Are you in favour of Scotland leaving the UK?

[LadyMaryCreepyCrawley]

Lucky bastards!

this is really not a referendum on Salmond. it's about Scots having a vote that counts in a country they recognise as their own.

Aitch, Scottish people have already a vote in their country, given that you can vote to elect Parliament members, first minister, etc.
Do you feel Scots live in a foreign country? I don't think so, never thought I was living abroad.....

I've said before and I'll say again, I don't think that people should vote yes or no because they think they will be (financially) better off - their decision should be about whether it is right

The reason I know so many people who will vote "Yes" is because they feel that they have a set of values that is totally different to that of England. Although, to be fair - I suspect that it is really Westminster/the over-heated South East that they have a gripe with.

In economic terms, that can often result in macroeconomic policies designed to combat a over-heating economy, where in practice, it is the South East that is over-heating and the rest of the UK is not over-heating - yet they bear the brunt of such policies. Immigration policy is another example: whereas Scotland may want to encourage a degree of immigration as we have a declining population, the Westminster government is clamping down on it.

Hear hear prettybird!

Merlin many issues critical to Scotland are still reserved to Westminster, welfare being an obvious one. Since the 50s the way Scotland has voted has had no impact on the ruling party in Westminster.

This is why many Scots feel disenfranchised, that their vote doesn't count.

Abroad to me means over the sea. When I cross the border to England I'm definitely entering a foreign country. They don't even accept our money! If we're off to England we either need to take no cash with us or go to the bank specifically to get English notes in advance of us leaving.

And we don't have much of a say over some of the very big things that matter - nuclear weapons, whether or not to go to war, taxes, immigration policy.

Cross posted!

JollyJackOLantern, thank God we've no word about immigration policies...... Only the fact that European Union residents don't pay tuition fees at uni isn't fair. Only Scots should have that advantage. And I'm saying this against my own interest, mind you.

That's a huge generalisation Merlin. And racist.

I actually don't have a fear of immigration per se. And I can say that living within one of the largest Muslim communities in Scotland and ds having gone to a primary school where 60% of the kids were from ethnic "minorities".

And I didn't suggest that immigration policies should be entirely dismantled anyway. But, for example, the Scottish Government has been trying to encourage students to come here and stay on (as part of the "knowledge economy") - but is stymied by Westminster policies.

And it's supposedly us Scots who are racist and xenophobic?

Yep.Sooner the better.

Then I will move there

Perhaps England should vote to leave the U.K? or parts of it at least.

Westminster don't really want to lose the energy money.

bureni I'm sure there was talk of Berwick becoming Scottish if we got independence, and my Yorkshire relatives want Yorkshire to secede and join an independent Scotland.. . If the majority of people in a particular area want to be autonomous then they should be given that opportunity.

I think we would all bicker among ourselves. The image that we are all united couldn't be further from the truth. EG Glaswegians whingeing about Edinburgh, you still hear the 'we're so much friendlier here' stuff, Aberdeen is a law unto itself prob second most wealthy place in uk, the western isles appears to be full of migrated english, the highlands well, hardly anyone there anyway. And where I am from will still be totally ignored as it is now.

Yes, I'm coming too Doobydoo! WE can move into the houses left by the people who say they're moving to England in the event of independence.

(envisages mass migration of people remniscent of Indian partition. Without the bloodshed, hopefully).

Mayisout but Scotland is generally United in the way it votes, which is generally very different to the way England votes.

If Scotland were independent it would be entirely in charge of its own affairs, no blaming Westminster for things. Of course different regions would still have individual quirks but it would be bringing control at least within the remit of Scotland. This means things could be more finely tuned for different Scottish regions, whereas at the moment is is a one size fits all policy from Westminster (necessarily)

so because Scottish people aren't robots who agree on everything, we should live in conditions where our votes don't count? that seems bonkers to me. how on earth do other countries in the world manage without being tied to Westminster?

I really don't care any more.

I thought that Scotland already has a degree of autonomy already, so not sure what is governed by Westminster? Foreign policy and taxation?

here's a list it's really fiscal, power and foreign i think that are the sticking points.

but the fact that we have, for example, health already is why the prescription situation exists. for some reason it is THAT which causes the most jealousy to be expressed on MN... seriously... seven quid every so often (and a nightmare to administer and causing more expense in the long run) and that is the one thing that everyone gets their knickers in a twist over.