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.

YES

It's a leap of faith but for me it currently feels riskier to remain in the union.

I guess I'm a socialist at heart. The norwegian/scandi model appeals to me. Somewhat higher taxation but wider access to public services across the board, across classes. I've lived in an area where oil money is used to maintain high quality public services (Shetland) and it's a great leveller.

I've also worked for the NHS for 15 years and what colleagues are experiencing south of the border is really quite the opposite of what Scots traditionally vote for.

Why 5 million in Scotland would wish to remain in a union where our votes are diluted by 60-odd million others, leading to us being led by politics completed opposing the majority view in Scotland, I really don't know.

And Scotland doesn't only have oil, but hydro, wind etc etc. We are a rich country in so many ways.

The longstanding view that we are a scrounging, subsidised state has been entirely turned on its head by the London led fear mongering NO campaign.

But no-one can say that iScotland will suffer cuts and lack of funding. I've said it before, but iScotland is projected to be richer than rUK.

I suppose I don't get the ideology of staying within the UK when we know George Osborne is planning to hit us with austerity cuts, that things aren't getting better financially, and unemployment is still so high. This is a certainty within rUK.

In iScotland, things may or may not be better. But there are no promises that things will be worse - so there is definitely a chance that things will be better.

With a choice of definite cuts and goodness knows what else coming my way, I would rather put my faith in iScotland being more prosperous (and I believe it will be). If it isn't, I won't feel any worse off than I would as part of the UK.

Scotland won't be less in charge of its own affairs if it votes for independence. The whole world, including the UK is in the hands of the IMF and the ECB anyway. The IMF consider that one way the UK would get it's deficit down was if the weathly were not allowed to avoid paying taxes. The majority of Cameron's ministes have been drawn almost exclusively from the ranks of the financial elite aka 23 out of 29 of them are multi millionaires. The majority of them went to Eaton, Oxford and Cambridge. Mmm ... qualified to consider the needs of the hoi polloi.

Seriously can people not see that the UK is run by the Old Boys Network. It is obscene expecially when they are ruining lives of ordinary people everyday.

I hope with all my heart that Scotland votes yes and gives it's own people a chance to run their own affairs.

We can send it rUK though as we already do

Yes for me. And I work in financial services as do many other yes voters I know.

I don't vote SNP and never will but this isn't a vote for them or about them.

I want to live in a country that doesn't have to worry about relationships with the USA so much so that it prevents us from being able to voice discomfort about events in Israel.

I want to live in a country that has the power to spread its resources where most needed.

I want to live in a country that has a friendly and approachable way in dealing with its immediate neighbours instead of allowing past injustices to taint views. I want to trade with England on an even playing field and yet have harmless rivalry on the sports pitch without allowing poison and past hurts to influence our relationship.

I want to live in a country that refuses to possess nuclear weapons on principle and sticks by that principle.

I want to live in a country that pulls its weight in international affairs and accepts its responsibilities to stand up and speak out but I don't need us to be a member of the Security Council to feel that my country matters.

I want to live in a country that has the time and the willingness to look at social injustices and address them, albeit recognising that it will take time.

I don't judge people by size so why would I judge my country or others on size.

My political tendencies are conservative/liberal and it's not about rejecting a Tory government, it's simply about believing that politics at a local level can achieve more. I don't believe that independence will result in an economically failing, insular, socialist Scottish state but will achieve an accountability that is currently lacking with so distant a government. And that accountability will give the people of Scotland a voice that currently goes unheard.

I do think its boorish to view yes voters as uneducated, rabid nationalists who simply wish to indulge in a pity party about how the English ignore us. Maybe some of us believe that an independent Scotland will bring more to the party and that that might benefit England as well.

You can still send the renewable electricity to rUK as before and they'll continue to pay market price for it.

However they may not be willing to heavily subsidise the development of new renewables projects, which is largely done through energy bills at the moment. Nor are the energy bill payers of England and Wales likely to be willing to subsidise the costs of upgrading the transmission network to allow the renewable electricity from new developments to continue to be sent south.

The economics of renewables in Scotland will change post independence. There's still lots of opportunities for growth but the current system for funding these projects would change.

After all you wouldn't expect bill payers in another country (rUK) to continue heavily subsidising the iScottish renewables sector. That wouldn't be fair.

