The best that can be hoped for is that there is a slight margin and that Westminster is scared to its bewilligers.
How to Make an Arse of Yourself by David Cameron [UK politics: Scottish independence]
- Thread starter mirandashell
- Start date
That's what the news people are writing also. My experience is that the bookies usually are closer, but sometimes they are way off.
Looks like most of Scots don't want the independence and sovereign state. Ties with England are too strong.
The poll:
Scottish Independence Poll Gives 'Yes' Campaign 8 Point Lead, But Other Polls Show 'No' Ahead
The poll:
- Survation survey for the Better Together campaign: No 54%, Yes 46%
- Opinium survey for The Observer: No 53%, Yes 47%
- Panelbase survey for The Sunday Times: No 51%, Yes 49%
- ICM survey for The Sunday Telegraph: No 46%, Yes 54%
Scottish Independence Poll Gives 'Yes' Campaign 8 Point Lead, But Other Polls Show 'No' Ahead
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Scotland is not, as I understand it, a direct member of either the EU or NATO, but only indirectly through the UK. If independence wins the day, is there a care or a plan for this? A technicality soon fixed? A burden well shed?
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It will be on the outside looking in after independence. But that is what a government is for, getting the arrangements and so forth sorted.
Just one of many important details where it is unclear what the final arrangement will be. The EU have made it clear that Scotland will have to apply to join and the process could take 5 years or more.
All manner of unintended/unanticipated consequences will ensue from a win of the YES vote here, and I truly wonder how many of the younger people (voters as young as 16), who strongly favor the YES vote, understand that. Scots have been striving and aspiring for national independence since the days of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce. Culloden still seems like yesterday to many. I lived in Britain and spent a lot of time in Scotland, including a several month stay in Glasgow, 25 years ago. I visited Culloden, which is a weirdly prosaic place for a horrendous and decisive battle to have been fought*. But the simmering ferocity of desire for separation from England has been there for centuries.
Problem is, modern economic and military intricacies carry a great deal of weight, and a YES vote will require a lot of restructuring of those things. It won't be easy, or comfortable. I worry about the economy of Scotland for the non-wealthy, who seem oddly to be the very core of the supporters of separation. A YES vote could easily create descent into a third-world nation in western Europe.
And what about petroleum resources in the North Sea and west of the Shetland Islands? Who would get those? Exit from the EU would require passports for travel, a local currency separate from the Euro or the British pound; oddly Scotland has had its own currency, at least by design, for many years. I carried Scottish pound notes regularly when I lived there in 1989. The national health system? Taxation? The complexities seem endless.
In terms of the current drive for separation, we have a fair amount of thanks to give to Margaret Thatcher, bless her flinty and no longer beating heart. The British Tory Party, which she headed for a decade of spectacular notoriety, did everything in its power to screw over Scotland, along with other less-favored portions of England. David Cameron, who still doesn't get this, is now reaping the fruits of the political vegetation planted in those years.
caw
*Culloden reminded me of the field where the Battle of New Orleans was fought in 1814, just east of the modern city. Equally simple, non-spectacular, and a place Americans regard as a dear relic of the ultimate separation from parent England.
Problem is, modern economic and military intricacies carry a great deal of weight, and a YES vote will require a lot of restructuring of those things. It won't be easy, or comfortable. I worry about the economy of Scotland for the non-wealthy, who seem oddly to be the very core of the supporters of separation. A YES vote could easily create descent into a third-world nation in western Europe.
And what about petroleum resources in the North Sea and west of the Shetland Islands? Who would get those? Exit from the EU would require passports for travel, a local currency separate from the Euro or the British pound; oddly Scotland has had its own currency, at least by design, for many years. I carried Scottish pound notes regularly when I lived there in 1989. The national health system? Taxation? The complexities seem endless.
In terms of the current drive for separation, we have a fair amount of thanks to give to Margaret Thatcher, bless her flinty and no longer beating heart. The British Tory Party, which she headed for a decade of spectacular notoriety, did everything in its power to screw over Scotland, along with other less-favored portions of England. David Cameron, who still doesn't get this, is now reaping the fruits of the political vegetation planted in those years.
caw
*Culloden reminded me of the field where the Battle of New Orleans was fought in 1814, just east of the modern city. Equally simple, non-spectacular, and a place Americans regard as a dear relic of the ultimate separation from parent England.
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Scottish pounds are issued by Scottish banks but are backed by the Bank of England. In the event of a yes vote that backing will no longer apply. The NHS in Scotland is adminstered by the Scottish government already.
Although generally more acceptable in stores throughout England than previously, Scottish bank notes have never been legal tender anywhere, even in Scotland.
No matter what the decision today, if the margin is narrow I fear what Salmond may have done to families and friends here in Scotland, and elsewhere.
I sincerely hope the losing faction accepts the outcome, shrugs and moves on, and my fears are proved groundless, but...
No matter what the decision today, if the margin is narrow I fear what Salmond may have done to families and friends here in Scotland, and elsewhere.
I sincerely hope the losing faction accepts the outcome, shrugs and moves on, and my fears are proved groundless, but...
Scottish Independence Referendum Results - with charts and geographical regions
The No Campaign in lead ahead of the Yes Campaign so far by 54.82% to 45.18%.
The No Campaign in lead ahead of the Yes Campaign so far by 54.82% to 45.18%.