there are as you know multiple options & the Yes campaign policy is to go for a currency union & take our % share of UK assets or we won't take on any UK debt & No campaign is saying we won't have a currency union in order to create uncertainty, even saying Scotland would be a brand new country which of course could not be made liable for ANY UK debt -- so no CU = many £Billions more debt westminster alone would be paying back, wiping out (big chunk of) Osbourne's austerity savings -- no campaign is on attack mode over plan b to mask this reality!
You have nothing to gamble with. You've already said that the North Sea oil is practically all yours. All this guff about not paying back the debt. So what? Don't pay it. All it'll mean is that Westminster will close the door on the negotiations and you'll not get anything that you want. All those 'assets' the Nats are slavering over just won't materialise. Entry into the EU won't materialise as it'll vetoed by the UK. You think Scotland is the only one that can lay down demands? You think Scotland is the only one who can play hardball? Unfortunately Salmond's aggressive, pugnacious attitude is about as welcome south of the border as a cup of cold sick.
Currency actually ranks quite low in the minds of most folk I know, bigger concerns are preserving NHS, welfare state etc etc & of course wanting rid of nuke wmd's --- there is NO gaping hole, there's actually going to be a surplus - we know big austerity cuts are on the way from westminster & want isolated from them!
Unionist side prefers to concentrate on the 2 issues it seems, Alex Salmond (the most popular politician in Scotland) and the £ which is still up for negotiation (if they refuse to budge why should we?) -- there is a lot more they could be convincing us with but they refuse to discuss!
Currency and therefore an economic plan ranks above anything else. If your economic plan isn't sound then how can you pay for anything you mentioned above?
Wanting rid of nuclear weapons is so way down the chain for most working folk that your showing what your priorities are and not the majority of Scotland.
So Scotland take away 10% of the UK economy, most of the oil and none of the debt but it will be the country with everything to lose? Let's not kid ourselves a CU is the best of options for both sides initially, it may not stay that way but initially will be the best option for both.
Currency and therefore an economic plan ranks above anything else. If your economic plan isn't sound then how can you pay for anything you mentioned above?
Wanting rid of nuclear weapons is so way down the chain for most working folk that your showing what your priorities are and not the majority of Scotland.
There is a plan from our side, a sound plan that takes on £120Bn (perhaps more) of UK debt which going by words of no campaign they desperately want burdened with - must be insane to want £120Bn+ debt burden they have been offered a way out of?
Wanting rid of the nukes is #1 reason to vote yes for lots of us up here ... it's what swayed me from thinking devomax (which now won't happen anyway) would be enough
Surely you didn't expect the Scots electorate to base its decision on Alex Salmonds performance in one debate. Darling didn't beat Salmond get a grip, but what he did do was give enough room for Better Together and their faithful media to spin it thus. It wasn't Salmonds finest hour agreed, but Darling squirmed more, his plea for the nice Alex and the Michael Howard line was embarrassing, his attempt to answer the more powers question got derisory calls and growns, as did his failure to answer the "do you agree with David Cameron" question the audience were laughing at him for gods sake.
His final speech was dire Salmonds was inspirational and full of hope.
That's funny. You must have watched a different debate. Salmond got an absolute pasting, as anyone who wasn't watching through SNP tinted specs well knows.
And talking about derision and laughter from the audience, it was clear as day that the audience derision and hilarity was aimed much more at Salmond than at Darling. They actually cheered Darling several times and also jeered Salmond when Darling was asking difficult questions and Salmond was looking like he was wishing the ground to open up and swallow him.
You surely have to watch this again, either that or you didn't watch it.
The Scottish electorate have researched this referendum thoroughly, the grassroots movement are marching on despite the politicians, the argument is being won on doorsteps, factory floors, warehouse floors, pubs, town halls, ordinary people on the street are organizing debates and inviting guys like Tommy Sheridan and Jim Sillars, celebs like Eddi Reader and Elain C Smith to come and speak. This has never been heard of, it really can't and won't fail. Salmond delivered a referendum his job is done. When Darling says we can't do this or cant have that he's not addressing Salmond he's trying to scare voters. Its not going to work we've been there done that and now we're printing the T-shirts.
Tommy, Eddie, and Mary Doll. Heard it all now. And you seriously think this helps the Yes campaign? Have you ever watched Eddie spout on about politics. It's like watching a sit-com. I sincerely hope she does get involved, and maybe she'll provide as good entertainment as when she was last on Question time.
As for Tommy? How's his appeal going? Think he'll win? Come to think of it, maybe he's the right man for your campaign. He doesn't see what the TV evidence shows either.
There is a plan from our side, a sound plan that takes on £120Bn (perhaps more) of UK debt which going by words of no campaign they desperately want burdened with - must be insane to want £120Bn+ debt burden they have been offered a way out of?
Scotland seems to want 10% of the assets, but none of the liabilities. Lil problem with Salmond's dream of a currency union. His plans seem to involve lots of spending. The BoE is the lender of last resort. Why should the UK's central bank guarantee an 'independent' Scotland's spending spree? Scotland doesn't really need this anyway because according to Salmond, the economy will be so powerful it won't need the BoE to underwrite it's spending. And if things do go wrong, there's always the IMF..
