Indyref 10. The Marathon Continues..

[WildThong]

All welcome

living - note TeamScotland's reply - arf

Santana - the yes campaigner (she was delivering leaflets about 'protecting the Scottish NHS' from WM) was unimpressed but defended her leaflet by saying, 'Well, there's less privatisation in the Scottish NHS than rUK'. (I admired her for accepting my invitation to come in when I'd told her I was going to vote no, but would love to hear her reasons for voting yes.)

My H was driving a bus in Edinburgh today.

He said, what with the Orange Parade (yes, Sectarianism isn't only in Glasgow, it is alive and well on the East Coast too)

and the Pop Up Yes parades / 'happenings' it was pretty bizarre.

He saw a lot less NO stuff going on.

I wish the NO campaigners felt more able to be vocal without intimidation.

Evening, just checking in. How quickly are we getting through these threads?!

The ordinary people of Scotland have found their voice now and the rUK is hearing it - not just the voice of the SNP

choco, it's with a very heavy heart that I made up my mind to vote no this week. Today's been tough, seeing FB pics of all my friends and their DCs enjoying the Yes rally in Buchanan St. But your post has really helped me feel that I've made the right choice, and it's not a selfish one.

Cheers

I was in Edinburgh on a No stall today firstchoice. There seemed to be. Lot of people going to the Orange march,but according to the local paper there were no arrests and I've not seen any accounts of trouble.

I can ensure you, I was pretty vocal (in a friendly, not intimidating way) and also happy to talk to people wearing yes badges. In fact had some good chats - we're all just people out there engaging in the political process after all

Does he know for a fact that contingency plans are not being made or is it anecdotal or 'beliefs' Is he within the MoD that make those decisions....

Depends on whether you think shock expressed by a colleague in the MoD (in his field of expertise) that he (lawyer friend) couldn't make a certain meeting as he was meeting with counterparts in Holyrood to make plans for if there were a Yes and confirming to friend that they had indeed not done any planning (friend was at, as he assumed that they had) is anecdotal

Cheers choco!

I will be devastated if the majority is a yes too Phaedra And then to have to watch 'our' politicians fighting to grab as much as they can from rUK, which I didn't want to leave...... just sickening.

I will understand the disappointment of the yes voters - so near yet so far. But they only have to win a referendum once....

And the ref has produced a promise to give Scotland more control over its affairs.

Whereas the thought of being torn from rUK.... it doesn't bear thinking about.

You're not necessarily wrong there, WildThong, but there we are. We live here, this is our home, and at least the ballot is secret!!

On a general note, some people are just nasty and abusive. And will take any opportunity to be so. There IS abuse on both sides of this debate, and none of us can pretend otherwise. But none of them speaks for me or most of you.

There is nothing selfish about a No vote Corey. I'm voting no, and I firmly believe that it is the best choice for those who are poorest and most vulnerable in Scotland. You've clearly given a lot of thought. Please, don't feel guilty.

There was certainly No activity in Edinburgh today.

We're a military family and we're split. I'm a yes, husband a no (he's the serving person). All very amicable - I respect his reasons and vote, he respects mine.

He was at an informal meeting ACGS last week and it was mentioned that he'd been at a meeting to discuss the "Scottish issue". Official line is no preparation as it will all be sorted after the referendum, unofficially, there is clearly discussion.

Oh that's interesting OOAOML -

I only got H's version - which is often a bit so its good to hear another perspective.

I am glad there were some NO stands too.

Glad the Orange March passed off without trouble.
We used to live in East Lothian and there was a local one which always seemed to cause a prob - mostly local neds getting off their heads on Parade Day and then causing affray later on!

I'd agree with OOAOML, I didn't see trouble from the Orange March, it seemed to be very peaceful.

Aaargh! "He was at an informal meeting with ACGS last week and it was mentioned that he (ACGS, that is) had been at a meeting earlier that day to discuss the "Scottish issue"

SpiritedWolf, that is a realistic suspicion IMO - that people are saying Undecided when they just don't want to say. And that people aren't telling those close to them. That isn't just a phenomenon on one side though. It's so close the vote could go either way, and either way roughly half the population will be disappointed. I suppose that's what happens when you ask the people.

