What do you think of UK Government’s Scottish Referendum YouDecide tool? NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

Today, the UK Government is launching YouDecide; an online tool that helps you to see what remaining in the United Kingdom offers you and your family.

Here's what UK Government has to say:

"We have created YouDecide ahead of the Scottish independence referendum on 18 September, to help you explore what the United Kingdom provides and what this means for your home, your family and your work life. YouDecide has been designed so that you can drill down quickly and simply to get facts on the issues that matter to you.

"We all know that the independence referendum is the most important decision to face voters in Scotland in 300 years; it's a decision that affects everyone in Scotland and the rest of the UK. The information you find on the YouDecide tool is informed by the facts and figures published in HM Treasury's Scotland analysis programme and also reflects UK Government policy.

"There is a wealth of information on the referendum subject. We want you to be as fully informed as possible ahead of making such an historic and permanent decision.

"There are of course a number of things we cannot answer, because no one knows the full impact that independence would have on all areas. Splitting a 300 year-old union would be complicated and many new agreements would need to be negotiated. We can't speculate on unknowns but we can give you the facts about the existing UK policy.

"Together as England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland we have created one of the world's most successful unions. Our UK Government policy is that we want to see Scotland remain part of the UK because we believe that by staying together we have much more to share and much more to gain."

Have a look at YouDecide and let us know what you think of the tool and the issues surrounding it by posting your thoughts below. Do you feel you have the facts and information you need to make an informed choice about Scotland's future to remain in the United Kingdom or to leave and become a separate state, permanently, or not? You can also look at the UK Government's In the Know factsheets series and booklet: What Staying in the United Kingdom Means for Scotland.

Thanks,

MNHQ

The ConDems could easily have started putting arrangements for further devolution through parliament before now. They haven't. Labour had years in power to implement further devolution they didn't.

If Scotland votes No in September things are likely to continue the way they are, increased austerity, increasing gap between rich and poor, dismantling of NHS etc (which does affect NHS Scotland).

With a Yes vote we may still get all of these things, or we may end up in a communist state, or some sort of leftie Utopia. But it will be decided by the electorate of Scotland, not the electorate of SE England

Yes I hate the idea that Scots are intrinsically incapable of running their country for better or for worse

If we go with the view that politicians are just out for themselves... They are presumably pretty concerned with getting re-elected. The majority of the voters in the UK live in SE England. The parties are therefore trying to improve things for those people as then they will be voted back in.

In an independent Scotland, even if the parties are just out to get re-elected, in order to do that they have to act in the interests of where the population block is. So the central belt. The central belt in Scotland DOES NOT WANT the same things as SE England. The policies will therefore be different to those decided by Westminster, even if you take the cynical view that politicians are just out to line their own pockets.

Thanks AuntieStella for an explanation! I think Scotland could then adjust its own borders without the need for armed guards.

TheBogQueen this really " Frankly if you think the Westminster government is going to make any effort to improve life in Scotland you are a fool." Scotland has always been the testing ground for Tories to do things without losing core Middle England votes. I say this over and over again, but if there's a No vote the teary eyed slebs who looooove Scotland will vanish and it will be down to again "This new programme will be rolled out in deprived areas of Scotland, including...."

Germy - even as a child I could not understand the logic in Scottish people not voting for independence. If Scottish people want a Labour or Socialist government ...

I was a child of the 80's and my parents told me all about the movement towards independence in the 70's and about what happened in 1979. It broke my Mum's heart.

I predict a no vote but whatever happens afterwards won't be on me.

Hi all,

Here's a message from Katie, our press manager:

Just to confirm this is an activity paid for by the UK government. It is not a Mumsnet campaign and we could of course allow other sides of the debate to advertise too. We are planning to host Mumsnet discussion threads and content pages (and hopefully webchats) on both the yes and no sides of the campaign as polling day approaches.

Absolutely yama, that is exactly my thinking.

MNHQ - thankyou for answering those of us who asked if it was paid for.

