Egypt4u

So according to the latest opinion poll the ‘Yes’ to independence vote in Scotland is just creeping ahead by a narrow margin. This bothers me as I do not want to see a narrow result and would much prefer that there was a resounding ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ with a huge majority for the winner, that way the result will be unambiguous. The worse thing will be a narrow margin with the prospects of all this disruption and uncertainty being raked over time and time again especially by the SNP who to be honest will never really give up on their aims for independence so better that Scotland votes ‘Yes’ now and we get the whole affair settled quickly.

The more I think about this vote, the more I hope that they do vote to go because I think that a separate England will force the Westminster centred government that we have now to be more inclusive of the rest of the country. As the English border effectively moves South (not physically, but mentally) and shortens the country as Scotland will no longer be a part of the United Kingdom, it will make the English regions demand more devolution for the rest of England and less of the current London centric investment that goes on now. I also think it will spur the English economy into a full steam ahead mode as we try to fill all the gaps and move industry and financial institutions South of the Scottish border and the North of England is ideally suited to capitalise on this.

One thing that did surprise me on the news this morning was the voting entitlement qualification which Salmond and his lot have seriously biased in their favour. So a sixteen year old child (for that is what they are) can vote, but a Scot living anywhere outside of Scotland cannot, so even if all their roots and family are there they have no say in the matter. Even more surprising is that literally thousands of immigrants will also be swaying the result of the vote, so at least 30,000 Poles and countless thousands of Germans, French and others will decide on the continuation of the Union with the rest of the UK, a very surprising voting qualification for a very important no turning back vote.

I had to smile at Nicola Sturgeon on the news this morning saying that it was wrong that Scotland always got a Conservative government that they did not vote for as Scotland votes mainly Labour. What a cheek! We in England have had to put up with many Labour governments over the last few decades that are only ever voted into power by the Scottish Labour vote, so isn’t it also the other way around? At least we only have another week to go and hopefully that will be an end to it, but I do hope it is decisive one way or the other and that Scotland votes with its head and not on some Mel Gibson fantasy based on ‘Braveheart’ as seems to be being whipped up by the SNP.

I heard it on the radio this morning that the " yes " was just ahead, like you I hope its all done & dusted soon after the 18th, getting really fed up of it all now.

I've sent my postal vote last week, I'm not going to say either way what I voted for but, if " no " I'd hate to see the smug face of David Cameron & all his cronnies & forever telling us " told you we're better tog "

Also if " no " probably would have to live with the " what if " thought for ever more.

If the " yes " vote goes full steam ahead let's just hope everything goes to plan & for the better of all Scottish citizens

I heard it on the radio this morning that the " yes " was just ahead, like you I hope its all done & dusted soon after the 18th, getting really fed up of it all now.

I've sent my postal vote last week, I'm not going to say either way what I voted for but, if " no " I'd hate to see the smug face of David Cameron & all his cronnies & forever telling us " told you we're better tog "

Also if " no " probably would have to live with the " what if " thought for ever more.

If the " yes " vote goes full steam ahead let's just hope everything goes to plan & for the better of all Scottish citizens

Going off your double post Kiya (which I deleted ) I reckon you are also having a problem with a slow forum?

As to Cam Moron being smug if its a 'No' vote I doubt that will happen as they will know how close run it was, although on a personal basis I still think Scotland would be better as part of the UK, but that is their decision and there is no going back on it.

As for you wondering "what if?" should it be a 'No' vote, again I would not worry about that either because that guy Salmond won't give up on his dream and he and his supporters will just keep banging on the door for another referendum at some time in the future, especially if the vote is a close one. Hence my hope that it is a resounding 'Yes' or 'No' and not a hung vote as we had in the last UK General Election which gave us the worst of both worlds. I do think that even if Scotland votes to leave it will then be a very divided country and if they stay it will be the same, not to mention the hardening attitude towards Scotland within England with many saying "good ridance" so that will not make for a smooth transition as attitudes harden on both sides and what was once a friendly rivalry between nations becomes a bitter dislike of each other as the divide deepens, I really do not think that the SNP realise what a Pandoras Box they have opened, or maybe they do?

