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.

Sorry - I misunderstood your post to imply that the oil doesn't "belong" to Scotland and that that still needs to be negotiated, whereas there are already clearly defined boundaries and it is already accepted that 90(?)% does.

I didn't think that the ScotGov had said it was going to dispute that - although it has commented on it, so I suppose if negotiations go badly it might go back and challenge the change.

The problem with North Sea oil/gas reserves is that fracking could price them out. Lovely to have but uneconomic to extract.

Don't apologise, prettybird - the fault was mine for not making it clear

I still believe there could be issues around Scotland's ownership of many things, if their status changes from being part of a union to a purely independent nation with all that entails

It's also why I agree with those who've posted about the possible flight of businesses; everything I've read suggests that company owners feel the whole thing creates uncertainty at the very least, and in my experience that's something businesses detest

Unfortunately, as ever, politician never want to talk about possible complications or downsides; all they spout is pretty pictures to "earn" themselves a place where their noses are closer to the trough ...

With an ordinary election, also, politicians would be hammered in the next election if they did not do as they said, lied, were devious etc. No doubt the LibDems will get a hammering after their u-turn on tuition fees and their trustworthiness is now in doubt. With this referendum, Salmond can promise pretty much anything he wants - the decision is irrevocable and, once the dust settles he can blame Westminster (as he currently does) for any problems in negotiations that mean things do not fall as his white paper suggests they will.

I haven't yet heard the SNP blaming Gove for the fiasco of Curriculum for Excellence and the dumbing down of education but he is having a good go at blaming Westminster for the fully devolved NHS.

'London Rich' - What a term!! Of course there are extremely rich people in London but millions of very very poor people too!

Here's another thought ...

The latest comments seem to show a 14 point gap in the ratings, in favour of keeping the union - but if that narrows, and yet the "Independence" leaders still don't get what they want, does anyone else believe they'll campaign for another vote in future, in the hope of a better answer next time?

We are assuming a No this time and that the Yes campaign will continue with a view to another referendum (or a neverendum, as I hear it was called in Montreal). On this basis, we are planning for a future in England, eventually. The outcome of the vote will be terrible, whichever way it goes.

From what I've seen, the Yes campaign will keep going if there's a No vote. I wouldn't stop campaigning in any way I could, same with a lot of people. Like I've said, I don't trust polls, every single one shows a different outcome, and both campaigns seem to share ones which puts them in a favourable light.
From what I've observed, and a gut feeling, I think Yes might well have it. But no-one will know until the votes have been counted.

harddawn.com/if-scotland-were-independent-timeline-tragedy/ Just thought I'd share...

I've also heard plenty of Yes voters say that if the result is a No they'll immediately start campaigning again for another one. I really dislike that - I know I'm a no voter, but it's more that the uncertainty is really unpleasant and I don't think immediately starting it over again is the right way to go. Seems a bit 1 sided too - if it's a Yes then the No voters can't exactly demand a vote to get back in a few years down the line, I don't think that would work!

Whatever the outcome people need to accept it and pull together to try and make it work from Scotland.

With the anti-English comments, it's not my view at all. :)
I have seen some anti-English comments, certainly, but usually, on public pages, they are shot down by other Yes voters. But it goes the other way too, I've seen plenty of people from the rest of the UK saying, in less than polite terms, how they can't wait to get rid of Scotland. Again, it's obviously not the view of every British person.

I hope that this referendum, if successful, encourages other countries/counties within rUK to hold their own referendum, if desired. I saw that Yorkshire has already started to campaign for one, although it still seems like early days. There doesn't need to be animosity. We're still going to be neighbours after all.

Whatever the outcome people need to accept it and pull together to try and make it work from Scotland.

Yes, I agree. If the Scottish people give the "wrong" answer in this referendum, I hope the yes campaigners will accept the result with good grace. Surely it can't be in anyone's interests to keep going over the same ground!

From what I've seen, the Yes campaign will keep going if there's a No vote.

I think that's really, really low of the Yes campaign.

I'll be voting No. I feel Scottish and British and I don't see why I should have to choose.

The Scottish referendum reminds me of the Quebec separatist movement. Again it seemed to be based in a mythical dreamworld 'we will keep the Canadian dollar, we will have only economic benefits, we will not have any national debt'. All it did was bring general instability to the country as a whole while they tried to bring in a cycle of referendum after referendum until they got the answer they wanted.
As with Scotland, the money could have been so much better spent. Personally I think the Scottish referendum is a disgrace when economic times are so hard. The money should be spent on improving the country for everyone, not debating it in a fairytale fashion or catering to the wee sweetie mice in Alec Salmond head.

The Yes campaign has been going since the beginning of the SNP, it is the clear aim of the SNP so I have no idea how they would ever be able to say, nah we don't want to be an independent country anymore.

They should at least call a halt to active campaigning for a couple of years in my opinion. They ought to respect the outcome instead of promising to browbeat everyone into agreeing with them.

Gerbils, 2 referendums in Quebec.

Spending billions on Trident is a far more disgusting waste of money than a referendum.

But that's why people vote for the SNP, they have been in government since 2007 due to people voting for them on that basis.

I'm not saying that they should fold up, just that they should put the idea of independence on the back burner for a few years.

I wouldn't see continuing to campaign for independence as being a bad thing. If people don't want independence, they don't have to listen. But if enough people want to campaign for change, then democratically, they can.
I think a lot of people are just genuinely frightened. I'm scared for the whole of the UK. The proposed cuts will hit us hard, and I don't think it will end there. I don't like hearing about people having to visit the food bank after work, whilst George Osborne announces further cuts and ups spending on nuclear weapons.

But it's the main point of the SNP.

To be honest, I'm enjoying seeing the advert for the booklet advising people how to vote, sometimes seeing ads by both sides, constantly, can be a bit full-on!

Yes, but they existed for years without a referendum and an active Yes campaign. They can still have independence as an ultimate goal without totally pushing it.

Wait till you see what will happen to Scotland if there's a no vote, you might be campaigning for Yes next time round yourself.