To want to keep my UK passport if Scotland votes YES in the 2014 referendum?

[SittingBull1]

If the majority of people actually voting votes YES in the 2014 referendum, Scotland will leave the UK. As Scots living in Scotland, will my family and I lose our UK passports? Along with a very large number of NO voters, my family and I will want to retain our UK passports, and I'm sure that a huge percentage of the non-voters will also want to keep theirs. I think that the UK government should offer to allow Scots living in Scotland to retain their UK passports. Is that unreasonable?

On the other, dh is in the process of setting up a subsidiary of an American company in Scotland which will employ 60-100 people in the manufacturing operation and ultimately a further 1,000 to 1,500 people either directly or indirectly (depending on how they structure the after-care). The independence referendum will not change their decision, even the product itself will be used UK wide (and will eventually be sold into Europe).

And for the record, to date both he and the Americans have been very impressed at their dealings with the Scottish Government.

In past roles he has had to deal with Michael Forsyth (2nd time round) and Donald Dewar both of whom he found good to work with and Tony Blair, who he describes as "the ultimate plastic politician".

On the other hand .....

FannyFifer Several of my friends Husbands are engineers working in a variety of sectors in Scotland. Oil industry, Biomass, Distillers.
These industries are in Fife, all recently expanded & have increased their workforces

That's part of the problem. Your friends' husbands. Engineering in Scotland is male dominated. Are the women not encouraged to be engineers?

And why are so few of them not degree qualified? How is it possible to be an "engineer" when you cannot draw up an algorithm?

Design engineering in Scotland is down the pan.

All degree educated and beyond.

Sexism in these industries is another issue altogether & not really relevant to you saying there are no opportunities for Engineers.

I have female friends & family that work in what would be classed as male dominated industries.

However make dominated industries are not a unique problem to Scotland.

male not make.

To use a Scottish phrase here FannyFifer, aye right.

That's very eloquent LessMissAbs

Aye right what?

It means I don't believe you/I don't find you credible/its saying what you want to hear with a faint tint of sarcasm. So aye, right, to all the "Its wonderful because it just it because we say it is" rhetoric.

Or to simplify, aye, right.

Cue further insults/sniping/get out of Scotland/why are you so critical diddlydiddlydumdums...

I think she may have been casting aspersions on whether your friends were degree (or better) qualified.

Not sure though as (unusually for her) she wasn't very articulate.

What on earth are you talking about. You mentioned Engineering, it's an industry in which I happen to know people who work in it.

I know they have degrees as two of them were at same Uni as me.

Do you think I am not bright enough to know people who are well educated?

I am well educated myself, I have 2 degrees and a post grad, although only using one of them in my current role (nursing)

Contemplating returning to university to do a Medicine in the next few years.

I have also never said "it's wonderful ,because it just is".

There is an awful lot wrong with Scotland.

I am optimistic however that things can get better, a Government with Scotland at the top of its agenda can only improve things.

The Engineering jobs I mention in Fife are not an "aye right" these companies have invested & expanded, that's a fact.

Interesting info graphic on BBC site:
m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-24866266

The Hayman speech was twaddle unless you do really think we're living in some sort of weird mashup of Imperial Russia, apartheid South Africa and Indian Raj.

Still, if that is what independence means there is the small mercy we will be spared the return of the greatest living non resident Scotsman.

The Hayman speech was twaddle unless you do really think we're living in some sort of weird mashup of Imperial Russia, apartheid South Africa and Indian Raj

Can you explain that comment further?

Because that is what I thought of as I skim read it. I don't recognise the country he describes us as living in.

Ok, I got that bit, but can you explain the thought processes linking those countries/eras in your post to Scotland? (That's the bit I didn't get)

"Scotland wills itself to be a better nation, one we rebuild with our own hands. Who then will tell us our will is not big enough? Who then will tell us our hands are not strong enough?
Must the hope of the Scots for a better Scotland be the hope of the beaten for a less painful defeat? Must the will of the Scots once again come second to greed and privilege?
This despair has a name. It’s name is NO."

And all that stuff about "Scotland's rulers" and kingdoms of greed.

Sorry, it's preaching to the converted but it's Communist grandstanding as far as I'm concerned.

itsallgoingtobefine I'm not sure what more you want. I was trying to think of societies / situations where such over the top " oh me miserum , we are so oppressed, let's throw off our shackles" wouldn't sound utterly ridiculous.

So, my examples have no connection to Scotland. That was the point I was making. I don't recognise what he is describing as being the northern part of the UK I live in.

OK, I've got you now :-)

It is a bit overly dramatic isn't it . I don't think it just applies to Scotland though, it applies to the whole UK - it's just that Scotland has the opportunity to choose to do something different.

Isn't the point about Hayman's vision of a radical Scotland just that: it is A vision. It is not THE vision of an independent Scotland, just one of a number of different visions that the people of Scotland would choose from in the elections that would follow if there were a Yes vote

Caitlin17 I was trying to think of societies / situations where such over the top " oh me miserum , we are so oppressed, let's throw off our shackles" wouldn't sound utterly ridiculous

Neither can I!

I could understand it if we were talking about a country like Somalia, or Syria, or some other war torn non-developed country. It really is a bit overly dramatic.

But then phlegmatic, I can't get worked up about fervent nationalism in this way. I can only see the risks, and to me, its not worth taking those risks. It could end up a very, very huge, life changing mistake.

The White Paper will be out imminently

670 pages!

Can't wait to get stuck into reading the White Paper today.