Seems the count down is definitely on. We had the same here in Canada a couple years back with the French in Quebec wanting their own country. Their wanting this has gone on for years but when it comes to a vote they have not sufficiently voted to separate. Personally I think Scotland would be much better staying connected but that will be up to the voters.

I do agree that a resounding YES or NO will be best. The USA is suffering the problem of having an almost 50/50 split at their last election and anytime everything is totally close it never bodes as well as if there is/was a clear majority.

Guess we'll know SOON how it all turns out ....... counting down.

Horus ...yes your right the forum has been slow lately, thanks for deleting 2nd post.

As for the voting, I hope there is a clear win, I wouldn't want to go through it all again.

Friendly rivalry it's been going on for centuries and sometimes I think England is worse, why is it when ever I've been in England shopping they wont except my Scottish pound & yet we do the English pound..............don't dare say that we are a greedy nation that is really common myth that's stuck.

As for DC being smug I bet he will be if it's a " no "

What do you think of Boris next year running for DC place...............if he gets in & we're still tog God help us all.

why is it when ever I've been in England shopping they wont except my Scottish pound

If you think its bad now just wait until you have your own currency, or even worse the Euro
And if Boris wins and you have voted 'Yes' to independance then I will just move to Scotland and take advantage of all the freebies.

Make sure your move is North then although slightly colder the air is fresh & crisp

Did you not see on the news a man packed up his whole family, wife & children , sold house & moved back to Scotland so that he was entitled to vote " yes "

On a serious note I think its wrong that Scottish people living or working elsewhere cannot have an input in this election, but on a brighter note I see that they have wheeled Gordon Brown out to persuade people to vote 'No' now the thought of getting him and his labour cronies back in would make me vote 'Yes' if I could.

Another laugh this morning was the ex chairman of RBS saying he reckoned a 'Yes' vote would be better for Scotland, sound advice from the same guy that would have crippled the Scottish ecconomy had they been independent when the bank had to be bailed out by the Bank of England when under his controll. And never forget that in real life Alex Salmond is a gambler, so the Scottish people are putting their faith in a man who thinks he can pick the winner in a horse race, I have yet to see a poor bookmaker.

Wonder how many ARE making book on this?

Wonder how many people and businesses will close if Scotland separates. If the vote is "yes" it is a very profound "yes" with no room for halfsies. If it is No then it will be status quo (even if you don't like it) however if the Yes prevails it will definitely be upsetting the apple cart for many.

It is already having a bad effect on the £ Sterling droping in value on fears of a 'Yes' vote, so what is that telling you?
More worrying though is that the biggest fall was for shares in Scottish companies, Weir Pumps, RBS, LLoyds and BA, plus a few pension and insurance firms.
I really do not think that Salmon and his pals realise what an era of disruption they have brought us all to, forget the independance issue, which quite frankly is a red herring, nothing is going to change from what already exists, it will still be the status quo when it comes to being taxed and the NHS.

Yes they may have control over a few more aspects of tax raising and such, but it is not going to be some sort of utopia and the average Scot will hardly notice any improvement, but they are risking everything for some myth of a glorious future. Other than the word 'Independance' what else are they being promised, we are all independant, they are not 'ruled' by Westminster, they are just subjected to the same elected body that we all voted to run the United Kingdom as a whole and don't forget many English, Welsh and Irish are not keen on this lot either and will be glad to see the back of them. The more I see on the TV the more I think that many Scots have fallen for the myth of a 'free' Scotland who saw off the hated English, something that never really happened if we read our history and separate fact from fiction. The truth is that through history we were all opressed by the same people in power, so it was in Scotland and so it was in England those same oppressions applied just as much to my ancestors as it did to any Scot, it Scotland thinks that Independance will bring them something other than an uncertain future then they are living in dreamland.

