To think wealthy people will leave Scotland?

[Juniperberries25]

..if the YES side win a referendum? Surely a lot of successful businesses and people who are wealthy/ comfortable/ have paid into a pension will not want to risk all their assets becoming worthless? Or am I missing something? Higher taxes, unknown currency, economic uncertainty, hard border, national security concerns etc

It would cost BILLIONS to set up new Government bodies (eg DVLA, Passport office, MI5, MI6, Amy Navy, RAF to name a few) so surely taxes will be much, much higher than rest of the UK?

Just to clarify I am NOT a fan of Boris but surely he will be long gone by the time Scotland actually became independent after YES vote (probably at least 10 years, just look at the BREXIT timeline).

Please don't flame me, I am just wondering what people think as I genuinely don't get how the benefits outweigh the risks.

I would actually move up North if they became independent.

That, @dadof3smallboys makes a lot of sense.

We can wheesht for no Indy

There are no Scottish Banks now other than in name only. Thistletits is right, all multinational

We have done just that. Had our offer accepted before we knew, but it has made us happier about our decision and we'll be glad to vote yes if we're allowed to vote.

God do people not realise that so many of the 'free' things are not actually free or the impact of introducing them is negative? Eg Heard this week the the bus operator in my area is really struggling because the Scottish Government has not reimbursed them properly for all the lost revenue on the back of the 'free' bus passes. Result, services and routes being withdrawn affecting smaller communities and worryingly older people who can no longer drive or those who rely on public transport to get to work.

@dadof3smallboys that would be the tories then. In Scotland the party is known as the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. They don’t tend to do very well.

Scotland is quite possibly top of the list for renewable energy. Wind, tidal, hydro, wave, even sun (new solar farms being set up). Already in certain months almost all the energy used in Scotland touches 100% renewable. It could be developed so much more. (I used to work in sector).

The Rosyth/Zeebrugge ferry is being reinstated next year, I’m sure more European connections will be developed. Watch Aberdeen as the oil sector declines and their ferry terminal sees more investment and Scandinavian connections.

There are alternatives to the SNP and if Scotland became independent then Labour, Lib Dem and Green would have more slice of the votes as at least votes for those parties would count for something.

i would happily live in an independent Scotland and hope that the Greens were even more powerful than they already are.

I’m Scottish and live in Scotland and I don’t want independence, I think it would be disastrous. I voted No the last time and if there is another referendum I will vote no again. I remember being asked the last time about what I would vote and I was hounded and called a traitor to my country. The whole referendum not only split the country it split families and communities alike. It was horrible.

@Nein9 welcome! We’re all Jock Tamson’s bairns

The attitude of English posters here are the main reason we want independence. I’m a professional employed person with a perfectly functional analytical mind. The negative attitude towards the Scottish nation by a large percentage of the English triggers the desire for a split from idiots like BJ and his cronies. I’d vote yes and live with the consequences and the benefits safe in the knowledge that decisions being made on my behalf are made by people with a similar upbringing to me.

Yes, if Scotland were to leave the UK I too believe many would leave. We already pay significantly more income tax than else where in the UK and these rates would have to rise further to accommodate the loss of the Barnet formula. Scotland has a high % of people working for the state in some capacity, I wonder what would happen to all of these people. If Scotland were to go independent, I doubt I could afford to continue living here and nor would I want to however, house prices would likely tank so i would need to look at whether I could afford to move.

Scotland? Independence? Nicola can't afford independence with the Covid debt hanging over her head. And Boris does not have to give her permission for another referendum. She has to ask him and the Queen and neither has to give permission...
If rich people leave then the Saudis will move in and buy up even more of Scotland and we will be bankrupt before we start!

Actually, the majority of Scottish people pay LESS tax than they would in rUK.

It’s the university places all over again isn’t it? Scottish government not reimbursing sufficiently so places have to be limited and favour given to overseas students to balance the books. Result : a worse deal for Scottish citizens.

