To wonder how you're voting in the Scottish Referendum and why?

[deeedeee]

a month away from the vote thought it would be interesting to ask

( no bunfighting , derision or soundbites please. just yes or no and why. feel free to post more than once with different reasons. No links unless independent fact or opinion, nothing from the official campaigns)

I'm a YES

because Westminster's failed to protect the vunerable and the UK's me first politics have taken us down a particularly nasty path. An independent Scotland leans towards to left and can potentially choose a better route. And if a change happens in scotland then I think that that could inspire a change in the direction of politics in the rest of the UK.

yeehaa, lemme pat you and your good man on the back aberbeenangusina :-) welcome to the fold....

pull up a chair. let me introduce you our beast of burden, she's a curious and intelligent woman that'll keep you on your toes.

erm.... sorry... i might just go and read better together Facebook page comments. i need to keep checking there's no reasons to vote yes that i really agree with

They work under different regulators already.

Can I ask a question?

If A YES vote is really about the future of Scotland, and about increased social fairness, and putting Scottish ppl first, does it matter if the banks do move?

Bear with me... Assuming this is about the long term for Scotland, there has to be some investment, right? Some pain, etc. lets say that you can work out how long it would take before Scotland got back all the wealth that was in some way taken away during transition.

Is 20 years a fair price to pay for the social outcomes? Does anyone have a sense of what would be a fair price?

Because I get the sense that this is about much more than money, so even if NO voters persuade YEs voters that certain businesses will suffer short term, yES voters will feel its worth doing.

Is there an argument from the NO side that the financial damage will be long term and irreversible? How good is the evidence on that.

Ha finally managed to read to page 18!!! Has taken ages, so I'm off for a glass of !

Deeedeee Yes I do see Great Britain as a political union and Scottish independence would break this. As for sharing culture, history etc. it is precisely the uniqueness of Scottish culture and identity that is emphasised by many yes campaigners , the only links they seem to want with the rest of Britain are those that will benefit the Scottish economy such as keeping the currency. It only seems fair to me that it should be all or nothing. If Scotland votes yes it should go it alone in every way.

The Icelandic economy improving? They should pay their debts back. An Icelandic bank owes a British charity that runs a hospice for terminally ill children 6 million pounds, lost when the bank collapsed. This money was left in the will of a local man to build a unit for terminally ill teenagers. This is the kind of situation self serving economics produces. Iceland is not a good role model for Scotland.

Scotland does have a disproportionate amount

OK I shall do more research, that's why discussion like these are useful, there's always more to learn. However it's the same as the currency union impasse, something that's not knowable until after the event. But to be honest it would't change my vote. there's far more to it than that to me! But I'm sure others will base their decision on different ideals .

I don't think many people voting yes are concerned for the economy. I also think the majority of yes voters are prepared for a challenging period of time before we find our feet. The suggestions that this isn't the case tend to come from those who dismiss yes voters as claymore-wielding haggis-munching Buckfast-swilling benefits claimants.

I want a yes vote because I want to live in a fairer society. I want to get away from city bonuses, wealth built on the gambles of bankers and an economy which thrives on keeping the poor poor. I will take that financial hit. I don't think it will be a mortal blow, and I don't believe that all the businesses who currently make money in Scotland are going to suddenly reject their markets once we have independence. I think we will emerge better for it.

I agree. If I had a vote, it wouldn't be mainly about the money either. I'm not sure if I would have a maximum price I would pay, though. ,partly, as you say, because it is so unknowable and I am risk-averse

But I was interested to know if ppl have framed the question that way. Would ppl live with 20 years but not 50? Kind of thing. It can't be zero, which is why it is hard to know how worrying the moving Bankers thing would be.

Apple, I find it sad that some folk down south are upset by Scotland wanting independence and take the kind of childish "keeping your ball" or injured spouse kind of attitude. It isn't personal, we just want to govern ourselves. We don't want to erase reality, deny the past and split up families. You're cutting off your nose to spite your face if you believe that. Separate countries can have good relationships you know!

