To think Scotland becoming independent wouldn't have any impact on the rest of the UK?

[lesley33]

Some in Scotland want it to become independent. I don't really understand why the coalition government is fighting against this happening. Will it really matter in the rest of the UK if scotland does become independent?

And Edinburgh isn't going to take over from London as a financial capital. It doesn't have the global prestige. The movers and shakers all want to live in London, not Scotland. It's a world centre, everyone who's important wants to be there or is there. Some people would argue this isn't a good thing anyway! I say this as someone who would much, much prefer to live in Edinburgh than anywhere in the south east of England. And I'm from the north, so I've no reason to big up London any more than it deserves. But people need to be realistic.

Flangerlina how have you deduced that Scotland could be financally viable?

The europe issue is HUGe. A independant Scotland would not be I'm Europe/ the EU and may well not qualify to become a member.

They could self support, at least as long as the oil lasts. I don't know what the arrangements for EU membership would be, whether they'd get an automatic one because Scots have previously been part of the union, or whether they'd have to apply. I did say that was something that could be sorted later, but actually it's probably another issue that people deserve to know the answer to before voting. I'd certainly want to!

It's that north bit Hully.
We wear kilts and eat deep fried mars bars and shoot haggis.
As for that England, you all live in thatched cottages and have afternoon tea apart from that London which is sinful.

If the whole of the uk voted in the referendum, the most votes would "win". I suspect most English and welsh people at least, don't give it much thought or have a prefernce. So is suspect the only people who would vote would be those voting for independence.

Obviously noone knows about passport control, currency etc yet. Also not being a memeber of the EU would mean scots wouldn't be entitled to work in England/ NI

Scotland is like shameless but with funny accents.
England is full of spiffing tallyhoers and public schoolboy types :)

Why do students from England pay more to go to Scottish universities than other European students do?

I would understand it if it was one price for those living in Scotland and one price for everyone else. But to charge the French less than the English seems perverse and discriminatory.

I hope I am wrong in all my facts here and others can put me right.

When I went to the Outer Hebs, many years ago, I had a landlady with iron hair who locked the door of the B&B at 10.30 and there were nylon sheets on the beds.

Presumably Scotland wouldn't be joining the Euro any time soon ...

You could have a euro-style not-a-euro currency, the pound, but for Scotland and the-artist-formerly-known-as-the-United-Kingdom.

But the oil can't support Scotland, and hasn't for 30 odd years (as per Lesley's link to report)

and it def can't in a carbon neutral future. Surely people realise that at least.

"Why do students from England pay more to go to Scottish universities than other European students do?" I think it's something to do with what you'd pay if you were educated in your home country? So in France, tuition fees are nominal, so they pay that in Scotland and in England, whereas in England you have great big whopping GIANT sized tuition fees, so you pay those in Scotland as well.

Regarding the student fees thing - if I remember correctly it's due to some weird EU anomaly. I thought the Scottish Parliament were going to look into it? It was explained in something I read somewhere
Someone will correct me in a minte I'm sure!

Ah, nylon sheets. Those were the days. Hard not to slip out of the end of the bed.
Fantastic static light displays in the dark though.

One thing about Alex Salmond is that he could wipe the floor with the leaders of the 3 'main' parties. Intellectually he is head and shoulders above them. I was gutted he didn't get to debate with them before the last election.

is the concern about how they would supprt themselves?

Don't they sell tartan and shortbread? And I remember a lovely whisky distillery on Jura. Plenty of opportunities.

There are two different Empires on this thread. It feels rather strange .

So, supposing Scotland voted for outright independence and the other countries voted for the union?
What would the position be then?

The position would then be that we make a new joining of countries and the union will no longer exist, only the countries that want to stay together would be together - if any or two or three.

I think the reason the government don't want to break up the union is due to both history and ego and being the government that broke the union - I can't speak for the English people

Regarding the carbon neutral energy - we have a substantial hydro-electric energy programme up here which I believe supplies power to the National Grid? That and our ever-growing wind farms would presumably generate at least some income.
And the tax on our whisky production.
Again someone will come along and correct me!
Shame our ship-building and steel works were decimated.
What about our Forestry?

Whiskey's HUGE in China. Get into that and you're sorted, just need to try and redo the whole "get them addicted" thing the British did with Opium, but in a more elegant way, and you've got yourself a captive market.

Very kind of you poloi I'm sure

good plan, Abs. The Indians are damn fond of Black Label too. Tigers on tap.

Oh by the way Hully, you've just insulted a whole nation

And kilts and associated sporran-wear.

Which one?

China make whisky as well and have won awards that have beat Scottish whisky.