To think its ok to tell voters that businesses will move south if its a yes?

[Loopylala7]

If these businesses do intend to shift south of the border if its a yes, shouldn't the voters know this is a possible outcome? Why is it considered unfair for this information to be out? Can somebody please explain? Am I being a bit dense?

They won't need embassies round the world. Lots of smaller nations do not have that. They could have regional hub missions, which could be either free-standing or as 'interests sections' co-located within any friendly nations' missions (UK would be obvious choice, but it doesn't have to be). They will however need to pay for the space /services they use and supply the staff

I think I'd prefer to keep the services of my 'full-fat' embassy, rather than that of a diluted and possibly part-time answering machine.

I very much doubt that the uk will take full responsibility for any pension that is supposed to be funded on current levels of taxation. Negotiations then need to start and the outcome will depend on who has the best bargaining chips. Pensioners would get paid, but in return for other terms being agreed.

Equally, whatever your passport says, if you or your family are liable for taxes in Scotland the EU is not going to grant you the rights granted to EU citizens if Scotland isn't part of the EU. Scotland can't function independently if it's citizens are only Scottish when it suits them.

Power and independence is more complicated than a flag. Maybe Scotland does have enough power to be independent. However it might end up dependent on a Westminster government in which it has no vote.

'Just out of interest, how is Scotland one of the wealthiest countries in the world. I have lived in Singapore, HK, the UK. I have travelled extensively around the middle. I've seen some very wealthy places. Whenever I have been in Scotland I never for once thought it was a wealthy place.'

It's become one of those phrases that the Yes side like to spout with regularity, hoping if they say it often enough it will serve to distract people from the gaping holes in the economic plans for an independent Scotland.

Scotland is, and will continue to be, one of the wealthiest countries in the world. If some big/small/medium businesses choose to leave, others will move in. There are profits to be made after all, that's how capitalism works.

if the cost of doing business rises, some businesses may no longer be viable.

Can we just rename this thread the NO thread?

There is no discussion going on here at all.

Will you leave Scotland when the YES vote wins as it will be such a terrible place to live?

Some people will want to leave in the event of a Yes vote.

I mentioned that to an SNP member last year - a parent of my DC's friend. A leftist SNP civic nationalist rather than the tartan tory type. He looked disbelieving. Why? The barrier to leaving will be job and house so it won't look like a sudden decampment.

And another friend has been shocked at a "quiet no" family member's wish to leave. Why are you so staggered that some people are able to appreciate living in the UK (imperfect as it may be) and would wish to continue to do so?

I'm not talking about me. I'm talking about the kids I will have. And my grandchildren. I cannot conceive how, in my lifetime and in my children's lifetime certainly, Scottish nationality would be of any use.

I wonder if the fact that as Alex Salmond and his deputy don't have children, they are more prepared to take a risk.

(UK would be obvious choice, but it doesn't have to be). They will however need to pay for the space /services they use and supply the staff

An independent Scotland should not need to keep relying on the UK.

I don't wish to drive you away Daughter, I'd like to hear the other side as I won't talk to the SNP member about this again as I'd get too emotional! I just didn't understand his disbelief iyswim.

They won't need embassies round the world. Lots of smaller nations do not have that.

Yet another reason why businesses will certainly want to move South. If you're running a business where you trade all over the world and want that to continue and expand, you need the help of a knowledgeable local embassy, not some part time bod with a desk in another country's embassy.

Or the equivalent of one man and his dog in a semi in Sutton.

Daughter - how on earth is this a no thread? there are lots of questions being asked - just because you aren't able to provide answers for the Yes camp doesn't mean that it is a no thread!

It's hardly a No thread. People are giving very legitimate reasons to vote no. You are free to counterargue why these reasons should be a Yes.

Will you leave Scotland when the YES vote wins as it will be such a terrible place to live?

As soon as I can. And I just moved here. I didn't come back to put up with this independence nonsense. This isn't a country I recognise and I don't want my children to be in the thick of it.

I want no part of this madness that will inflict pain on both sides. I have yet to see one post from a Yes voter that persuades me it isn't going to be a nightmare, let alone all the literature and campaigning which I found nauseating and divisive. Fine mess old Salmond has landed us in, hey? Just as he comes up to retirement?

I'm lucky enough to be able to go somewhere outside of the UK. Lots aren't.

Daughter Will you leave Scotland when the YES vote wins as it will be such a terrible place to live?

Yes, of course.

I find it ironic that some of the Yes camp label people like me as being scared, when in reality we are now facing up to selling up everything we have worked for, quite likely for less than we paid for it, and decamping to foreign shores, just to ensure we don't have to try and live and work in a country run by crazy fanatics.

