to start a new Scottish Indyref thread?

[FannyFifer]

Round 2 folks, ding ding!

x-posted - with a more informed poster.

I would like to actively campaign, (instead of fruitlessly trying to change the minds of no voters on MN) but I'm not confident or well-enough informed. OOAOML - your experiences sound inspiring but scary. Hmm.

We don't have referenda on things like bedroom tax - maybe we should have .

So therefore unless Labour does get elected next year, then there's nae chance that the Bedroom Tax will be repealed wasn't it them that first mooted the legislation anyway?

I think that Federalism or Devo Max would have been a much more easy "sell" - but Cameron took that off the table in the Edinburgh Agreement, assuming that No would win, if Scots were only given the binary option. I wonder what he's thinking now?

No, it really isn't scary. I did say it was only a couple of people, and it was nothing like what I've seen online. It made me really nervous at first, but then it is completely outside my comfort zone so it would be surprising if it didn't.

I felt that I was sitting at home feeling very strongly on the question, and then had the (fairly obvious) realisation that if it was that important to me, then I could do something about it.

Numanoid - it is a public meeting - I got a flier through the door about it. It's a Referendum Debate organised by Pollokshields Community Council, in association with Southside Housing Association and Scottish Youth Forum and isbeing held at Pollokshields Burgh Hall from 7 to 9pm. Yes speakers are Humza Yousaf, MS and Saffron Dickson (gobby but articulate teenager) and the BT speakers are Bailie Hanif Raja and Heather Whiteside.

I'm not sure about it, I'll happily give out leaflets and talk to people out and about, but going door-to-door makes me feel wary. I've heard a story from another canvasser that made me worry. Deep down I know that probably the 'worst' that will happen is someone saying they aren't interested.

Thanks prettybird, I have an undecided/leaning to Yes friend who wants to listen to more before making up their mind. :)

I think it will be hard for BT to get one over on Humza Yousaf, I've heard him talk before.

I think whatever you're comfortable with Numanoid.

Although at the risk of sounding selfish, it will be good to have more free time when this is over. It gets a bit hard fitting everything in, and bizarrely now that the children are back at school they keep expecting stuff like packed lunches and clean school uniform - do they not know I am busy?

I know of Saffron from many years ago - she was in P7 at ds' school when he was in P1 and she was gobby and articulate even then! She is still only 16 . Don't know much about any of the others.

Chelsy I think you'll find that Scotrail pay for the signs they place at every train station that's in Gaelic and English.

Bit ironic then that he is in favour of Scotland losing its membership of the International Convention of Human Rights then FannyFifer.

I thought he was sacked for making rambling incoherent comments while under the influence of various substances and being pictured in the papers cheating on his wife with a local.

Maybe he is from the same school of politics as Tommy Sheridan and George Galloway!

It has nothing to do with funding from the Scottish Government!

Picking apart politicians who represent the Yes campaign is a bit of a moot point. There's plenty to be said about David Cameron (not an official rep but obviously a No supporter) Alistair Darling (still can't justify his expenses claims) and all of the others. I won't base my vote on them though, because it's not about a specific person.

And George Galloway is a fervent No supporter...

Two sides to every tale I guess.

I'm sure hos wife and children would be delighted to hear that FannyFifer.

I'm not picking apart politicians from one side. The three I mentions ned are all examples of a type of career politician whose self publicised ego bears more fruit than their deeds.

I'm sick of relative non entities with a minimal record of achievement being held up to me as ideological examples. You could pick almost any decent public sector worker in Scotland who has a chieved more in real terms fir tge public.

My most surreal moment campaigning was talking to a Labour activist and a Tory voter. The Tory voter turned to me and in an excited voice asked if I'd heard George Galloway's speech and wasn't it amazing how passionate he was

And Numanoid is right, there are people on both sides who are undoubtedly an embarrassment to the main campaign, but I genuinely think their is a wide spectrum of opinion on both sides (this is why if I were in charge I wouldn't have had Devo Max on the main ballot paper, but I'd either have further ballot papers outlining different positions in the case of Yes and No, or I'd have had a follow-up vote. Of course that would then get into lots of questions over whether the rest of the UK got a vote, and might have made the campaigning a bit more tricky - or possibly easier depending on your view.)

Better to look at who is funding each campaign.

www.heraldscotland.com/mobile/comment/bloggers/bad-and-good-questions-in-the-indyref-campaign.1409140754

This makes some good points...

Had no idea who Craig Murray was, I'm guessing this is the right one?
www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/jul/15/foreignpolicy.uk
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3750370.stm

Did you see George Galloway's tweet on Monday "Urgent: to the leaders of No Campaign: better put me, Gordon Brown Jim Murphy Helen Liddle and John Reid at the head of this campaign. Quick" and no, that wasn't from a spoof account

....if the No campaign wanted to guarantee to lose.....

Maybe he's a 5th Columnist

Was that real then?

I thought Helen Liddle was dead but had confused her with Helen Eadie.

That was real: I checked and it is a "blue ticked" account, which he uses regularly and vociferously

He really has an inflated sense of his own worth.

The reappearance of George Galloway and Tommy Sheridan (not suggesting they've been doing nothing all this time, just that they haven't appeared very prominent) is one of the stranger aspects of this referendum.

I'm sick of relative non entities with a minimal record of achievement being held up to me as ideological examples. You could pick almost any decent public sector worker in Scotland who has a chieved more in real terms fir tge public.

This is true. In my opinion there are, at most, 2 politicians who I wouldn't call trustworthy, but appear to be. As far as I can tell. None of them should be held up as the reason to believe in something though.

Haha OOAOML, I wouldn't have predicted that one. Regardless of the referendum, I don't like George Galloway one bit. Very strange man.

What do people think will happen after the referendum? I'm assuming it's going to be a no as all the polls indicate this.
Will things just get back to normal, or will there be acrimony between the two groups of voters.

Well I'm a thread-killer (but I'm sure not here!) and my down South, way down South, view is:

Either way the vote goes there's going to be a lot of pissed off Scottish people (the ones that voted the way it didn't go).

Like a lot of small EU countries there's more Scots that live outside of Scotland than live in it. From The Clearances to now. My dad was Scottish and neither he nor 2 of his brothers lived there (or England!) once they were 30. All 4 brothers served in the Forces (WW2 and Korea) and left the UK behind them afterwards besides the 1 who stayed traumatised. (Amazing all 4 survived)

Even if it's a disaster after a Yes vote that would be better than several more decades/centuries of bitching and moaning forever-after blaming The Union/English for all Scottish difficulties. Seeing as there's so many Scots in England and so many running English government I'm sure we'll have you back if it doesn't work out.

Hope it's not a No because we'll have more bitching/moaning for a few more decades/centuries, etc.

Wasn't it the Scots that started this whole Union-thing in the first place? Mary, Queen of, and her son James 6th of Scotland 1st of England (The Union).