Scottish Independence

I have made my vote today, ill be keeping to myself which way i did. But i agree with what Bluesky said previously that i think if its a small No vote victory there could be trouble. There was quite a heavy police presence around my polling venue and i sense they expect some sort of trouble to flare up too.

Personally i see this coming down to the final 6% and i think it will be a lot closer than what the bookies have predicted.

 

I am of the view that many take that if you want to get an accurate view look at what the bookmakers say as they deal in real money. They at 2.45 this afternoon have a general price of 1-5 on for a No vote and 7-2 for a YES. Now around 6 weeks ago it was 1-8 but it is still a very short price indicating they think its a forgone conclusion.

Sadly the hornets nest of Nationalism will be Salmond and his crony Sturgeon's gift to the nation of Scotland I fear. I remember Sturgeon speaking long before the make over and coaching and I will say she looked way out of her depth then and has never done anything to change that view for me. This is my greatest regret as I think Scotland is a great country and have been there many times, I think it deserves better than to now position itself as oppressed and deserves better than to be divided by one mans outdated view of the world.

In the event of a NO vote I believe the Ruk need be very pro-active in doing more to ensure that Scotland, Wales and NI have their identities established further within an equal union, more powers along the lines of how states run in the USA but no special treatment for Scotland over the other 3 nations. They should all be self funding to as large extent as possible except for obvious things such as defence etc and able to tax and spend accordingly, but know they will not get bailed out easily if they get their sums wrong.

 

I do think that the lasting result of this referendum for all of the UK (the four countries at the time of writing) will be more devolved government. I do not see the idea o self funding being totally viable because the population of Wales is so small and not especially affluent that there simply would not be the money to go around. Although there have been rumblings about the Barnet Agreement (the Nationalists going solely on the idea that they contribute £500 more per head than they receive), it does demonstrate that Scotland does have to be subsidised by richer England.

I read today that the most Nationalist city in Scotland is Dundee. They expect to have the result of their vote by about 3am. I think Alex Salmond will know his fate by then. If they do not get a resounding “Yes” vote in their key stronghold, he will be a dead man walking until the official result is declared early on Friday morning.

I do think that Salmond is relying on the undecideds to gamble on his Obama-like “hope” message. Election history tells us that this could be a big miscalculation. The “Don’t Know”s generally do two things: (1) stay at home (i.e. abstain); and (2) vote for the status quo.

I also read today a survey that claimed that a million Scots planned to leave if it was a “Yes” vote. It is mighty unrealistic to expect one quarter of the population to do so (illustrating how fanciful surveys can be at times), as they cannot all busk on The Embankment and live in cardboard boxes!

 

From what little interest I've given this, its looked the Yes campaign's been a dead duck from the start. I can see it being a clear cut No, probably around 58 - 60%. The Scots might be able to make a balls of most things but even they won't get this wrong.

 

Beefy - appreciate your confidence and backing Had my vote and at 7pm the polling station was deserted.

As for the bookies pricing, Id guess that has more to do with the book they have. There has been bets laid of approx £1m on a "no" vote by 1 punter and the "yes" book doesnt have the liability therefore offering longer odds in a 2 horse race aids in "sucker" betting to which I took a £5 at 7/2 this morning, happy to lose my £5 before I lose the Union!!!

 

i think yes will probably be around 40-45%

too many will have fell for the scaremongering and the majority of non voters like myself would be in favour of yes

hope im wrong, its obvious from the bullshit from the likes of cameron it is not in their best interest, they have thrown the kitchen sink at trying to scare people

dont think they would end up collapsing and needing bailed out like ireland

 

Dont think the work ethic of our parents exists any longer in Scotland Boris!

As for DC he just wouldnt want to be the PM who lost the Union

 

A few things iv picked up today is that Glasgow, being the biggest city in Scotland appears to be swaying largely to the Yes camp whilst Edinburgh appears to be more in the No camp. Falkirk which is a big city in its own has closed their polling booths 1 hour early as they have had a 100% turnout which is pretty remarkable. I think this is going right down to the wire.

 

One things for sure it's going to be a lively weekend in Scotland as whoever wins they will want to party and should the yes party win I expect the No would take it on the chin, but if the No win I think the Bams will be looking for a fight.

 

I love the way Salmond has recurgitated the ol "once in a lifetime opportunity" line for weeks now. If as predicted he gets 45% he'll want another referendum by the end of next week.

 

If the exit polls conducted in Scotland are only reasonably accurate, the “No” vote has prevailed. The most recent one reported a sufficiently large margin of victory that even allowing for some error, the Jocks will still be British tomorrow morning.

 

Looks like Independence will be rejected.

Can anyone tell me what would happen to University Fees and Healthcare were Scotland to go it alone? (at the moment I believe both are subsidised by Westminster?)

 

Oh Happy Day!

Still part of a United and Great country!

 

And their we have it, the people have spoken and how. Well done people of Scotland. Glad to see the loud, and noisy bunch knocked down a peg or two. Make no bones people, these people will be raw about this, not just today, but for the next 20 years but the majority must be respected in any democracy. Delighted for yous, dread to think what would have happened had that awful Salmond chap been lording over your country

Perhaps a large contingent of these nationalists can emigrate if their so unhappy in the UK?! Boston maybe be a good spot for many of them

 

glasgow will be a riot tonight, hope the vicky isnt busier than normal for a friday night

edinburgh bottled it big time as expected

could be worse I suppose, could be northern ireland with stockholm syndrome

 

Very, very raw... Don't slag off Northern Ireland too much on match day Boris or you'll have your mates in the stadium turn on you!

 

Alex goes to his magic pot and would provide enough for everyone to still be subsidised, but also provided a taxi to and from the Uni campus and a foreign holiday every year during summer break. Alex's magic pot never runs out of money you know.

I am still insure how the free tuition is squared with the rest of the UK.

Cameron should not have panicked and promised so much, he should have actually gone about (as I hope he will) establishing more free governance for all 4 parts of the UK starting on an equal footing for all, allowing them to tax and spend accordingly but having a formula in which Wales and NI are supported through any short fall. We need be able to clearly see in 3 or 4 years time who is supporting who, who is putting in more than they take out etc and then we have clarity.

I feel Cameron's panicking may give Scotland a huge sense of importance which is hard to justify. We need appreciate Scotland and Scotland needs appreciate England. I feel were it not for the national debt being so high due to the global financial crisis and the trident headache Salmond would never have even got off the ground with it as we simply would not have needed anything from Scotland. His most odious idea was that he would walk away from the national debt which prevented not only England collapsing but also Scotland during the cisis. I am glad Scotland did not break away but a part of me would have liked them to just to see what actually happened to Salmond's figures. His idea that anyone who makes a point based on logic and common sense ( as it would have been for the Royal bank of Scotland) is a scaremongering bully was a feature of his campaign. Odious man who I hope finds himself rejected some time soon, he is a dividing force and the world needs more uniting rather than dividing.

 

I've been quite annoyed by the number of people posting online (elsewhere) saying that their fellow Scots have bottled out or "succumbed to the politics of fear". They do not seem to be able to accept that perhaps the Yes Campaign did not set out their policies well enough to convince people to vote that way.