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.

Lady cordelia, what do you think about the track record of the devolved parliament?

Chomsky said he supported the yes campaign a few months back.

I know this comment will be jumped on, but it seems to me that it is the better educated and higher earners who will vote no, with most of the yes vote coming from those who can't see further than perceived English oppression. To me, most yes voters are deluded - but that is just my opinion.

Well yes, it wouldn't be surprising if you were jumped on. This is in no way meant to blow my own trumpet, but I have a degree (looking to do a Postgrad soon), live more than comfortably and speak three languages completely fluently mainly thanks to said education. I have never even considered a No vote.

I don't judge people by level of education, income or the outdated class systems, but I fully understand why those on low incomes or JSA would be inclined to a Yes vote.

When it comes to oil wealth and the opportunity to build a legacy (separate to investment in general infrastructure, ongoing costs, etc), Norway is fairly unique and not representative of how the majority of countries have managed their hydrocarbon wealth.

If it was the 1970s and production was at its peak then maybe iScotland could have built a similar fund, but it's not. Those years have gone and can't be recreated.

Not in Scotland so don't have a vote but if I was my heart would be yes but my head would be no. I think it will lead to years of expensive disruption and I don't think an iScotland government would have the money to be able to deliver a lot of the desires wanted by many yes voters.

It's just all us thicko scroungers voting yes innit.

I wouldn't be voting "Yes" if I were Scottish. Not because the idea of independence doesn't appeal to my spirit - it does, hugely.

BUT

It's 2014 and I'm middle aged and I now have the benefit of the years between my teens and now to understand how it all works. Call it cynicism.

Anyone voting yes is betting against Wall Street, the City of London, the European banks and the major multinational organisations being able to extract themselves from the mess the Scottish economy will become post independence. The debt-to-GDP ratio will rocket, there will be a sovereign debt crisis, a long recession, severe austerity and a slow decline to a bottom gear economy - but at least Scotland will be independent.

And a superannuated millionaire film star who doesn't even live there any more will be happy...

It's a beautiful dream, the skirl o' the pipes! The flutter of the Saltire! The fresh Highland air!

At what cost to generations of Scots? And for what? What nation is truly independent in the 21st Century?

Lady, I have a professional degree and a mortgage. I'm now distinctly middle class, although from a working class background. But it is hard to sleep at night knowing there are people just like me who truly didn't have the opportunities I did. Scotland is a hugely wealthy country and it's the attitude of "I'm alright Jack" from those of us living in relative comfort that keeps the elite where they are.

Worrying about my house value is fair enough but I'm under no illusions that it's as important a concern as having somewhere to live in the first place, a job, a living and food on the table. And that's a reality for massive numbers of people in our country, and it's a national disgrace.

I am not Scottish and am voting yes.

I am not a teenager.

How patronising to suggest that those of us who are chosing to take this chance, regardless of age (mid-40s here), are ignorant Brigadooners.

Unsurprising, however.

You big bully butterfly. You're just scaremongering. Those people don't know what they're talking about, they haven't read the White Paper! I bet you're English too, which just explains it!

Health is improving, it takes time, Scots government first to implement smoking ban, minimum pricing on alcohol, free prescriptions.

Society doesn't change overnight.

It takes time, poverty has a big impact on the nations health.
90% of austerity measures still to come is not helping matters.

I know, personally, several of the yes voters on here. All highly educated professionals.

About to head to the park to meet up with two social workers with master's degrees. Both are voting yes.

I'm definite no vote.

I cannot see the benefit of spending vast sums of money to separate.

Nothing has convinced me otherwise.

The yes campaign seems all about idealogical things, what we can do/want to do. Also about vote yes if you hate the tories.

Too much risk for me. Even if I do hate the tories.

affafantoosh And what do you think will happen to the people in poverty while Scotland manages to set itself up? It's not going to happen overnight. It'll take years. Even yes campaigners admit it could take as much as 25 years to get back to where we are now.

Happy to spend billions on replacing Trident when families have to use Foodbanks?

I'm voting no.

We have no MI5 or MI6 and terrorism is on the rise. Also, I don't think Scotland would have enough money to bail out a failing bank.

That and all the unanswered questions on the EU and currency issues.

So, Mumsnet is the latest web forum to be love-bombed by the Yes campaign.
I'm in England, so I don't have a vote, but I will delighted if Scotland leaves the UK. We'll gain so many jobs that will leave Scotland - the financial industry, various government departments that serve the whole UK, the defence industry (13,000 skilled jobs), the last two shipyards on the Clyde that only work on UK contracts, and the nuclear base as well.
My only concern is that with the banking moving to London it's going to push house prices up even further. If you live in Edinburgh you should find house prices going down with so many on the market, so that's a bonus if you still have a job.
Bring it on!

I'm a no. I am disillusioned with the devolved parliament's record on environmental issues amongst other things.

Overall I am disgusted with both the yes and no campaigns. I'd like to have an official option of 'abstention'. In the absence of that I would rather not spend a lot of taxpayers' money carving up the UK right now.

Fwiw, my friends are educated professionals on the whole and we are very much divided down the yes/no lines. It's been horribly divisive and I wish it wasn't happening.

I think it's incredibly patronising when people use phrases like 'skirl of the pipes' in such a condescending manner. As if Yes voters are basing their decision on some shortbread tin image of their country.

Bloody Trident.

It isn't going anywhere quickly. The UK government do not have any responsibility to move it until they have somewhere to move it to. This would take years.

Secondly, an independent Scotland would still host nuclear weapons.
282. Will NATO members with nuclear-armed vessels be allowed to enter Scottish waters or dock at Scottish ports?

It is our firm position that an independent Scotland should not host nuclear weapons and we would only join NATO on that basis.

While the presence of nuclear weapons on a particular vessel is never confirmed by any country, we would expect any visiting vessel to respect the rules that are laid down by the government of an independent Scotland.

While they are both strong advocates for nuclear disarmament, both Norway and Denmark allow NATO vessels to visit their ports without confirming or denying whether they carry nuclear weapons. We intend that Scotland will adopt a similar approach as Denmark and Norway in this respect.

Finally, Trident employs a lot of Scottish people and is an important part of the local economy.

No because I don't want to live in the bankrupt socialist "utopia " the yessers will create.

I find the level of intolerance and vitriol on sites like Wings over Scotland and Bella Caledonia profoundly depressing. I am not welcome in the country I was born in.

Better Together posters are vandalised and torn down. That is not happening to Yes posters.

I don't want to live in a country run by the sort of people who tell me I don't deserve to live here as I'm not "proud to be Scottish" nor by the sort of person who ridicules my accent as it's not Scottish enough for them. Both of which I have been subjected to by card carrying Nat party members.