Scottish Independence

[Harleyman]

Intelligent Scots? Sounds like an oxymoron right now.

 

You are aware that a number of countries smaller than Scotland are better off in terms of standards of living, which is all that should matter to the average citizen?

 

Scotland have an international image, oil assets which would have provided them with breathing space, well marketed products such as Scotch Whisky, Scotch salmon, and a thriving tourist trade, all of which is far more than many other countries that had to fight for their freedom had when they started off.

 

Despite this they lack the courage , faith and conviction that they can make a go of it. Pathetic.

 

Forever in England's shadow, forever looking for support from their big brother.

 

Full of pee and wind, but lacking conviction when push comes to shove.

 

They have embarrassed themselves.

 

You could say the same about the Quebec separatists then. Quebec is a huge province with far, far more natural resources wealth, industry and manufacturing than Scotland could ever have yet they decided to stay with Canada when they had a chance to separate. The great fear probably like in Scotland was the possibility of an exodus of business after separation, a fear far from unfounded. It costs very little for even a large corporation to relocate in a situation like that. Other areas of the UK or in Europe would welcome with open arms, coupled with generous tax breaks any new business that will provide employment to the local population. All any big employer has to do is find an alternate location, start to transfer the business to that location, bring a cadre of top staff for training purposes and fire the rest of the employees before moving out.

 

An example of this is the large American fast food chain Burger King which is closing down it's corporate offices in the US and moving to Canada lured there by lower taxes.

 

The problem with the UK at present is the general discontent and feeling of alienation from the government in London which is not only in Scotland but in the midlands and northern parts of England also.

 

Perhaps one solution would be a system of confederate regions throughout the UK which would have certain rights to manage their own affairs internally, each headed by for want of a better name a Chief Minister. They would be able to administer their own taxation systems, attract business and investment from wherever and administer the NHS, education etc according to their own particular needs and requirements. As in the US and Canada each confederate region would have representatives sitting in the central government in London, abolish the House of Lords and replace it with an elected body similar to the US Senate while assigning the Monarchy to a ceremonial head of state role devoid of any political influence whatsoever

[firemanbob]

I feel for the youngest people in Scotland that overwhelmingly voted Yes, I wonder if they will resent the oldies that voted no. The majority of people under 55 voted yes, with 71% of 16/17 years voting yes, 27% over 65 voted yes.

 

Young people wanted a change, older people didn't, assuming that the post-referendum poll is accurate.

Edited September 20, 2014 by firemanbob

[blake]

it was not a close election. It just felt like in the run up to the poll as if it were, a close election. A lot of the YES voters did not really want independence. They just wanted to make something of an empty statement.

 

the smarter voters and observers knew NO were going to win anyway by the last weekend. Notice how the bookies started paying out for NO before the result came in. Notice how the pound and the share prices of all the 'Scots' companies, had recovered before polling day.

 

everyone is going on about how good the turnout was and overall, yes it was impressive. But some of the lowest turn out figures were in Glasgow's smartest, best educated and most well off wards which despite Glasgow as a whole voting YES, overwhelmingly voted NO. Many of them did not bother turning out in the end. They knew NO had the election in the bag.

[tinfoilhat]

Intelligent Scots? Sounds like an oxymoron right now.

 

You are aware that a number of countries smaller than Scotland are better off in terms of standards of living, which is all that should matter to the average citizen?

 

Scotland have an international image, oil assets which would have provided them with breathing space, well marketed products such as Scotch Whisky, Scotch salmon, and a thriving tourist trade, all of which is far more than many other countries that had to fight for their freedom had when they started off.

 

Despite this they lack the courage , faith and conviction that they can make a go of it. Pathetic.

 

Forever in England's shadow, forever looking for support from their big brother.

 

Full of pee and wind, but lacking conviction when push comes to shove.

 

They have embarrassed themselves.

 

You've said this a few times - which smaller countries are doing better than Scotland is/could have been if independent?

[blake]

You've said this a few times - which smaller countries are doing better than Scotland is/could have been if independent?

 

Singapore?

 

I'm sure if Scotland emptied of Scots and filled up with Chinese people it would soon become like the 4th richest country in the world instead of the 14th or 24th Salmond was ranting on about at the hustings.

Edited September 20, 2014 by blake

[BoroB]

I feel for the youngest people in Scotland that overwhelmingly voted Yes, I wonder if they will resent the oldies that voted no. The majority of people under 55 voted yes, with 71% of 16/17 years voting yes, 27% over 65 voted yes.

 

Young people wanted a change, older people didn't, assuming that the post-referendum poll is accurate.

 

Sounds like wise heads on old shoulders.

[BEDROCK]

Rite, awake now and settled down, what a day yesterday was, up the Owls and up the Scots but sod the English !!!

[mjw47]

You've said this a few times - which smaller countries are doing better than Scotland is/could have been if independent?

 

Scotland has a population of 5.3 million.

 

The following countries are ranked higher than the UK for standard of living.

 

Norway 5.1 million ranked number one in the world.

 

New Zealand 4.5 million ranked number 5

 

Ireland 4.6 million ranked number 7

 

Denmark 5.6 million not in the top ten but ranked above the UK

 

Other countries such as Austria 8.5 million, Switzerland 7.3 million and Sweden 9.5 million are also doing better than the UK for standard of living proving that you don't have to be big if you conduct your affairs correctly which I believe the Scots would be capable of.

 

Of course the UK would be up there close to Norway if our beloved leaders stopped acting as though we were still a world power, spending billions on the means to join in Americas adventures, and enabling our politicians to sit at the 'top table' with the really big guys and pretend they matter.

 

We should base our foreign affairs strategy on Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Germany.

 

Peace keeping non aggression would save billions.

[Akeel321]

I think scotland needs the backing of england

[firemanbob]

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