland to a large extent wouldn't we as a country be better off?

I think Salmond's plan, if he can get away with it, is to end up owing the rest of the UK their share of the national debt rather than owing the external creditors. It's then quite likely that he would default on it.

Scotland will be a parody of benefit street within 5 years, let them eat cake I say, would be a landslide if they let us vote as well ..!

What would be quite amusing would be if the Shetland Islanders voted to remain part of the UK, thereby retaining the vast majority of the North Sea oil/gas income for the UK.

 

[Carstairs]

I bet you now they don't take there share of the national debt. Has this even been discussed. I imagine salmon is thinking he can walk away and start afresh debt free.
I'm not too fussed either way what they do to be honest but if we (england) subsidise Scotland to a large extent wouldn't we as a country be better off?

I think Salmond's plan, if he can get away with it, is to end up owing the rest of the UK their share of the national debt rather than owing the external creditors. It's then quite likely that he would default on it.

Scotland will be a parody of benefit street within 5 years, let them eat deep-fried cake I say, would be a landslide if they let us vote as well ..!

edited for accuracy and to reinforce an age-old stereotype. :)

 

[Bluesince1979]

I would imagine that they will vote to stay within the UK. For all there anti English stance that still no which side there breads buttered on.

 

[che_don_john]

I have family up there (from Argyll and Bute to Fife), and they are not happy about the prospect of living in an independent Scotland. One cousin has even moved down south and changed jobs. She was working at the Faslane Naval base, which will most likely see massive job cuts should Scotland pull away from the UK, so she thought best to act now.

Salmond's a slimey bastard. He's trying to draw Cameron into debating with him because he wants to align and associate the 'no' vote with the Tories, who have next to no popularity in Scotland. He wouldn't dare debate with Millliband on the issue because Labour are popular up there. Lowering the voting age to 16 was also a dirty move; patriotism and nationalism are irrational sentiments which younger people are more susceptible to, and I can see that being the key factor in swinging the outcome towards the 'yes'.

Personally though, as a 3/4 Englishman, I couldn't give a turd what they do. There's a strong case to be made that England might end up being better off (the oil that Salmond keeps banging on about is managed mostly by British companies, so we won't lose out there). The Westlothian Question is also a massive problem for English democracy. Although, I totally understand their argument for keeping the pound; it's just as much theirs as it is ours.

I love Scotland, it's great, but we really don't need them. In fact, I'd probably vote for splitting the UK completely if English voters were ever given the same considerations and choices that Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish voters are given.

 

[pee dubya]

What would be quite amusing would be if the Shetland Islanders voted to remain part of the UK, thereby retaining the vast majority of the North Sea oil/gas income for the UK.

Do you regularly find the prospect of millions of ordinary people being worse off amusing or just in this case?