"You don’t have a vote, but you do have a voice"

[ducati]

Would you be influenced by friends or family in the rest of the UK? Do you care if the rest of the UK wants Scotland to stay?

My fear is the rest of the UK person in the street is pretty indifferent.

[Westward]

Would you be influenced by friends or family in the rest of the UK? Do you care if the rest of the UK wants Scotland to stay?

My fear is the rest of the UK person in the street is pretty indifferent.

I am all for independence, the majority of my family are for it too with the exception of one.
My other half is english but has spent much of his adult life in Scotland and he wants independence too,
he/we have on various occasions touched upon this very subject with our friends and relatives in various parts of england
and either they are indifferent to the entire independence for Scotland or they tell us outright they do not know enough about it
to make comment,

I personally am not fazed by the opinion of anyone against it, I just think they are either afraid to take the step, or they are brainwashed into the
we cannot manage alone scenario,
this idea, presented yesterday by the good PM (NOT) I thought was pathetic and an insult to the ordinary brain of the average citizen in the uk,

The way I see it is this, some people may not like Alex Salmond..but as he himself has said, why cut of your nose to spite your face" and I do believe him,
Independence, yes, bring it on the sooner the better, because if we stay with the uk..we, the Scottish will damned forever, in the eyes of Westminster and yes
they will make us pay.
Scotland is better than that, the people deserve better than what is proffered by Westminster..the last thing we need is another tory leading us down into hell.

[RagnarRocks]

I do think all this we are afraid of independence is the work of the equivalent of school bullies,do it or we will call you names and say youre a scaredy cat. Its not that people are scared per say they just don't see that anything will be gained except maybe an increase in nationalism and expense. All this Scotland is dammed,is absolute rubbish on one hand the pro independence lobby tell us how prosperous Scotland is and on the other allegedly we are being impoverished by Westminster. I think the pro independence lobby need to actually back up all the rhetoric with some hard facts so far the white paper is a list of dreams with no hard evidence shown how to achieve them. Lets have a bit less Braveheart and more common sense. The last time Scotland was an independent country was 300yrs ago its not done so badly out of the union so far why change a perfectly good system because a minority can't see how the United Kingdom works together well and keeps us all financially more secure, more able to trade globally and makes the country as a whole a safer more humane place to live. Can you imagine what the country would be like if my Alex Salmomd was allowed to run things, already we see his party tampering with the law trying to remove corroboration, trying to water down freedom of speech. All this from a party people are supposed to trust because Alex says it will be alright on the night. I'm sorry I'm neither brainwashed nor scared I just haven't seen a single shred of definable evidence that shows how long term Scotland will be a better place to live. That's unless I want to vote for some quasi socialist state run by swivelled eyed Marxist without the decency to admit what their true political persuasion is.

[Westward]

I do think all this we are afraid of independence is the work of the equivalent of school bullies,do it or we will call you names and say youre a scaredy cat. Its not that people are scared per say they just don't see that anything will be gained except maybe an increase in nationalism and expense. All this Scotland is dammed,is absolute rubbish on one hand the pro independence lobby tell us how prosperous Scotland is and on the other allegedly we are being impoverished by Westminster. I think the pro independence lobby need to actually back up all the rhetoric with some hard facts so far the white paper is a list of dreams with no hard evidence shown how to achieve them. Lets have a bit less Braveheart and more common sense. The last time Scotland was an independent country was 300yrs ago its not done so badly out of the union so far why change a perfectly good system because a minority can't see how the United Kingdom works together well and keeps us all financially more secure, more able to trade globally and makes the country as a whole a safer more humane place to live. Can you imagine what the country would be like if my Alex Salmomd was allowed to run things, already we see his party tampering with the law trying to remove corroboration, trying to water down freedom of speech. All this from a party people are supposed to trust because Alex says it will be alright on the night. I'm sorry I'm neither brainwashed nor scared I just haven't seen a single shred of definable evidence that shows how long term Scotland will be a better place to live. That's unless I want to vote for some quasi socialist state run by swivelled eyed Marxist without the decency to admit what their true political persuasion is.

I am not persuaded, and the common sense kicks in when you tick the yes box,
give the good (not) PM less of our money to throw around...