I really think though that mn should not be a testing ground for biased "research" which is nothing more than propaganda. It's popping up in my advert spaces too.

You do not have to accept any individual piece of advertising and I think that the fact you accepted this is unsavoury, to say the least.

I'm not flouncing because of this, but I am querying how much I want to remain part of mumsnet with content like this. I'd like it no better if it was flawed proselytising from the Yes camp. And I joined just after my ds was born in 2002!

I agree wholeheartedly agree with Weegiemum and I suspect that she is being kind in her description of how she disapproves of Mumsnet's ... em ... selling their soul (too much ?)

An erroneous 'agree' there.

I so agree with Weegiemum.

This such an important decision fir those of us that live in Scotland - we deserve better than this propaganda.

I'd say the Westminster crew seem terrified of Scottish independence. So it's nothing but scaremongering. Seems they are getting a bit desperate. A lot of small countries do very well on their own.

The Westminster crew would hate Scottish independence. It would shake them to the core, and be seen as a real failure that it happened on their watch. But I don't think they're desperate, yet.

A lot of small countries do very well on their own, yes, and so might Scotland. Or it might not.

Whoever wins in September, 40% or so of the population will be bitterly disappointed. Westminster will have to act, one way or another, and I think the way they will act is by giving us more powers if we vote No. If we vote Yes, I expect they will make it as difficult as possible to negotiate the separation.

Also, I think I read somewhere that even if we vote for independence, if the negotiations fail we might not get it. That strikes me as a rather dangerous situation - but maybe I'm wrong?

TheBogQueen there are no facts, because nothing can be certain if it's in the future, so all we can get is propaganda from both sides.

I don't think this discussion is about fact - it's more to do with gut instinct. A heart not a head decision.

I don't think there will be any extra powers if we vote No; if any of the major parties wanted us to have extra powers they could have worked out what they wanted to offer us and stuck it on the ballot. And I have no doubt that that option would have won, hands down, by a huge majority.

Labour were in power for years, they didn't offer any extra powers. Tories/LibDems been in power for quite some time now without a whisper of extra powers until recently; and no mention of them in the recent Queen's Speech, either.

WM insisted this be a straightforward Yes/No ballot, because they were confident we'd say No. Now the polls are turning and the mood on the streets is changing. Daily, I hear of people seeing 20 Yes car/window stickers to every one BT; BT spin this as "No voters are to scared to display in case cybernats tan their cars/houses" (even though the only reported injuries have been to Yes campaigners, the only convictions for online death threats were No voters...) but however much they spin they must be picking up the vibes. They're scared, they don't want to lose us and our wealth. They've tried scaring us, they've tried threatening us, they've tried lovebombing us, and every time they get the tone wrong, and turn more people to Yes.

They've lied to us in the past, and they're lying now. Why hope for extra powers from a suddenly benevolent WM, when a simple Yes vote guves us all the powers?

Do you think?

They weren't going to offer it to us on a plate. They needed to see we wanted it. Now they know. We've made our point, and we need to keep making it, right up until the referendum and beyond.

The BT lot don't need to campaign really, as we already know what it is like to be part of the UK. The Yes campaigners need to convince us iScotland would be better. But it's not possible to do that, honestly, because no-one actually knows what it would be like.

So - do you want an exciting opportunity to create your own country (otherwise known as a leap into the unknown), leaving the poor English and Welsh to their fate under the Tories? Or would you like more influence over a bigger country, ie more of the same but with more powers? Which we would get, imo.

Tbh, it would be fascinating to watch history in the making if we did get independence. I'd just rather be observing it than living it, because it really is going to be tremendously disruptive. Either way.

So - do you want an exciting opportunity to create your own country (otherwise known as a leap into the unknown)

Yes.

leaving the poor English and Welsh to their fate under the Tories?

A) sometimes you have to do what is best for you. B) Scottish votes very rarely have any impact on who is control in Westminster.

Or would you like more influence over a bigger country, ie more of the same but with more powers? Which we would get, imo.