Xpostede with affan. Having a fairer society would be fantastic, no question.

Without completely outing myself, I have worked in financial regulation in London for years.

Companies cannot just jump regulators.

Financial services as we know it would go. Yes, you might retain a few call centres, but HQ would have to go.

Please please, I implore any yes voters who agree that economic growth is necessary for success to understand the implications of this.

affan you are incredibly naive. None of the things you desire can happen in a country without economic growth.

Salmond's figures do not add up.

I'm implore you to research further before voting.

Roonersplan, if you had to guess how long it would take to build a strong Scottish economy after a yes vote, what would you guess? Top of your head, obviously, wouldn't hold you to it!

*move our politics back to the left, where the electorate want it to be"

Debatable - At the last election only 63.8% of the Scottish electorate turned out.

My point about the Scotland/England border being arbitrary remains despite the historical reasons for the shared language. This is in contrast to countries which have split because there are distinct populations who have different languages and religions. A historian recently described the act of the union as a "hostile merger". I couldn't disagree - but it was 300 years ago. I've also managed to forgive the Scandinavian Vikings who wiped out the indigenous population of Orkney. And the Italians who invaded large parts of Britain. As far as I can see there's no good reason to vote for independence.

I attended a talk given by Nicola Sturgeon. When asked how she thought an independent Scotland could have higher levels of employment she stated that corporation tax would be lowered to attract more employers here. Ie in direct competition with the rUK. And she said that free child care would make it possible for more women to work. That's all. Free child care is only any good if there's work to go to. I'm not convinced.

affafantoosh an economy based on oil isn't ethical either.

everyone needs to do more research before they vote! if you think you're above it then you're not taking it seriously enough.

Free childcare is one of those banners that can mean everything or nothing.

Who will work in these free nurseries? I've looked at a few council nurseries around and near Glasgow and the staff were almost completely young girls with a six month college course qualification. I wouldn't be confident leaving my children with them.

Well trained, experienced staff cost money. So everything comes back again to the White Paper promising all of these bonuses without raising taxes. I don't believe it.

Affan. Bankers bonuses, gambling the people's money, making the poor poorer. The Royal Bank of Scotland springs to mind.

Deeedeee I actually find your last post offensive.

I've exhausted myself researching. Nothing's going to change my mind now.

All the research and what facts we have just now do not help to predict the future, so I'd just rather get the vote over and done with now tbh.

fair enough Santana, I respect your passion! Thanks for your input, all good food for thought.

beast I think the answer to your question is critical. It all seems to me now down to oil (as FS will be nackered). I don't know much about oil tbh so I spent hours looking at.

I was horrified to see that on balance, Salmond's figures are based on grossly exaggerated numbers relating to oil - or best case scenarios.

Has anyone else looked into this in depth?

The SNP are brilliant with banners and slogans. But you need economic growth to underpin everything behind that - and it's not there.

I feel we are sleepwalking into making a catastrophe error based on a very persuasive's man propaganda.

apple what makes you think the RBS fiasco, in a global recession, wouldn't happen in an independent Scotland?

At least the UK government had the resource to bail it out on something like 5 hours' notice.

There's the principle though. Independence because yes voters want our full share of the british economy, especially the oil - even though Scottish businesses are partly successful because they are part of the uk. Because some of the 8% of the uk electorate - ie the Scottish electorate - feel under-represented or disagree with the current government. Independence regardless of whether the rUK wants it.... at an undeniable cost in time and resources given to negotiating a separation to both rUK and an independent Scotland. It seems to me the opposite of mature democracy and co-operation.

Imagine you're an undecided voter. You vote yes and independence is voted for by a small majority. How will the no voters and the rUK feel represented then?

Perhaps Caithness will campaign for independence - it was much more successful when it had a working nuclear power plant. Maybe Orkney will ask for independence; it is virtually self-sufficient in renewables. If the Scottish government finally get round to providing the infrastructure needed to export its energy it could negotiate a marvellous deal with the rScotland. And have lower corporation tax rates than rScotland.