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.

FannyFifer I see Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, has similar opinions to mine re the No camp

That's right. Just because one paid for special adviser to Alex Salmond and you have an opinion, the rest of the Scottish people will down tools, say "Oh yes! Of course! FannyFifer and Joseph Stiglitz said it is so in a remarkably brief rent-an-expert note! It must be so! I will trot off to vote Yes obediently now".

I do wonder with what disdain you view your fellow Scots in. You are aware that there are Scottish economists who work in institutions right here who do things that are a damned sight more useful and relevant to Scotland's future than Joseph Siglitz? Who, lets be fair, since his forced departure from the World Bank, has been advisor to exclusively failing countries including Greece, Spain and Argentina, and whose recent work on corporate governance good practices failed to demonstrate any knowledge whatsoever of the spectacular failure in this regard of City of Edinburgh Council.

I know you tend to steer shy of voicing an actual opinion of your own on anything, but if you do actually live in Scotland, you must be aware of the disdain with which the SNP dominated committee on the constitutional implications of independence treated its home grown expert witness, Professor Tomkins of Glasgow University, when he voiced his opinion that the White Paper had been prepared without legal advice?

A 5 year old child should be able to point out the poor governance of Edinburgh Council!

I have yet to see any comment whatsoever, no matter how brief, from the Scottish Government on the shocking disgrace that is the running of Edinburgh Council.

Likewise I have seen nothing from any pro-independence supporters as to how independence will deal with it.

This is real people's lives being ruined, right here in our capital city, and in the midst of the Referendum campaign, it is being ignored.

Roseformeplease. I totally agree with your point on broken relationships and that as this is just as likely to apply to cases where nations have split.

When I expressed the same concerns up thread I was labelled as 'childish' and acting liked a spoilt spouse by the OP. This type of response is upsetting and nasty so for this reason I cannot see a happy future whatever the result. Very sad.

To be fair Chelsy they have bowed to pressure for a trams investigation. After the referendum of course.

Are we anticipating a higher quality of debate than last time ?

Feck, my DH is already snarling at the telly

I hope so - surely hard to be worse! Is anyone going to ask the key question of whether we can cut pension spending to give more money to Gaelic?

Ah we have wandering Salmond again!

I have to say, even with a No I prefer the centralised police force here to the voted in commissioner farce in England.

He's doing his "man of the people who doesn't stand behind a podium" routine.

Did he just say "we pay our messages" ffs!!! Wonder how many times he had to practice that to make it roll of the tongue?

True OOAOML because obviously the Scottish Government couldn't investigate itself of its own behoof. Likewise, there is a public petition for a public enquiry into the running of City of Edinburgh Council, which gives a list of the matters of concern as thus:

The Mortonhall Baby Ashes Scandal
The School Repairs Scandal and the Liberton Tragedy
The Tram Debacle
The Statutory Notice Scandal
The Flood defence overspend scandal which cost the taxpayer £30million
Planning Scandals allowing building on historic sites at Craighouse and other protected areas
Traffic Chaos scandal caused by dogma in the council transportation department

you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/petition-for-a-public-inquiry-into-the-running-of-city-of-edinburgh-council

Not that I would have much faith in a public enquiry, since criminal charges were dropped in relation to a number of CofE former employees in relation to the statutory notices alleged frauds and overcharging.

And apparently "the eyes of the world are on Scotland" . I very much doubt that.

Goodness he's vile.

Argh my toddler is going radio rental this bedtime! Am I missing much?

Please tell me he did not just define what a billion and a trillion are.

Yes, the way they paid off Mark Turley and dropped investigations was shocking.

Not much Santana. I am sending DH out to collect DD from Guides though just in case.

Fake stuttering, in an attempt to appear more sincere?

Summary - "I'm seeking a mandate that we should share the currency in a common sense currency union"

And a bit of an argument about oil

And salmond defined what a billion and trillion are

Cheers- I wasn't expecting much more anyway!

My DH was snarling within 5 minutes - "Stand behind the bloody podium, man!"

"We're getting 3 plan Bs for the price of one" - ie Salmond just listed the possible options but won't say which one is the actual plan B

He's now claiming the currency is an asset and back to saying if we don't get union we won't pay our share of the debt.

He surely can't believe it's possible to walk away from the debt. It's insane. Why does he keep saying it?!!!

Gosh, Alex Salmond really is an arse, isn't he?

I think he operates on the basis that if you say something often enough, it becomes true.

I do think the man has known from the outset that he was onto a loser having a Referendum this soon, and would have preferred a more measured build up after increasing devolution built up over the years. However I cannot respect a government which allows the corruption and fraud that is continuing in its own capital city to go unchecked.