Why would we get more powers when as a country we have just voted to say we are quite happy with the way things are. What makes you think there would be more of the same? Why would we get more powers when none of the No parties can come up with any meaningful changes.

They weren't going to offer it on a plate, because they don't want us to have it. A No vote will simply confirm that we're happy with the status quo; except that there will be no status quo, and no extra powers. This gvt have said they want to make our NHS more like theirs, and our education system more like theirs. Yes, these are, and always have been, devolved issues, but so is our legal system, and where is our highest court now? It's the Supreme Court, which sits in London. If they can do that to our judicial system, there's nothing to stop them privatising our NHS (or forcing it, through a reduction in the block grant) and selling off our schools. They can close our Parliament with the stroke of a pen, if they so choose.

Do I want that exciting opportunity? Yes, yes I do. Because the alternative is more austerity, more children living in poverty, more of our brightest and best leaving for opportunities elsewhere. More of our oil money ending up in the hands of Cameron's cronies, while thousands of people rely on foodbanks and charities, in one of the wealthiest nations on earth. £130 billion to be spent on Trident, which can never be used and threatens our security, nuclear warheads being driven through our biggest city under cover of darkness, while disabled people have their benefits sanctioned and starve to death. I could go on...

The English will only languish under a Tory gvt if they vote for it, and the Welsh cannot be rescued by us voting No. A Yes vote will, I believe, give people - ordinary people, "hardworking families" - the idea that yes, they too can reorganise their own countries to be fairer and more equitable. What that will look like I don't know, it'll be up to them, just as an iScotland will be up to us.

So, Solo can you set out what the benefits are of the union? Is there anything we will have that we definitely won't have under independence?

(Sorry, I can't seem to find this info on the "tool")

Why we'll never get more powers if we say No. Yes, it's Wings, but the logic is unassailable.

The bloke who runs Wings, well let us say there are issues there. But OldLadyKnows pretty much in total agreement with everything you wrote and you put it so well.

The No types are saying "Just vote No and in the future, you'll be happy. Honest. Scotland will be the land of plenty...." except it won't. No-one with any sense thinks Scotland is going to be cared for in the slightest if it's a No. What's actually going to happen is that as per usual, Scotland will be the testing ground for all kinds of new policies that no-one wants to offend Middle England ("our REAL voters"!) with. More new taxes, more intriguing new defence trials, more poverty.

On top of that we will be punished for attempting a referendum in the first place. We are going to have our hands firmly smacked for being bad. So in practice that would be a concerted effort to draw back powers from Holyrood and if I had to guess I would also say that the "historic concordat" will be looked at. The Scots have voted No because they're really struggling to manage their own affairs. Wouldn't it be best if we stepped in....?

OLKS they don't want us to have independence. To avoid that (or compromise), I think they will give us more powers. They will have to, because we are well and truly roused now.

But who knows? That is the point. Whatever you or I think, at this stage, all we can do is guess.

One thing we do know, however, is that this Tory government will not always be in power in Westminster, and the sooner we help the rUK to get rid of it, the better. So whatever Cameron and Clegg have said they want or will do is irrelevant. Come 2015 they will be history anyway, so then we will have the opportunity to vote for someone that we want - who will be better news for the whole of the UK. The reason we feel the Scottish vote has no impact is because not enough of us vote.

Also, OldLady, I don't understand why you think vested interests, cronyism and nepotism will suddenly disappear if we are independent. Ime, most local councillors are dedicated, hard-working, sincere, on the same wave length as ourselves. But as they move up the ladder, career politicians are the same the world over - in the pockets of big business. That's often bad news for the rest of us. Most of us have much more in common with ordinary people in England than we do with the multi-millionaires that sit in their mansions in Morningside.

Germy, union is what we've got now. It is nowhere near perfect, but as long as we are part of the UK, we can work to make things the way we want them, for everyone in the UK. We can do it. We have loads of Scottish MPs in Westminster. We need to make them work harder for us.

Shockinglybad, yes that could happen. But it's just a guess. My guess is that it won't, because we're finally making our voices heard even as far south as Westminster.