Only one week to go

[Grandad]

It would never happen Kiya because we have moved on from fanatical nationalism.

Now come clean Kiya, which way have you been persuaded? You live away from the hotbed of the Yes and No camps so what is the feeling of your friends and family. My friends are in the Clyde valley area and have decided both ways which is probably representative of the current opinion poll results.

Is your decision influenced by the probability that major banking institutions will move their operations south if a Yes vote wins. And Salmond is now charged with overstating the size of offshore oil and gas reserves. And the Bank of England governor, Mark Carney, predicts that Scotland would need to reserve around £130 billion to finance insurance and pension liabilities, have you got that much spare cash floating around in the Scottish exchequer.

There are just too many unanswered questions about the likely effect at national and personal levels for me, if I was a Scot, to vote anything but NO.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Are there any stats or predictions as to what the likely turnout to vote will be?

Just curious if this has reached where the majority of the population will turn out. Sometimes things are voted in by only a small percentage of the population.

[Horus]

I reckon it will be a big turnout and in some way that will make it more devisive because people will hold a strong opinion either way. I have very good friends in Kirkaldy who I have known for 40 years and Angie is and always has been a staunch nationalist, first one up to sing 'Flower Of Scotland' at any opportunity Whilst her husband Johnny is quite neutral about nationalistic opinions. I was listening today on the radio to a mixed panel discussing the issues that had not been raised or addressed by Salmond and some aspects are quite crucial to the Scottish ecconomy. Warnings of food price increases being inevitable, big banking groups and insurance companies saying they will move their headquarters South, top ecconomists saying that Scotland will need to raise a huge amount of extra capital to back up an independant currency and of course to pay out future pensions as these will no longer be the UK's responsibility, all in all I would not be convinced I had been given all the answers, not for today, but 10 years up the road.

[Ruby Slippers]

Watching and listening to all the kerfuffle over this, I am strongly reminded of the partition of India - and look what happened (and is still happening) there!

[Horus]

I can envision an hilarious scenario in which Scotland votes by a very narrow margin to continue with the union. Then there is a great groundswell of anti Scottish sentiment stirred up by everything Salmon and Nichola Caviar have been saying about what is bad about the union with England, that the English demand a vote of there own on whether or not they should have anything more to do with Scotland……………….. and the English vote by a majority to cut ties with Scotland, now that would be funny.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Methinks you're being bad H! Cute and funny but bad!!

[Kiya]

Grandad, we never thought it would happen here.

I aint going to say which way I went & there is as much debate about it here in Aberdeenshire also.

As for Salmond you say scheming lying SNP leader, do you really think all in Westminster are any better....really.

[Horus]

I would completely agree on that Score Kiya and that is where a lot of the blame lies with all those self serving politicians who are only interested in themselves, but don’t forget that there are a good number of Scottish MPs pigging in the same trough as them. Just look at the corruption, lies and deceit under a Blair Labour government and most top positions were held by Scots and look at the mess that Gordon Brown left us in. To be honest I despise all politicians of all persuasions, but that Salmon guy comes over as a really snide and dishonest type who will say anything to reach his own personal goal for Scotland. Yes the rest are just a s bad and in some cases worse, but at least after we see through their lies and deceit as with this current lot, then at least we have the chance to say “we don’t think your view of how things should be done is working and we are going to show our feelings by voting you out of office” but if a nation has been sold a deception then that is it, there is no changing your mind, so you must be absolutely convinced that you believe in everything he is saying and promising, not just for yourselves, but for your Grandchildren.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Guess we'll know soon enough and am sure the results will go off with a BANG that will be heard around the world and then everything will ebb into a pattern. I kinda wonder if the vote is for separation how all those who are burning with nationalistic fervor will carry that forward once the vote is in. Once everybody is back to the daily grind of daily living every day it is, IMO, rather hard to sustain a strong nationalistic mentality.

[Kiya]

I'm not going to say any more on the matter but, if it's a No....fine......if it's Yes fine.

But listening to all threats of this & that, price hikes, NHS, pensions etc etc etc the list is long but, goes in one ear with me & out the other.

Who really can tell what the future holds for us if it's a Yes............I sure will let you guys know of any drastic changes

As for those from down south coming here the other day , as I said a little too late! & was just a laughing stock

[Grandad]

As for those from down south coming here the other day , as I said a little too late! & was just a laughing stock

I agree Kiya, a very ill judged action by those who must know that they are not popular in Scotland. And Camerons 'passionate' address was about as convincing as a second hand car salesman under the railway arches.

But Salmond IS convincing in what he says, albeit distortions of the facts to suit his agenda. But the important factors in this debate are not about politicians and whether you like them as individuals, it is about the economic future of Scotland, an aspect that is sidetracked by Salmond and his chronies.

Westminster and most of the UK have believed that we are stronger as a Union with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have some levels of self determination. That is how it should be and the visitors on Wednesday simply wanted to get that message across.

But whichever way it goes, i shall still have friends in Scotland and the outcome is unlikely to effect me personally but it is all interesting to watch how things develop....

[Horus]

You summed that up well Grandad, whilst it is not our place to tell Scotland what to do and it comes down to their decision, it does or could affect us and we are surely entitled to voice an opinion. As you say it seems to be a case of “we believe everything that Salmon says, but if it is said by Cameron it’s a lie” so the facts and reality are not being properly discussed and that is what I find so strange.

