Are you in favour of Scotland leaving the UK?

[LadyMaryCreepyCrawley]

Lucky bastards!

Perhaps Scotland could drop its corporation tax to a lower level like N.I are trying to do, this would increase foreign investment, increase jobs and prospects by becoming more competitive

Scotland already punches well above bits weight in terms of investment, see, for example, here:

blogs.channel4.com/factcheck/factcheck-does-scotland-look-bonnie-to-foreign-investors/9080

Kentonio

I'd rather base my 'Yes/No' vote on more immediate pressing matters of state, not those which might happen in 90-100 years time.

Whats so ironic is that Scotland is one of the worlds leading investors in renewable energy. One of the only nations to see that even with its oil wealth, that the future is worth investing in and the sheer volume of inward investment in the last couple of years is staggering. It seems that every week, someone is moving to, investing in, creating jobs or researching opportunities in this field.

Now we see why the Greens are keen to be involved in the Yes campaign

squoosh, it is, thats why N.I is also pushing for a lower corporation tax. The advantage Ireland has is its oil reserves which are yet untapped.

Droves Don't worry. Scotland won't join the Euro, despite the cacophony of unionist scaremongering that'll only get worse until the Scottish Government releases the details

(I can't wait for that day, a chance to shut that argument up once and for all)

droves do you have a guarantee that the UK will stay out of the Euro? A new govt could come in and decide that the UK will join the Eurozone.

It's not possible for a guarantee to be given by anyone because we don't know who's going to be in power (anywhere) in 30 years time.

JollyJackOLantern The UK has a much more powerful voice in Europe than an independent Scotland would. You would end up with about as much of a voice as Finland.

The point about the oil was that as a percentage of UK revenues Oil and Gas are nice but only a small part of the whole (2-3%). If oil prices go back down or reserves are depleted we can deal with that without too much hurt. With an independent Scotland, that gas/oil would play a much larger part of your GDP (15%+).

It's also rather relevant that when the SNP tell you all how you contribute more than you get back from Westminster that the oil/gas money is absolutely vital to their figures. They also picked a year when oil prices were at a record high, which skewed the picture even more IIRC.

Charlie1972 "Don't worry. Scotland won't join the Euro, despite the cacophony of unionist scaremongering that'll only get worse until the Scottish Government releases the details"

What a dishonest statement, the SNP have never tried to hide their desire to join the Euro. Yet suddenly it's all 'unionist scaremongering'?

The Scottish.Govt, however, do not have a seat round the table.

Are you serious... if you had one, you'll be like Andorra or Austria, which have no say whatsoever in farming or fishing matters.
You should have to introduce their rules anyway. So I don't see any change in that from being independent or not.

I don't even think that's an argument to use in favour of independence, it is quite detrimental actually.

Has anyone discussed NATO yet.

I havn't spotted it through the thread yet, just as this will pop its miserable head up about the place at some point.

...and the whole Trident thing too.

^do you have a guarantee that the UK will stay out of the Euro? A new govt could come in and decide that the UK will join the Eurozone.
^

That won't ever happen JackOLantern. You can't join the euro because "hey we're tired of having the pound, can we join?" - while as an independent nation with no currency, you could have that choice.
That would also be a stupid move, given how much a pound is worth nowadays.

Charlie, discussing NATO seems a bit out of range at the moment... there are no proposals about internal changes yet and you're thinking about the Defense?

if you had one, you'll be like Andorra or Austria

They are not doing too badly!

GDP per capita
Andorra 43770 (2009)
Austria 45462 (2009)
UK 44693 (2009)

Andorra is not in EU btw
I know GDP is a very crude measure, but it seems to show that the countries you mentioned are doing just fine. There are lots of wee countries in the EU, it's not a problem.

Euro thing worries me the most , mainly because of the financial mess , the ECB , but also lisborn thing , the suggestion for a EU army and Finland's preperation for Eu collapse .

I think an Eu army would tie in with the NATO as Charlie mentioned , but having our young people sent off to fight for other countries is the final insult .