[ducati]

It's very simple to me. What will we win and what will we lose?

The balance is stuck firmly on the down side as far as I can see.

But the question is do you care what the rest of the UK think? It is important, if they are all pee'd off with us post indy, where is the goodwill and cooperation we will need in all the negotiations that Alex seems to think will be smooth sailing?

[Southern-Gal]

I have mixed feelings about it and dont know what to do when it comes to it. One the one hand the PM has made it very clear he does not want it and I do wonder why if Scotland is such a burden? But then all the other thoughts I have are against the split.
What about future conflict? Would GB look after Scotland or see to herself first? Look at Ireland, there is always friction there. Could it end up like that? What would it mean to all the Scots in England and English in Scotland? It could be very much them and us. anything that is divisive is rarely good.
If Scotland went alone would they be part of EU or would they go against that too? For sure what we do know is the real agenda would come out when its too late. Could it be reversed? How much would it cost? All the supposedly spare funds would likely get swallowed up sorting out new rules regs and laws.
I have never commented on this before but now the PM has brought up the English/Scottish influence to the fore it has made me think.

[ducati]

I have mixed feelings about it and dont know what to do when it comes to it. One the one hand the PM has made it very clear he does not want it and I do wonder why if Scotland is such a burden? But then all the other thoughts I have are against the split.
What about future conflict? Would GB look after Scotland or see to herself first? Look at Ireland, there is always friction there. Could it end up like that? What would it mean to all the Scots in England and English in Scotland? It could be very much them and us. anything that is divisive is rarely good.
If Scotland went alone would they be part of EU or would they go against that too? For sure what we do know is the real agenda would come out when its too late. Could it be reversed? How much would it cost? All the supposedly spare funds would likely get swallowed up sorting out new rules regs and laws.
I have never commented on this before but now the PM has brought up the English/Scottish influence to the fore it has made me think.

This is a worry. Scotland has always been divided. While we can blame the rest of the UK for everything it remains below the surface (mostly). But once that scapegoat is lost, what then?

[jax]

I ideally would like to see Scotland independant. I don't really follow politics as it doesn't interest me but obviously the time to vote is fast approaching. I have not read the white paper, I have heard that Scotland would like to stay in Europe & adopt the euro for its currency. I am not in favour of this. Someone please correct me if I am wrong. If Scotland is to be independent & wants to join Europe, what's the point of independence? May as well stay a part of Britain at least we would have more clout against Europe, after all Britain is only a small island.

[Southern-Gal]

Would independance cause more splits?
Would Shetland and Orkney want independence from Scotland? What if they want to stay with the UK? Would Scotland need its own armed forces or would she simply expect the UK to defend her out of loyalty?

[Big Gaz]

It's very simple to me. What will we win and what will we lose?

The balance is stuck firmly on the down side as far as I can see.

But the question is do you care what the rest of the UK think? It is important, if they are all pee'd off with us post indy, where is the goodwill and cooperation we will need in all the negotiations that Alex seems to think will be smooth sailing?

The goodwill and negotiation will come from the govt, not the rest of the UK and it will be bad for them if they treat the Scottish govt with contempt because it will be to their advantage to stay pally with Eck. There will always be a negative or two for every positive but i really couldn't care less who down south is peed off with us up here. By my reckoning this is payback for all the crap i have had to put up with over the years.

[Big Gaz]

Would independance cause more splits?
Would Shetland and Orkney want independence from Scotland? What if they want to stay with the UK? Would Scotland need its own armed forces or would she simply expect the UK to defend her out of loyalty?

Further scaremongering about the Shetland and Orkneys wanting independence is funny. Say Scotland as a whole gets independence and takes the Isles with them. rUK want the isles to come back to them and give them the opportunity. How would that look in the eyes of the rest of the world? England allowing Scotland to divvy itself from the UK yet taking back into the fold the oil producing island parts and leaving Scotland high and dry? What kind of statement would this make to the rest of the world? I don't recall any other country in the world that is separated by another country such as Scotland which would be in the middle of England and the Isles. How long before the Isles realise that the English Govt is sucking them dry just like they claim Scotland would do? Would Cameron (or any future prime minister) continue giving the Isles the pittance it gets now despite them being oil rich? Nah i don't think the Isles would put up with that and go back to the UK if they wanted away from Scotland. If they don't want to be part of Scotland then i think they would be better off going it alone.