The reason that threads all turn into no threads is because only the very ardent nationalists tend to stay on threads asking questions about every single uncertainty.

The problem is that for me my yes vote is to do with ideals really, I'm not blindly believing the yes campaign, I do think SNP are problematic, but I believe in decentralised government and that is what I'm voting for.

I'm willing to accept the unknowns of a different system over the slightly more certain facts of a system I don't think works. (Taking into account that how the UK works is only certain right now and that things like the EU will probably be subject to a referendum fairly soon anyway).

I'm aware that other people don't agree and I'm aware that other people may agree if there was more certainty - that doesn't make them either more informed than me, or more intelligent, it just means that we feel differently about something that some people think shouldn't be based on feelings or ideals.

I am sorry that people will have to leave because of their job or feel like they want to leave if it's a yes vote, but that's not going to change how I vote.

My opinion though or similar ones are called blindly idealistic or naive or that we're sacrificing things for political belief, when I don't think that's what I'm doing at all, I've read widely from both sides and anything impartial I've found and just reached a different conclusion.

But because no voters are looking for certainty anyone but ardent yes supporters slowly retreat from threads.

I think a lot of the No vote is driven by people like Chelsy whose husbands have been told that the firm will be moving if there is a Yes vote. It's little short of vote rigging. I hope people see it for what it is, another way for the south to control the north and get the most out of it while giving back the least.

You don't get certainty when you ask for change and why people expect it is beyond me. It doesn't go with the territory.

I am sure if there is a yes vote and while Scotland goes through a lot of upheaval several businesses will avoid investment there and may move their offices.

I certainly have clients currently saying they won't accept any infrastructure if in Scotland - too much uncertainty for costs.

BBC will of course have to withdraw if Scotland is separate as their remit is UK only.

See I think a lot of the no vote is simply driven by the fact that some people don't want a change.

It would be completely irresponsible for companies not to inform employees that they'll be moving in the case of a yes vote.

Even if people were voting no based purely on their job security (which I don't think is the case at all) that is how a lot of people vote, what's best for their own circumstances. There's nothing wrong with that.

But yes I do think expecting certainty in politics at all, nevermind in what would be a huge constitutional change isn't exactly realistic.

But to be fair, not everyone wants that change in the first place, it's not that they're not legitimate concerns...it's that realistic yes voters know that at the moment the truth of it is that it is all uncertain.

You don't get certainty when you ask for change and why people expect it is beyond me. It doesn't go with the territory.

It's not a case of expecting it - its a case of just not wanting it.

I think it is logical to say that it is worth taking the risk for no other reason than that you feel that Scotland should be independent. No country should rule another by force.

What isn't logical is to say that other people should feel the same way about that risk, or argue that there is no risk, particularly if you don't have any answer to perfectly valid questions e.g. what will support the value of Scotland's currency?

I think a lot of the No vote is driven by people like Chelsy whose husbands have been told that the firm will be moving if there is a Yes vote. It's little short of vote rigging. I hope people see it for what it is, another way for the south to control the north and get the most out of it while giving back the least.

Oh please. There are many, many, many reasons why people are voting no. Stop being insulting.

I don't think a few straight answers to little things like, oh, currency, EU membership, borders, public taxation and finance... is too much to ask for really. If you're buying a new house you wait for the full survey don't you?

But going with the house analogy...

For some people it's their dream house and the survey is going to make no difference, others don't like the house and don't even commission a survey after viewing it.

Then in the middle you've got people who like it enough to be ok with it's structurally sound but you'll have to wait to get the full survey and those that quite like it but will only buy it if the full survey says everything is how they want it.

tabula if I didn't want change I wouldn't be also pondering the idea of emigrating if an opportunity arose outwith rUK. I quite like an adventure me, every few years anyway!

I just don't want the country I live in to be unstable. I think more economic instability is inevitable in an exclusively Scottish economy as opposed to UK.

The bit that gives me palpitations is not my circumstances but those of the poorer members of society. It's so far from the myth of a fairer future I could cry. However if there is a Yes vote on Friday I wish Scotland all the luck. I appreciate you as an individual are doing what you believe in.

I want to know if its stable, if it has dry rot or prone to floods.

I want to know what the bills are likely to be and what the local schools are like. I want to know if there's an open prison next door or a drugs rehab centre. I want to know if its been a notorious drugs den or brothel in the past, or even if the land is a deconsecrated graveyard. I want to know if Crossrail is trundling pass the end of the road in a few years time, or if the brownfield land beyond the fence has been earmarked for an abatoir.

I won't think "ah it'll be fine" without bothering to do my research.