Unless we can get a guarantee of being able to re-join EU it's a no from me. For exactly all your points. I cannot stand Boris or his white privileged pals (I'm white) that are so detached from reality it's unreal. Nowhere near as bad but I also don't think Nicola had been the best leader, she had failed a lot of her pledges especially educational ones. Brexit is done, nothing we can do about that nonsense now. Better the devil you know.

Are you Scottish and living in Scotland?

Out of hours services. Crumbling. Can’t get doctors
locum doctors and nurses being used. Huge cost

nurses leaving and going on the bank

cannot get an nhs dentist for love nor money

a and e rammed.

this is Edinburgh

423 million on locums. Doctors dentists agency nurses

All the border constituencies are Tory.

So they might decide to move the border to nearer Antonines Wall.

Apologies, new to this and was trying to reply to someone else who was expressing opinions about xenophobia and pro supporters of independence being either rich or on benefits. I felt a bit outraged and wondered what part of Scotland she lived in.

The percentage of Scottish students going to Scottish universities is the same as the percentage of English students going to English universities.

Well said! We are not xenophobic, we are just not very welcoming to patronising twats. We are not all brave heart, we don't all wear kilts, we are educated and we are fed up of not being heard in the current voting system and legislation powers. Like many scandanavian countries (who SNP have consulted) yes they pay higher taxes, but are the happiest in the world. Can that be said for little Britain? We are currently all being royally screwed by Westmonster. Why would we want to stay in this pity party?

Well said! We are not xenophobic, we are just not very welcoming to patronising twats. We are not all brave heart, we don't all wear kilts, we are educated and we are fed up of not being heard in the current voting system and legislation powers. Like many scandanavian countries (who SNP have consulted) yes they pay higher taxes, but are the happiest in the world. Can that be said for little Britain?

I was reading this thinking, I don’t think those things about people in Scotland but sometimes I get the impression negative stereotypes exist re people in England - and then little Britain so I guess yep they do

until the ink is dried on the paper it’s an impossible call to make. There’s too many variables to be able to make a decision right now.

Utterly gobsmacked by the sheer ignorance about Scotland and our desire for independence on display in this thread. It's no wonder we want to leave this toxic union. From the stupidity of calling the SNP the 'Scottish Nationalist Party' (Were you listening to Boris who routinely makes that deliberate mistake?) to the unbelievable complacency of thinking that we won't manage without England, you could not be more wrong. Since the last referendum, everything has changed. We have a Brexit that Scotland didn't vote for and a repulsive crop of Tories-in-name-only (actually UKIP in Tory clothing) lying to us on a daily basis. I'm English, have lived here for many years, and have never encountered anything like the rabid xenophobia currently on display in England.

Ask yourselves, is there any small country that has achieved independence in the last hundred years or so that has regretted it and wants to go back to being ruled by a bigger, more ignorant, more right wing neighbour? I don't think so. We are roughly the same size as Finland, with the same population, the same resources, especially renewables, the same potential. We have some of the best universities in the world. We'll be fine.

As for labelling all those who want independence as stupid?
Is there no end to England's hubris?

My Yes voting friends include economics experts, aerospace engineers, IT consultants, teachers, farmers, musicians, writers, actors, artists, gardeners and - yes - fishermen who were not fooled by Brexit. 58% of the population at the last poll. After independence, we'll be welcome to join EFTA - hopefully rejoining the EU after that. But in all honesty, EFTA would do for now. Our government recognises this fact and has already been making friends and allies in Scandinavia. Most of us would cheerfully cut up our British passports if we could have a Scottish one. We can spare the filthy rich who don't pay their taxes anyway, but the tragedy is that post Brexit our brightest and best young people are leaving to work overseas. Hopefully an independent Scotland can entice many of them to come back and build a better nation.

Have you saw the prices in Ireland? It's so expensive for everything. That's why we now moved to the north of Ireland. Couldn't afford the doctors and food prices ect.
I know when we have a camping holiday to Scotland we met people traveling up from England and Wales for the day or weekend. If they had to change their money over and probably get insurance it would be cheaper to go aboard. Scotland such a beautiful place though but with fuel prices as well as changing money over people might not pay it.