[Tubthumper]

It worries me that the 'no' tendency seem happy to use terms like 'fat', 'swivel-eyed' and 'fishface' when discussing politics. Doesn't seem very mature to me.

[jax]

The Islands especially the far I north oil rich area they might want to be truelly independent from Britain. Some of the islanders already class themselves as a separate country or have stronger aliences with say Norway? What would Scotland do then, fight to get them back?

[Southern-Gal]

Further scaremongering about the Shetland and Orkneys wanting independence is funny. Say Scotland as a whole gets independence and takes the Isles with them. rUK want the isles to come back to them and give them the opportunity. How would that look in the eyes of the rest of the world? England allowing Scotland to divvy itself from the UK yet taking back into the fold the oil producing island parts and leaving Scotland high and dry? What kind of statement would this make to the rest of the world? I don't recall any other country in the world that is separated by another country such as Scotland which would be in the middle of England and the Isles. How long before the Isles realise that the English Govt is sucking them dry just like they claim Scotland would do? Would Cameron (or any future prime minister) continue giving the Isles the pittance it gets now despite them being oil rich? Nah i don't think the Isles would put up with that and go back to the UK if they wanted away from Scotland. If they don't want to be part of Scotland then i think they would be better off going it alone.

No scaremongering intended at all

Im just typing up the immediate questions that occur to me.
Yes Orkney and Shetland are oil rich. But I do know that a lot of born and bred Orcadians do not consider themselves or their homeland to be Scottish. No idea what Shetlanders think as I have not personally spoken to any of them. On the one hand they are oil rich but on the other they are armed forces and therefore protection poor. There is generally safety in numbers. Maybe they would choose their own independence down the line and if they did how would mainland Scotland manage financially? If the islands decided to go it alone because they did not want the financial burden of mainland Scotland but had lost the protection of the united armed forces we all enjoy the protection of at the moment then maybe we would all be worse off one way or another? Im thinking of all the unrest in other oil rich but divided and warring nations. I dont want to see that in my lifetime.
Where there is oil money there is greed. Maybe the sooner it runs out the better?

At the moment I am very open to both sides. Feel free to help me decide one way or the other

[gerry4]

Would independance cause more splits?
Would Shetland and Orkney want independence from Scotland? What if they want to stay with the UK? Would Scotland need its own armed forces or would she simply expect the UK to defend her out of loyalty?

Don't follow this splits thing?

The Press & Journal did a poll last year & only 5% were in favour of the Northern Isles breaking away. Even if they did would they be like the Isle of man or Channel Isles, crown dependencies? If so they lose the oil as those types of countries only have a 12 mile sea limit. Their police forces is Highland currently & all major health problems are handled by ether Aberdeen hospital or Inverness. Where would they go, Newcastle?

We would have armed forces but a lot less as we would not need them. We would not act as a imperial force as we now do in Iraq & Afghanistan. We would not have nuclear forces and so save a huge amount of money there.

[RagnarRocks]

That might explain those Russian warship incursions just testing the waters see if Scotland would be an easy snag and grab some oil whilst you're at it.

[ducati]

Scotland doesn't need to have splits with the islands. Half hate the other half already. Whether it be along religious or geographical lines, Highlanders and Lowlanders, Catholic and Protestant or merely locals and incomers.

[ducati]

It worries me that the 'no' tendency seem happy to use terms like 'fat', 'swivel-eyed' and 'fishface' when discussing politics. Doesn't seem very mature to me.

Well if you choose as your leader a Fat, swivel eyed, fishfaced er.. leader what do you expect?

[jax]

Scotland doesn't need to have splits with the islands. Half hate the other half already. Whether it be along religious or geographical lines, Highlanders and Lowlanders, Catholic and Protestant or merely locals and incomers.

Too true we are a clan nation :-)

[jax]

Well if you choose as your leader a Fat, swivel eyed, fishfaced er.. leader what do you expect?

We don't really choose the party leader on his good looks we choose the party as a whole :O