I've already voted No by post.

I really don't like living in a country like this. I've said it before - I just want to live in a normal country, which isn't stuck in constitutional wrangling and full of emotive political argument constantly.

I know very well that I'm lucky not to live in a poor part of the world, where access to clean drinking water or education is my main concern, but, honestly, I never really expected to be put into this position of losing my country and relatives and friends losing their jobs, and losing the value of my house and everything I've worked for being risked, pointlessly, for the sake of nationalism.

Why can the Scots of today not get their heads down and work? How many more powers do they want or need when they don't use the ones they have fully under the Scotland Act? I know all this being on the internet is detracting from my job, and I still make an effort to get it done. I can imagine some of the more fervent types not managing to get much work done at all, and this has been going on for weeks.

I'm voting no, and I firmly believe that it is the best choice for those who are poorest and most vulnerable in Scotland

This is what has swayed me, Stat. I've a friend at work whose DH is a soldier and she doesn't have a clue what would happen to his job. She is on a lower grade than me and I am not a high earner. She has 2 DCs, one with ASN. Moving her between schools is tortuous and her mum is worried that will happen as they'll have to move south. Without her DH's pay, they wouldn't last long.

Like me, she completely gets so much of the Yes sentiment. Neither of us want to be governed by WM. Both of us think the BT campaign has been a fucking disgrace and neither of us would associate with it.

I was a Green Yes for the longest time but I can't in good faith vote yes when there is so much uncertainty for families like my friend's.

You wouldn't think there was any sort of election on where I live- big town, central belt. No posters, no canvassers, only 1 leaflet so far. A few posters in windows-both no and yes, no broken windows or baying mobs. It's a fairly mixed area.
People don't tend to discuss it or say how their voting and no-one asks. It is all very civilized. I can't imagine they're going to have to impose a curfew round here on the 19th.

I look at all the churches a stone's throw from each other in the centre of towns and villages - the result of breakaway congregations setting up thier own churches. Then the congregations of all the churches began to decline. The congregations couldn't afford the upkeep of their buildings. So they sold many of them off - and looked sadly upon the night-clubs and expensive flats they have been turned into - and merged the churches that were left back into one congregation.

What will become of a small nation that couldn't get along with its bigger neighbour and thought it would make a better go of things by itself, having split up successful groups of people working for, generally the same things? A small nation, starting off with a large minority of its population unhappy about being made to leave the bigger nation and needlessly set up new agencies. In a world of global corporations and massive political unions.

Corey we are all trying to do what we think is right. And a No vote can still bring change. Frankly I think it has to, or there will be massive unrest and another referendum. And as I said to someone today, if there's no change, then next time round I might find myself on the other side of the road (Yes stall - we were all very nice and smiley to each other). I think we can work together - there's been a massive political awakening, and these people are not all going to go back to sleep on the 19th. I think we need to give devolution more of a chance - I see Scotland on a path. Personally I hope the UK is on a path to a more federal system. I don't see now as the time for Scottish independence. I don't think there is enough support to make it work, and I'm not convinced by the proposals. In other times and circumstances - maybe.

So far as the TA officer who hasn't been told of the contingency plans does he seriously think this would be revealed to or discussed by any one beyond the high heid yins at this stage.

Who is scare mongering now?

Corey I feel very similar. I have also been very attracted by the Green Yes campaign and almost feel guilty if I vote no. But my concern is that in difficult economic times it will be the poorest that lose the most.

I suspect the Lodge deciding to go to Edinburgh was deliberate. To try to pull in the Undecideds. I have no evidence for this, except perceptions from living in both Glasgow and Edinburgh. And my inherent dislike of' the Ludge' and all it stands for. IME the latter is very much less sectarian than the former. There just isn't the same meaning in both places to the question 'What school did you go to?'. But I was a child in the 1960s, and in my children's life times the situation has changed for the better in both places. So maybe I'm wrong about their motives.

I hope for a No vote (obviously) but it would be great if the ordinary people who have engaged with this process stayed engaged and helped bring about the changes we all want