France, Germany, Italy and especially Spain all have regions that want independence. They will not want Scotland to have an easy ride into the EU for fears it will speak renewed independence movements in their countries. That's some pretty powerful enemies to have in Europe.
If the no vote wins, Scotland will benefit from some uk loving in the short term to calm the yes voters. If the yes vote wins then Scotland are going to have to face up to some serious issues. I'm yet to see any valid argument on the currency and eu situation from the yes camp.
I think the crux of the matter is this. What exactly are the Scottish people being asked to vote for? Well, independence yes, but after that? That seems to be where the disagreement lies, where the uncertainty is. People, in general, do not like uncertainty. Unless, and until, many vital issues - currency, EU status etc can be stated with certainty, those doubts will remain in the minds of many, many Scottish people. At the end of the day people, from wherever they may be, will vote for personal reasons. For what they perceive will improve their personal situation. In this instance, if you cannot convince people that they will definitely be better off, they are much more liable to vote for the status quo.
I can't believe you do not understand this PNP. The referendum is for one issue only. Should Scotland be an independent country. YES or NO. If there is a YES vote there will be a period of two years when negotiations between the rUK and Scotland will take place. In the 2016 there will be elections in an Independent Scotland to choose a government. At the moment only the SNP has detailed what it would do if it won that election, the other parties have so far not mentioned their plans. You should be able to deduce from that, that YES will not have a manifesto as it is not a political party as I have already explained. What is weird PNP is that any country would not want Independence. I am staggered that people do not understand this very simple concept. This is not an election it is a referendum. You will need to understand this concept if you get a referendum in the UK on the EU which Cameron says he will have. In such a referendum you will not know what will happen if you come out or if you stay. All you will have are opinions.
The fact is people do not have answers to these questions with the status quo either. What you say about people voting for the status quo if we cannot convince them is a perfectly reasonable thing to believe. People do tend to vote for their own interests. In Scotland there is no doubt YES is winning the argument, most of us now think we will win. The longer this goes on the more people are learning the true position and switching to YES. The argument for YES is actually overwhelming and the grass roots movement is unprecedented. We have meetings all over Scotland every day with thousands of people turning up. Tonight I have been to meeting in Carluke where Jim Sillars spoke, 150 people came. The NO campaign has nothing like this; their meetings are closed and people are vetted before they are allowed in. They have no movement. They employ students and bring them up from London. People in England have no idea what is happening up here because it is not reported.
Blair Jenkins is the leader of the YES campaign. Alec Salmond is the First Minister and leader of the SNP You keep showing your ignorance on this subject RDBD.
No doubt? How about the fact that in the opinion polls NO is comming out on top? You may feel that there is momentum to the independance movement but the current status is that YES is not winning the argument. The current situation is very close, but YES where actually ahead back in August 2013 (the only time since the polls started to be taken that the YES vote was ahead). Since then the YES vote has waved between being fairly close and further away with the peak moments being 47% in April 2014, 48% in June 2014 and 47% currently. So as it stands the YES vote isn't as strong as its best point and is hovering around the same high point of 47-48%, dropping down in each month in between those scores before returning to that level. Whilst it does look close enough for the possibility of a YES victory, the idea that the YES camp is somehow overwhelmingly winning the argument is total nonsense.
Spurf, you say that people in England have no idea what's going on in Scotland because it's not reported. Well I've news for you. The people in England don't care what's going on up there. Go to Catford or Brixton or Epping and talk to them about Scottish independence and all you'll get in return is a grunt. I was reading Alan Hansen talking about his time as a footballer and why he was left behind one world cup, Ally McCleod was coach I think. He spoke about Ferguson's time at Aberdeen "The English don't know what he was responsible for at Aberdeen, how he broke the mould of Celtic and Rangers." Another obsessed Scot with England on his mind all the time. The English people didn't care about what Ferguson did at Aberdeen but Hansen thought that we did. Just the same as independence and ALL subjects related to Scotland, the English DO NOT CARE.
"You keep showing your ignorance on this subject RDBD." And you are showing that you don't understand the difference between the terms "front-man" and "leader" . Unless of course we in the UK have not been aware of the televised debates between Mr Jenkins and the "leader" of the No campaign (whoever that might be) ...
"The English people didn't care about what Ferguson did at Aberdeen but Hansen thought that we did. Just the same as independence and ALL subjects related to Scotland, the English DO NOT CARE." Of course we care. We care about things like : - how much of the UK debt caused by the Scotch banks is going to be appropriately assigned to them, and how they are going to pay off that debt (horse-trading over % of oil revenues taken by the UK etc) - what currency they are going to be using (as the UK will see an increase in export revenue from Scotland once they are no longer using GBP) .
Look this is my opinion from what I hear and see on the ground. I agree the opinion polls have consistently shown a lead for NO, and in the last couple of weeks a dwindling lead. I stick by my claim that YES is overwhelmingly winning the argument because the NO camp have NO argument. Ask why Scotland should remain in the union, what is the future for this union? The only answers comes in the form of lies as to what will happen to Scotland if it dares to become Independent. In other words Project Fear. Are you in Scotland?
OK, front man if you like I can accept that. He is the leader of the Scottish Government and is representing that position. It is a strategy first to demonise Salmond and second to try to make the debate about him and the SNP. This is just not true and to call Salmond the leader of the YES campaign is to buy into that strategy and that I will not do.
I think, almost by default, Salmond would be viewed as the leader of the yes campaign. It was he who has been at the forefront of the push for this vote from the very start. It therefore follows that people will consider him it's leader.
"This is just not true and to call Salmond the leader of the YES campaign is to buy into that strategy and that I will not do." As we have said before, not necessarily the best front-man for your campaign. I suspect that is why Alastair Darling was chosen to front the No campaign (he has no arrogant/vainglorous "previous" during his political life - political bruiser or not) .
I repeat the YES campaign includes people from ALL parties. Over 200,000 Labour voters will not consider him the leader, Conservatives for Independence will not consider him a leader, nor will Liberals, Greens, or Socialists. the SNP and Salmond have made this referendum happen, that is for sure and he has lead the fight for Independence for over 30 years that is true, but he is not the leader of the YES campaign.
