Will fried mars bars be banned? Will there be a scarcity of 'chips on the shoulder' Interesting times.
From my (Scottish ) niece in the Highlands: The Polling Station is on my street, its great so see: whole families, 5th years and up, mums with kids in tow, pensioners, people in suits on their way to work, couples, mountain bikes, trucks, a tractor! and all manner of folk going in to vote - this is the way it should be in a democracy. 97% of the population, we should be proud of that. Good luck everyone on making their decision and their mark. See you on the other side
Voting of course is the easy bit. Reality will set in later if yes vote. All of the warnings from financiers, and domestic and European politicians will be proved correct. Will he become as popular as Hollande? If it is a no vote then the fallout from the rest of the UK will be immense. The English will certainly demand an English parliament.
Thanks. To be honest Fez I am not sure we have a lot of differences - we just have different definitions of what constitutes a coward - and if that is the worst thing we can disagree on then it pales into insignificance when you compare it to us both supporting the best football club in the world
Will we? Most people i know are happy (relatively speaking) with the staus quo. I don't like wholesale change as it's rarely for the better in my experience and suspect i'm not alone.
Shame they can only get a 50% turnout for elections to Holyrood. For goodness sake anyone who can vote and fails to in a referendum of this sort is beyond stupid.
All three parties in England have cobbled together panic bribes to the Scottish electorate which clearly changes the status quo. It is wrong to promise to retain the Barnett formula which unfairly favours the scots. It is also unfair that scottish MP's vote in parliament on english only subjects. These issues should have been fully discussed in parliament before they were offered in haste.
Only if we get rid of some other layers of busy body idiots trying to inflict their egos onto us. Parish Council Town Council District Council County Council Westminster Brussels We need less not more. That is why the north east voted against a regional assembly for them.
It's quite easy, just stop scottish MP's attending parliament on certain days when english only subjects are discussed.
What will be really interesting is if the bribes offered are not accepted by rank and file MPs at Westminster. As some of them have said, British law is not decided by decree. The last person who tried that got his head chopped off.
Feel better now. You have wasted your time (and mine) because you have a closed mind that is more interested in debating points than understanding anything. Your prejudice is clear and has been from the start. During the course of this debate I have learned to deal with bigots, and people who are almost incapable of any form of reason. I have met people who have been scared of change and people who find it a problem to decide between a Mars Bar or a Twix. These people will vote NO. I have met the greedy people with their big houses and expensive cars, these people will vote NO. There are people who will vote NO because they feel they are deserting their brothers in the rUK. I feel sorry for them because they have been let down by their Labour Party and that will continue to happen if it is NO. I will be voting YES The YES campaign has been amazing as thousands of people have come together to work for a dream of a new democratic Scotland. It's hard right now to believe that we will lose this because for months all we have seen in the streets and squares have been happy YES voters. Thousand upon thousand have been dancing ansd singing all over Scotland. No voters have been noticable only by their absence. Despite this absence I am welll aware of how close this referendum is. I have enjoyed some of the debate on here with some thoughtful and decent posters, and these are the people that I hope will be interested enough to consider the ramifications of these last couple of years in Scotland and what that means for the UK whatever the result today. The fantastic involvment in politics by the YES people shows that we can and will change the UK for the better and that in the end we will win. The 1000 year old elite has had another few bricks not out of its' walls.
deluded halfwits dancing in the street is no substitute for grown up politics. Your naivety is staggering. I hope you get your wish, it will be fun as reality takes over.
Also, I would suggest the NO campaign has had to deal with many aggresive 'YES' people who try to intimidate them with nationalistic arguments, with very few facts, but simply saying they will be better without those nasty people in London. (I'm not saying you by the way... just in general) I can see why a number of people will vote NO. A vote for YES will be a massive step into the unkown with so many unanswered questions. If the referendum was further down the line, with much more fact-finding over a number of questions, with reassurances over such things as currency, then I can see many would be persuaded. A lot of people prefer the 'better the devil you know' scenario. I know you will say they can't answer these questions until after the referendum, but that will just not be good enough for some people to vote YES. They want answers before they vote. If no party gives them suitable answers after a YES vote, then it will be too late!
Kev this campaign has been very GOOD tempered. There have of course been a few idiots, there always are but the Scottish Police Fereration have just issue a message basically asking the media to stop exaggerating the trouble aspect. http://www.spf.org.uk/2014/09/spf-media-release-independence-referendum-2/ The media is doing it's best to secure a NO vote in any way it can. Suggesting YES voters have been intinidating is just another way of discrediting the YES campaign. To answer your other point, Yes it does take imagination to vote YES as I said people who are scared will vote NO, hence Project Fear from better together.
I for one am pleased to have had Spurf here. He clearly believes his viewpoint is correct and has backed his arguments with supporting information. Obviously his outlook colours his choice the information he presents - but that is part of the argument. The one problem is his inability to accept other viewpoints or contradictory evidence, a trait I have encountered before and it does seem common within a certain group of political activists. The fact I think he and all the Yes voters are misguided is another matter, I have read what has been presented with interest (sometimes it may not appear so) and come to the conclusion Scotland would be a worse place for going it alone. On the other hand the rest of the UK will blossom without our northern neighbours.
Well it was more in response to you saying you have had to deal with bigots etc... there are both sides to the story, and not sure either side has come over smelling of roses It's the obvious stand point of the NO campaign to put fear into the YES vote to discourage it.... but then surely that is down to the YES side to counter act any of that with pure hard facts to dismiss any uncertainty, which they haven't been able to do... or at least enough! The unknown is an extremely scary prospect! Out of interest, if it goes YES, and the worst scenarios do happen, would you just move back to England? Many people wouldn't have that luxury, so it is a much bigger gamble
Spurf undoubtedly has optimism for a separated Scotland but unfortunately it all sounds remarkably similar to 'new dawn' views confidently predicted prior to the Wilson and Blair governments which at the very least become huge disappointments.
Thanks zen I apologise if it appears that I dismiss counter arguments without thought. That has to be down to my poor presentation. Bear in mind that this is a subject that I have discussed and debated for 35 years not just the last 2 it folllows that there are very few arguments that I have not heard many times before. This is primarliy (for people of my generation) a response to Thatcherism whis has come to dominate the developed world. For many of us who have hated the way our country (In my case England) has moved away from the post war consensus to full blown neo-liberalism. This Scottish referendum is the first time in those 35 years that alternative positions have been serioulsy debated. The media (right wing dominated) has followed the establishment line and during this time we see a declining participation in elections as frustration increases. The high take up of voting registration around 93% (Wow!) is indicative of these people returning ar beginning their involvement with politics because they feel there is some hope of a true democratic process. A hope that has been alsmost extinguished in those 35 years. This referendum proves the lie that people are not interested in politics.
It already has gone wrong in the UK the uncertainties are far greater NOW than any possible changes in Scotland. TBH I don't care even if Scotland were to find difficulties in the early years of Independence this is about my grandchildren. It is very unlikely that it will make much difference to me personally either YES or NO. I am settled, strong financially, don't have mortgages or debts to worry over and own property in England & Scotland. THis is not about me it is about my grandchildren. I am staying in Scotland btw (A far better place to live IMO)
Huge disappointments HUGE. Blair of course finished the Labour party for many and in Scotland was directly responsible for the election of the SNP and therefore this referendum.
