to start a new Scottish Indyref thread?

[FannyFifer]

Round 2 folks, ding ding!

I hate that marriage analogy. So offensive.

Thanks for the !

So those voting No are fearful, cowering wifies and those voting Yes are brave, altruistic pioneers?

But it's absolutely insane to suggest there could be a supposedly independent country populated by a large number, possibly majority, possibly entirely (depending on how quickly a passport service could be set up), of expats.

I know plenty people who work in financial services over the last ten years who have been made rendundant, lost their contracts, been outsourced by Poland or India, had to retrain, diversify, change company. Why is that something unusual?

Will there still be a 'Britain' after independence? Or would it not be a UK of NI, Wales and England?

People in Northern Ireland can have a British or Irish passport, would prob be similar arrangement.

My understanding of it is that we'll all still be British because that's the landmass. And England Wales and Scotland will be the uk

Britain is the Island, we can still be British, just won't be in the UK.

Britain will still be Britain (The British isles). The United Kingdom will not include Scotland, but will still exist.

So Ruk would take consular responsibility for a whole country full of expats with no financial input from Scotland?

In essence a Scot, if they wish, can still, like now, call themselves British.

Is the yes vote basically that Scotland's budget will be in surplus, therefore the negative impact of being a minority shareholder in the currency union will eventually be an irrelevance due to not having any need to borrow? If I've read this correct, how long will it take us to get to this position?

I don't think my analogy is original but I do think it's true. There is a relationship with an imbalance of power and the partner thinking about leaving is constantly being undermined by the powerful partner telling them they will fail and threatening all kinds of punishment. I do think Scotland is very different to England, in a good way, and less in thrall to bankers and millionaires. Maybe thinking such a society could work in this world is a bit pie-in-the-sky but I would like to think that the ideal is worth going for.

I really, really wish the UK would model itself on countries with small international ambitions but a healthy interest in creating social responsibility, like Scandinavian countries.

Nancy, I suppose that will have to be negotiated, along with everything else during the 18 months between the yes vote and Independence Day.

Is it possible that going forward we would phase out British passports and replace them with uk/Scottish passports?

It seems odd to me than a totally independent country would be populated by expats - just because we share a land mass if Scotland becomes independent it becomes a foreign country to RUK

You clearly don't want to see the difference between the natural gradual evolution of companies and roles where smaller numbers are impacted each time and there's a movement to new roles/skills, and a huge exodus of roles which leaves thousands in a concentrated area out of the same sort of work. Did you have any sympathy for the miners or steelworkers? Or should they just have diversified too? How long did it take areas decimated by that sort of loss of dominant industries to recover. What do you think everyone is going to diversify or retrain in to? Something like 16% of the Edinburgh population is directly employed in financial services, plus a further significant number who are dependent on it indirectly.

If your husband is happy with that change to his industry, fair enough. But don't be so damned derisive of those of us who aren't.

British passports are already phased out.

Sorry to be a puke, but would really appreciate if someone could give me a view on this...Is the yes vote basically that Scotland's budget will be in surplus, therefore the negative impact of being a minority shareholder in the currency union will eventually be an irrelevance due to not having any need to borrow? If I've read this correct, how long will it take us to get to this position?

British passports are already phased out. are they?

Yep, go have a look at yours.

'I really, really wish the UK would model itself on countries with small international ambitions but a healthy interest in creating social responsibility, like Scandinavian countries.'

First you need to convince people to agree to a massive tax hike. Scandinavian utopia don't come cheap.

don't know where it is :)

Sorry stat, I still disagree with you. But it's ok, we are allowed to disagree. And neither of us know the future. So argue as much as you like, Sorry for taking the piss a bit, watching ugly scottish men shout at each other has made me feel a bit giddy.

Squoosh

Yes, the tax is the thing. My Scandinavian friends don't even think twice about it because they love the lifestyle their standard of public services support eg a lot of them had fully-funded education right up to post-doctorate level, great parental leave (including fathers) and great healthcare.

There's no doubt that there's a lot to admire about Scandinavian society, their approach to gender equality is second to none. But I'm doubtful as to how easy it would be to get Scots on board with the high taxation rates.

That's a big mental leap to take.