The whole of the uk needs to withdraw , actually , whether we are united or independent .

Eu sends money to china , in the hope that they could look to them for a bail out in the future ( when needed ) , so they over look human right issues there .

( off on tangent a bit , but I think it's relevant to my point )

Again my point joining the eu is a no to independence , either for the uk as a whole or for Scotland as an independent country .

To quote Nostradamus. ......" leave Geneva"

( ironically this week there was a eu convention there )

droves So do you think the UK as a whole should leave the EU? Or, are you saying that an independent Scotland shouldn't be a member?

The NATO question is interesting, will be interesting to see the outcome of the SNP vote.

Funny, Merlin how the arguments you make assume that an independent Scotland would make stupid decisions, but then you say something like the UK will never join the Euro because it would be a stupid thing to do.

UK politicians are not any cleverer or wiser than Scottish politicians (nor are they stupider).

I must admit I am getting a little frustrated now - I'm going to toddle off for a bit.

Scotland should be independent because we have different priorities to those that some of the rest of the UK have. In an independent Scotland we could fight for those priorities on the European stage. The UK has different priorities and fights for those. So even though the UK has a louder voice in Europe than Scotland will have, they are directing their thoughts (understandably) to improving things for the area that makes up the majority of their population - SE england.

i think merlin is italian, she can't have much faith in politicians, quite understandably. [berlusconi]

not that i do, particularly, but this is an historic opportunity for us as Scots, it will be pathetic if it ends off being reduced to 'Eck is a toad'.

Itsallgoingtobefine ...both I think we should leave/avoid the EU regardless of the state of the union , but it will be the deciding factor on which I base my vote .

How can anybody complain about how Westminster runs things if they're willing to jump into bed with the EU , given that some of what Westminster has done has happened under instruction guidelines from them. .

I live in 'area 54'. I went to private school and live with my partner who has a phd. Don't really know how useful stereotypes are in this debate. Nor do I think that one area of Glasgow will swing the vote, but who knows.

Aitch, if nationalists to make their points of view need to be racist against English or Italian people, I think Scotland won't go anywhere.

As a matter of fact many Scottish people are for a NO. That doesn't make them less Scottish because they consider what the toad says as nonsense.

JackOLantern, if you want to miss the point, miss it. You CAN'T join the euro when you already chose not to previously. For Scotland it would be different as it'll be a new country.

But I guess that trying to find a common ground with nationalists is a waste of time in the end so I'll toddle off too.

Truth is that the independence is sought by SNP only on an emotional ground.
The logical/financial evidence would suggest otherwise.
Plus, Scots always wanted to soak their independence claims in the hate of another nation. This was understandable 300 years ago when there was a Scottish Kingdom. After 300 years we're all mixed so do you suggest I should hate my partners' parents because they're English if I want to feel more Scottish?
That's nonsense.

Jenny ...I don't think you live in the sandstone tenements at the " gushet " . Perhaps one of the nicer bits , and I also used to live near there . I went to secondary school there . .

And given that most who live there do not have your personal level of education or intelligence , I would go so far as to say they suffer from herd mentality , with neither the comprehension or ability to make an informed choice about their diets never mind politics .

Salmond is not a favorite of mine . But to be honest there's not much choice between any of them . They ALL put a slant on their policies to show themselves in a favorible light , and they all hide the bits they know will make them unpopular in poles.

But it's supposed to be about the oppertunity to be independent ...time will tell as it always does.

i'm not a nationalist, you do realise that? i am genuinely undecided as to this referendum.

and italians aren't a race, nor are scots, nor are the english. btw sombfae (and italian).

italians have every reason to have no faith in politicians, because for years they were presided over by an absolute rogue (who they kept voting for, mind you). none of that you should take personally, any more than we should take the way you are spouting off on matters of scottish nationalism personally.

Actually , thinking about it , this stinks to high heaven .

Scotland traditionally votes labour .

The independence vote is in 2014

The next general election in the uk is 2015 .

Dave Cam is wanting rid of us before we get rid of him .

we can't get rid of him, that's rather the point...