Take the monetary union issue, he cannot have monetary union with The Bank of England being ‘Lender of last resort’ which it would have to be if that monetary union were allowed. So that means only two things regardless of whatever that man tells people, if there is a monetary union then The Bank of England sets the conditions and interest rates and therefore still controls the Scottish economy. This is not a threat by England or Cameron, it is just a fact of life.

Now take the view that Salmon tries to put over which is “if they do not let us have a part of The Bank of England (note the name) we will walk away from our share of the national debt” Now no one can stop Scotland or anyone else from calling their currency a £, the only difference is that The Bank of England is not the lender of last resort i.e. it does not stand guarantor for any debt (think RBS and Lloyds banks)

Imagine the situation that England started to use the American $, would America stand guarantor for our future debt, the answer is no and for some reason Salmon is saying that is what he will ask for. So regardless of what he tells voters it will not happen, no English/UK government would agree to do that for what would be a foreign country. Salmon knows this, but like a petulant child he again appeals to the masses with his statement of walking away from Scotland’s rightful share of the national debt, something else that was not accrued by England alone, it was for the benefit of Scottish people as much as the rest of the UK, so in essence it is like going out for a slap up meals with friends and then refusing to cough up your share. Make no mistake, although it would be painful for the rest of the UK it would still be managed financially with a population of over 50 million and UK would take measures accordingly. Counter this with a fledgling country of around 5 million who’s first act is to renege on it’s debt the consequences would be devastating to any Scottish financial system, it would never be trusted again and investment would pour out of the country and interest rates in Scotland would shoot through the roof.

There is nothing to stop him doing whatever he wants after independence and as it is The Bank of England that would hold the debt there is very little that the rest of the UK could do to force Scotland to pay up. However we now expose his next lie to the voters, he knows as well as everyone else that in the world of finance for Scotland to carry out such a threat would make them persona non grata amongst the financial institutions of the world and that would be catastrophic and have serious long term implications on what would be a new currency in Scotland whatever it was to be called. Also let him explain what the reaction would be of Scotland’s biggest world trading partner South of the border if that other country (England) was shouldering all the legitimate Scottish debt with higher taxes? All he does is to bluster and evade the real issues and that is what many like myself and Grandad object to, if the Scotland decides to go it alone then that is their choice, but it behoves good friends to tell another when they think they are making a bad decision, but this is not happening because the SNP have turned it into an issue of nationalism something that the Scottish are better at than the English and the real issues are being sidelined by a charismatic speaker and most charismatic speakers became the downfall of their own countries, think Napoleon, Mussolini Hitler & Stalin to name a few.

Finally like Grandad, whichever path they choose I too will still have friends in Scotland and that will always remain as far as I am concerned, but as a friend I do not want to see them making what is from my perspective a big mistake by leaving the union.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Guess we're getting really close to knowing what is going to happen.

Our news here is reporting that 'lots' of people have told them they are only going to make up their mind once they're putting pencil to paper and voting! (GEEZ - I'd like to think there was more thought put into the vote than that)

Our news here is also reporting that this vote is giving the YOUNG people a chance to indicate what they want..............!!!! REALLY??? The Scots want the future of their country determined by what the 16 & 17 year olds decide???

Only a few more hours here 'til we'll know the result. Worst is there is no going back ........ Hope all who are voting have thought long and hard on what they REALLY want.

[Grandad]

The result is expected between 2 and 5am here LLL. The weather could have an effect on results from the islands that will come by helicopter. So you will probably know the result before most of the UK.

If the 'Yes' vote wins I guess Keefy will have to get his crayons out to recolour the union flag.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Our commentators who are there covering it didn't come out and say it definitely but they indicated there seems to be a crush of 'yes' votes happening as the voters come out last minute.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Guess the Fat Lady has sung (and/or blown her bag pipes) and it is now all over (for now) and status quo will be maintained or will it?

Now that this emotionally charged matter is over the aftermath still remains. How to mend bridges and go back to "before" all the emotions were stirred up between families and neighbors and now to return to normal relations between Scotland and England particularly when Cameron & Co ran up there with mega promises for perks IF Scotland would stay.

Going to be lots of interesting fallout.

[Grandad]

I think all of Scotland has won. Westminsters concern about the increasing YES vote increased promises of more devolved concessions for a NO vote. So Scotland can look forward to more 'home rule' managing more of their own affairs. This will be a complicated process but a promise has been made and it must be kept. A good day for Scotland and a good day for democracy.
As expected, the Glasgow and Dundee areas voted Yes but 28 of the 32 districts voted No.
Now it is time to move on and put any disagreements behind us. We ARE stronger together.

[Kiya]

Thank goodness it's over I cant say I'm overly excited with the result but there will always be " what if "

Now we'll sit back & see if they live up to all their promises

[Grandad]

The 'what if's' must be forgotten Kiya or resentment will fester on. Scotland will have an opportunity for more autonomy from Westminster whilst maintaining their share of the big economic issues. But, and this is a big But; if concessions to Scotland are seen as preferential compared with those in England, then there will be unrest south of the border.
A long way to go but we must move forward, we have the strongest growing economy in Europe and must move forward with that. So no what if's, more what now's and get over it and move on......

[Kiya]

I'll move on allright but I bet my life others will have all eyes & ears on Westminster