Wanting rid of the nukes is #1 reason to vote yes for lots of us up here ... it's what swayed me from thinking devomax (which now won't happen anyway) would be enough
I'm guessing you're not one of the few thousand Scots that work in the area and depend on those bases for employment?
There is a plan from our side, a sound plan that takes on £120Bn (perhaps more) of UK debt which going by words of no campaign they desperately want burdened with - must be insane to want £120Bn+ debt burden they have been offered a way out of?
Wanting rid of the nukes is #1 reason to vote yes for lots of us up here ... it's what swayed me from thinking devomax (which now won't happen anyway) would be enough
Im sorry but using nuclear weapons removal from Scotland as the most important reason to vote Yes is pretty daft. After all it is highly unlikely removing nuclear weapons will result in their reduction. It would also be impossible to guarantee that Scotland would never be the target of those weapons held by other nations in any use of them either. So removing the weapons does not make us safer or reduce their numbers in the world.
I really fail to see how debt is linked to a CU either. We either take our debt or we dont and Im sure if we dont the difficulties in running our economy post independence would probably outweigh taking on the debt.
As I said previously, if Scotland takes on no debt, Im not going to pay my Mortgage, especially as its with a UK Bank and not a Scots one.
In reality there wont be a CU and we will service debt. Now its about time the SNP faced this fact and told the Scots electorate what their preferred currency option is so that the voters can weigh this up against what we have now and decide with the full information available to them.
Anything else is just not good enough and even Yes voters should realise that it will simply lose the referendum for them.
All self-determination is a leap of faith contingent on the confidence one has in the people of the country. Salmond is a means to an end, and I will not be voting on the basis of his views, or Cameron and Miliband's blackmail, but rather the democratic shortfall which their government represents. The fact that they both strike me as charlatans with risible attitudes towards Scotland is simply an added incentive. I cannot see any sane nation which would elect to hand over the powers that Scotland currently has reserved to Westminster, nor any sane country which would reject the opportunity to reclaim them.
I cant see any rational Scottish person, living in Scotland and working in Scotland, who travels through Scotland and visits its businesses regularly really wanting to vote Yes with the economic uncertainty that would exist.
Once you weigh up the two sides and what they have to offer, or dont in the Yes case then why would anyone vote for economic uncertainty simply to get the Government we vote for?
Comments
You have nothing to gamble with. You've already said that the North Sea oil is practically all yours. All this guff about not paying back the debt. So what? Don't pay it. All it'll mean is that Westminster will close the door on the negotiations and you'll not get anything that you want. All those 'assets' the Nats are slavering over just won't materialise. Entry into the EU won't materialise as it'll vetoed by the UK. You think Scotland is the only one that can lay down demands? You think Scotland is the only one who can play hardball? Unfortunately Salmond's aggressive, pugnacious attitude is about as welcome south of the border as a cup of cold sick.
Currency and therefore an economic plan ranks above anything else. If your economic plan isn't sound then how can you pay for anything you mentioned above?
Wanting rid of nuclear weapons is so way down the chain for most working folk that your showing what your priorities are and not the majority of Scotland.
Wanting rid of the nukes is #1 reason to vote yes for lots of us up here ... it's what swayed me from thinking devomax (which now won't happen anyway) would be enough
Scotland seems to want 10% of the assets, but none of the liabilities. Lil problem with Salmond's dream of a currency union. His plans seem to involve lots of spending. The BoE is the lender of last resort. Why should the UK's central bank guarantee an 'independent' Scotland's spending spree? Scotland doesn't really need this anyway because according to Salmond, the economy will be so powerful it won't need the BoE to underwrite it's spending. And if things do go wrong, there's always the IMF..
I'm guessing you're not one of the few thousand Scots that work in the area and depend on those bases for employment?
Im sorry but using nuclear weapons removal from Scotland as the most important reason to vote Yes is pretty daft. After all it is highly unlikely removing nuclear weapons will result in their reduction. It would also be impossible to guarantee that Scotland would never be the target of those weapons held by other nations in any use of them either. So removing the weapons does not make us safer or reduce their numbers in the world.
I really fail to see how debt is linked to a CU either. We either take our debt or we dont and Im sure if we dont the difficulties in running our economy post independence would probably outweigh taking on the debt.
As I said previously, if Scotland takes on no debt, Im not going to pay my Mortgage, especially as its with a UK Bank and not a Scots one.
In reality there wont be a CU and we will service debt. Now its about time the SNP faced this fact and told the Scots electorate what their preferred currency option is so that the voters can weigh this up against what we have now and decide with the full information available to them.
Anything else is just not good enough and even Yes voters should realise that it will simply lose the referendum for them.
I cant see any rational Scottish person, living in Scotland and working in Scotland, who travels through Scotland and visits its businesses regularly really wanting to vote Yes with the economic uncertainty that would exist.
Once you weigh up the two sides and what they have to offer, or dont in the Yes case then why would anyone vote for economic uncertainty simply to get the Government we vote for?
Can you answer this one;-)?