Scottish Independence

[Ardiles]

It's all these unintended consequences that bother me.  Only after a Yes vote would be find out the true extent of the ramifications of independence.  Some would be beneficial maybe; a lot would not.

Wales could never go it alone; nor would a majority in Wales ever want it to.  Their fortunes are far too closely bound up with England's.  You can't even travel from the south of Wales to the north, realistically speaking, without heading in to England, travelling north and then back in to Wales.  (Unless you're Reg.  He'd choose to give the M5 a miss, probably, and yomp over mid Wales with a stick and a dog.)

[Peter Venkman]

Something I hadn't thought about before but I have 3 trips a year to Edinburgh and always come back with Jockanese money which most places happily take down here in Somerset.

If the Scots are no longer part of the British Pound, which is a very high probability then I guess we will have to exchange their currency at the border or pay into a bank with the relevant exchange rate being taken into account.

That said out of everybody I have asked while up there last month only 2 out of about 20 people have said they will vote yes as there are far too many uncertainties in the Yes vote argument and at the end of the day the Scots are not voting out of the UK as such they are voting out of having the Tories as government as so few of them actually voted them in, which is the real crux of the matter.

[kerry red]

Surely, if it is a yes vote, the Tories will forever be in power.

Labour hoovers up nearly every Scottish constituency and without them they can never win an English election (plus a few taffy ones)

[Red Frog]

Surely, if it is a yes vote, the Tories will forever be in power.

Labour hoovers up nearly every Scottish constituency and without them they can never win an English election (plus a few taffy ones)

Easily solved: just win a referendum to join Scotland.

[Peter Venkman]

Easily solved: just win a referendum to join Scotland.

[Reg Smeeton]

Surely, if it is a yes vote, the Tories will forever be in power.

Labour hoovers up nearly every Scottish constituency and without them they can never win an English election (plus a few taffy ones)

Not so....the majorities of the Blair years would have stood with or without Scotland, however it's fair to say Cameron would have cracked a majority in 2010, without Scotland, but given the input of Clegg's mob, it would have made fuck all difference.

NI is interesting as its Protestant people are mostly of Scottish extraction, and would maybe wish to align themselves more closely with the Sweaties. However there's no way the Sweaties could afford it, so I'd suspect, we'd look towards Dublin and a united Ireland, as the only thing making sense.

[Reg Smeeton]

It's all these unintended consequences that bother me.  Only after a Yes vote would be find out the true extent of the ramifications of independence.  Some would be beneficial maybe; a lot would not.

Wales could never go it alone; nor would a majority in Wales ever want it to.  Their fortunes are far too closely bound up with England's.  You can't even travel from the south of Wales to the north, realistically speaking, without heading in to England, travelling north and then back in to Wales.  (Unless you're Reg.  He'd choose to give the M5 a miss, probably, and yomp over mid Wales with a stick and a dog.)

The A470 is your friend say from Newport, up via the A4042 to Abergavenny, which is mostly dualled. A40 to Brecon, then the A470 to Builth, on to Rhyader...Lanidloes, Dolgellau, Festiniog, Betws-y-Coed, to hit the north coast near Colwyn.

Lovely I tells you, all to the tune of Route 66.

I've done quite a bit of walking, (sans dog) in that part of the world. There is an unofficial route called the Cambrian Way, which I once read about, designed to go over the high places from the south coast to the north coast.

http://www.cambrianway.org.uk/route.htm

[herthab]

NI is interesting as its Protestant people are mostly of Scottish extraction, and would maybe wish to align themselves more closely with the Sweaties. However there's no way the Sweaties could afford it, so I'd suspect, we'd look towards Dublin and a united Ireland, as the only thing making sense.

The Protestants in Northern Ireland identify more with Britain, than Scotland. You see loads of Union flags flying over there, not many (If any) Saltires.

The whole notion of sovereign nations, much like religions, is faintly ridiculous to me. Both cause untold misery and suffering and for what?

[Reg Smeeton]

The Protestants in Northern Ireland identify more with Britain, than Scotland. You see loads of Union flags flying over there, not many (If any) Saltires.

The whole notion of sovereign nations, much like religions, is faintly ridiculous to me. Both cause untold misery and suffering and for what?

But when Scotland goes the Union is broken....they can still stay loyal to the Crown, as the Sweaties aren't angling for a Republic yet,  but you don't get the massive Orange marches like the ones happening in Edinburgh I believe this very weekend, happening here.

[ghanimah]

That's a point, what part of the seas and oceans constitute Scottish waters?

If Scotland wants EU membership after "independence" that will be largely irrelevant. There would be no such thing as Scottish waters...

[jonny72]

Can someone explain how a yes vote will result in Scotland being more independent than they are at present?

They plan to enter in to a currency union with the remains of the UK. If that was to happen they would have to cede some financial control and decisions, being such a small element of the currency union they won't have much say on important matters. The same would apply if they go in to the EU currency union. If anything they'd have less input and control over important financial decisions than they do at the moment, as Westminster really won't give a shit as votes aren't at stake.

The same argument applies to EU membership. They will go from being a part of the 3rd largest EU state to the 20th, whilst the UK will drop form 3rd to 4th. They will likely have to cede more power to the EU than the UK does, they also won't have much of an argument to fight anything as the EU (and especially the larger EU states) won't give a flying fuck what they think or say.

Seems to be nothing more than the ideology of being an independent country, rather than whether it will be good for them.

I really hope it's a yes vote myself. The sooner they fuck off the better.

[4D]

If Scotland wants EU membership after "independence" that will be largely irrelevant. There would be no such thing as Scottish waters...

So why is the oil classed as belonging to Scotland?   

[Honkytonk]

So why is the oil classed as belonging to Scotland?   

Technically it belongs to the dinosaurs, but nobody ever thinks of the dinosaurs.


#dinorightsnow

[Ardiles]

So why is the oil classed as belonging to Scotland?   

I read about this recently.  While it does seem a little unfair that a resource that currently benefits everyone in the UK would be appropriated by an independent Scotland, that is how these things work.  Countries all around the world are assumed to 'own' the resources within their borders and territorial waters.  If Scotland split from the rest of the UK, it would take about 90% of the UK's remaining oil reserves with it.

Seems a little unfair to me.  You hear Nationalists sometimes parroting 'It's Scotland's oil!', but I never remember anyone arguing 'It's Yorkshire's coal' back when Yorkshire had coal.  But that's how it has to work.

[jayohaitchenn]

They can have the oil. It's not even a nationalised industry and makes fuck all for the state other than a bit of tax anyway.