Cordelia, I cannot locate the report Prettybird linked to. I noted her post including Andy Burnhams's comments. Without seeing the report I think is is no surprise (whether its true or not) that a UK politican could state that Scotland receives more per head of population than it contributes. Another reason for Scotland to be able to make its own decisons and become financially independent.

www.futureukandscotland.ac.uk/sites/default/files/papers/Scotland%27s%20Decision%20final%20ebook.pdf

The banks and multinational organisations based in Scotland are overwhelmingly getting ready for a move into rUK or Europe because they not only understand the risks of staying, they know that they themselves are about to create that very risk scenario in the event of a Yes vote.
They don't have any choice in the matter. Under EU regulations they have to based in the country where the majority of their customers reside. That's why they are planning to move.

Why would need to subsidise the renewables sector? We already produce far more power than we need, the only reason for further expansion is to try and help the UK hit its renewables targets?

I too would urge people to take the time to read the report I linked to. However, I don't interpret it the way LadyCordelia does. My reading of it is far more neutral: indeed, its main comment is best reflected in this quote:

"We'saw'this'when'the'UK'Government'claimed'Scots'would'be'£1,400'better'off'if'they' stayed'in' the'UK,'and'– on' the' same' day'– the'Scottish'Government' claimed'that' Scots' would' be' £1,000' better' off' with' independence.' Each' used' different'starting' assumptions' favourable' to' its' own' case,'so'each'produced'different'answers.'There'is'probably'only'one'certainty in'all'this,'and'that'is'that'the'forecasts'
of'both'sides'will'prove'inaccurate."

(Sorry about the formatting - it doesn't cope and paste very well.)

However, it certainly doesn't suggest that an iScotland will be a land of Milk and Honey - that there will be work to be done if Scotland does vote Yes and that there are also uncertainties if it votes No.

It also doesn't ask one of the key questions I've heard asked: "Should we want self-determination?"

Pat45 - here it is again: Scotland's decision

It can be found in the Resources section of Tom Hunter's website Scotland September 18

LadyCordeliaFlyte But there is no proof of that. There is no proof either way. And even if taxes will have to be higher initially, it wouldn't be forever. Within rUK, it could be.

Pat45 That statement annoys me too.

The UK Government is also planning on spending more on nuclear weapons whilst implementing these austerity cuts, and have not even tried to hide the fact. Can anyone explain how that is fair to us, the general public? I genuinely want to know.

Unnamed sources in Westminster have said that an independent Scotland may keep the pound to ensure fiscal and economic security on both sides of the border.
One anonymous bureaucrat gave his personal opinion. All the major political parties have said that currency union will be ruled out in their election manifestos - and they have had to do so because their supporters all insist on it. Who do you believe?

www.electoralcommission.org.uk/find-information-by-subject/elections-and-referendums/upcoming-elections-and-referendums/scottish-referendum/register-of-campaigners-at-the-scottish-independence-referendum LadyCordelia, I'm sorry if you found my post patronising, that was not my intention. But see who's on the register of campaigners? Brittanica, an offshoot of the BNP. The Orange Order. VoteNoBorders - you might like to look into who funds that... Yes, I'm a yes voter, but not because I hate the Tories (although I do despise them.) i'm voting Yes because I see where a No vote will take us, as promised by all 3 main parties at WM, and my dc and dgc deserve better than that. I'm voting Yes as hope over fear. No-one can tell us with any certainty what will happen after a Yes vote, because it'll be up to us, the people of Scotland in all our glorious diversity, to thrash that out between us. A written Constitution, guaranteeing human rights is likely; the Tories want us out of our EU HR obligations. Keeping our NHS safe from TTIP seems like a good idea to me, and impossible if we say No.

It's a whole lot more than "hating the Tories" and if you were looking for a patronising comment, you made one right there.

I was unsure until recently, now a definite yes :)

Why would need to subsidise the renewables sector? We already produce far more power than we need, the only reason for further expansion is to try and help the UK hit its renewables targets?

I'm afraid you won't like the answer to that!
Under the EU regulations on renewables, every country must generate its own proportion of renewables. Imports don't count towards the quota.
This is another reason why the rUK will benefit from Scottish independence - we won't have to pay subsidies for foreign wind energy, or pay more than the market price for it. Our energy bills should actually go down.

ladycordelia, the oil forecasts are just that, forecasts, and their interpretation of them depends on which side you are wanting to support . As the report you respect says itself

"Experts at the IFS, Stirling and Glasgow universities agree that both the Scottish and UK Government’s analyses of the starting position in 2016–17 could be correct depending on whose oil revenue forecasts you believe. But, they also suggest that the predictions of the Yes side are based on optimistic assumptions that independence will lead to economic improvement – which might not happen.Oil revenues may be higher than forecast but they could also be lower."

So what certainties are basing your certainty on decades of economic ruin on?

There are no certainties, it's the future.

and I don't have any illusions that it'll be a utopia post independence. Where is? But I do hope for an opportunity to have more of a say in the political direction of the country I live in.