Scottish Independence discussion area

I asked my wife, "be independent from England?" she asked, "yes." "Ah yes, they should, they always were anyway!"

I think it will be a close call, but I do think Scotland will remain in the Union.

I do think Scotland will choose Independence someday and I do think Scotland could be economically viable. But there's too much doubt in the current economy and most people will vote safe.:)

darkpagandeath wrote: »

What's the EU said on their end I assume If they vote for independence they will not be automatically invited to the EU and many many targets and such like will be needed to be met if joining is even an option. Same with the currency has it not already been said the pound is not an option. Wont the EU be making it really difficult to join as they Don’t want EU countries splitting up.

When Ireland achieved Independence, we had arrangements made to use the British pound for an interim period until a new currency was established. Scotland could certainly make arrangements, but Westminster won't consider it until the vote is actually passed. Any doubt is a yes vote for the Union.

Paramite Pie wrote: »

I think it will be a close call, but I do think Scotland will remain in the Union.

No, Barroso shot this one down. Scotland would have to totally reapply from scratch.

I think the yes vote is gaining a lot of ground,the pro union crowd can only promise more of the same, and a lot of scots are left leaning and hate the tories, the uk goverement has said that they can not continue to use the pound if they leave(currency union) but the snp says all this can be settled after independence.

Not really independence now is it?

After I moved to Scotland I was pleasantly surprised to see that Irish people get a vote.

I've tried to keep an open mind but I keep coming back to Yes. The Tory government has presided over an explosion of poverty, opening of food banks, and a widening wealth gap and are doing nothing to tackle it. Scots have always been far more socially minded than their southern neighbours (historically Labour have been very strong, and the SNP espouses similar principles to old Labour) and I think the opportunity to have a government that leans that way appeals to them.

I have tried to give Better Together the benefit of the doubt but they are clueless how to sell the union positively. As the three main parties are involved they all have differing views on how the union should be run and haven't offered any unified vision for a post indyref still-in-the-union Scotland. This has resulted in their policies being, at best, vague. Two of my close friends are unionists and when quizzed on "why are we Better Together?" their responses have boiled down to "Because we ARE Better Together!" without saying why.

Yes canvassers on the other hand tend to be quite persuasive (the idea that the Yes front is anti-English is ludicrous though as with all things some lunatics exist) and can give calm, rational explanations of why Scotland will be a stronger separate nation. Alex Salmond is also very charismatic and is playing shrewd tactics (reaching out to women voters - less likely to vote Yes - by promoting women into his cabinet, for example), something that will enhance its chances.

The whole thing about the EU - Barroso is trying to appease the Spanish who are sh1tting themselves that Catalonia will follow Scotland's example and leave; quite a few EU theorists and legal experts have come out and said things to the effect that Scotland would have an expedited rejoining process, if forced out at all before the 2016 independence day. Scots are currently EU citizens and to strip them of that right would cause a lot of legal heartache for the EU.

The Bank of England - which is meant to be independent from the British government - have quietly mentioned that a deal could be done for a currency union. This caused serious embarrassment for the Tories who a few weeks previous had screeched about how Scotland wouldn't keep the pound.

I think it's all about the economics: no amount of nationalism, or lofty ideals, will keep the wolf from the door if the numbers don't add up.

In particular, I think Scotland really does need its own currency, independent of the Euro or Sterling. The Eurozone experiment has demonstrated that it's a bad idea to have a currency union without a fiscal union (policies for tax, spending etc.) . The Governor of the Bank of England, got this point right in the speech he gave back in January.