The problem as I see it is that the issues are not being properly discussed, as I predicted earlier they will split into two camps with an ongoing bitter dispute between the two Scottish opinions, the 'Yes' & the 'No' votes and it will take a long time to heal. I watched in despair as one of the most sensible polititians I have seen on TV of late (Jim Murphy) was heckled by a baying mob of 'Yes' campaingners as he was attempting to give an interview, they behaved like louts and bullies surrounding him and braying like donkeys. Scottish Saltires were thrust in front of his face and behind his head and he was drowned out by the 'rent a mob' who sounded like drunken idiots, what an example to show to the rest of the world when free speech and sensible debate is shouted down, but to me that sums Salmond up.

I too have watched those angry confrontations Horus and, like you, think they are no more than a 'rent a mob' ignorant and drunk.

A very poignant comment I saw came from a dear old lady who simply asked the question, "Where will my pension come from"? That and many other similar questions are the ones the ordinary people should be asking. But they are the questions never mentioned in the SNP justification for the 'Independence'.

In my view Salmond has stacked up the conditions as best he can to assure a 'Yes' victory by excluding Scots not actually living in Scotland, (and they are likely to be the better informed and able to make a more rational decision), and lowering the age for voting to 16. Children who will be easily persuaded along a nationalist line.

But all the real questions he is keeping under wraps.......vote yes dear Scottish neighbours at your peril....How can fewer than 5 million survive independently away from a strong 65 million????

I agree entirely Grandad, I honestly just cannot see the point of this so called Independance, they have their own parliament and decide on virtually all their own spending issues, to be honest I think they are even now getting more than the average English person gets when making the same contribution. I always think about the symbol of Roman power carried by Emperors and it was a bundle of bound twigs or arrows, the sybolism being that a single twig or arrow is useless against an enemy, but a bundle is unbreakable or unbeatable, cany folks those Romans.

Anyway it will soon be over whatever the result, but I cannot think of anyone I dislike as much as that guy Salmond, he is to me like a home wrecker, a sower of discontent playing on the most basic of human traits, nationalism. I just wonder how he would react if the Orkneys & Shetland decided to opt out of being Scottish and go it alone with their oil?, after all they never really consider themselves as part of the Scottish mainland, a bit like the Basques in Spain, which by the way is the reason that Scotland will not be allowed into the EU, the Spanish would block admission as they would not want the Basques & Catalonians getting the same idea.

Results are going to be interesting. There is very very little on TV News here and absolutely nothing in the local newspapers. It will definitely be interesting. I hope Scotland votes to remain with the UK and, like H, I hope it is a resounding answer one way or another and not a skimpy wimpy 51% to 49% either way.

If I was voting I'd vote to remain.

Oh well, it would seem that Cameron, Clegg and Milliband are secretly rooting for a 'Yes' vote. What politicians in their right mind, knowing how Westminster has become despised by many Scots, (thanks to the vitriol spouted by Salmond), would all go to Scotland at the eleventh hour to try to influence the 'No' vote.

I think their presence will actually harden the Yes vote and it will result in a real 'shooting in the foot'.....

Simon Heffer in the Mail today takes the view of Goodbye and Good Riddance......I regret to say that after listening to Salmond I now take the same view. Sorry Scottish friends but you are welcome to your scheming and lying SNP leader. You will live to regret it.

The vote will be interesting. Have been listening to the news this morning and no work here re: Scotland. I think they'll make a mistake if they separate. Can't see the advantage to them but the will of the people will prevail.

Sometimes interesting how far an individual who is really vested in a cause can take a group.

I agree with Grandad inasmuch that Salmond has created a divide where none previously existed, he has successfully managed to transfer his dislike of Westminster into a feeling of dislike of the English in general and that attitude is showing more clearly with every day that passes, what I have now named “the Braveheart syndrome” where a false sense of nationalism is prevailing over common sense.

The downside to this is that the English attitude to the Scottish vote is fast becoming “ OK, away you go then and good riddance” and I am sure that this change in attitude would now result in England telling Scotland we did not want them either had we been allowed a say in this one sided referendum. So if Scotland were to vote ‘No’ there would be a large section of English voters demanding a vote of their own on the issue as I truly believe that the one time friendship and affection shown towards our Scottish neighbours despite our national differences and rivalry has now gone and most English people will not be too concerned about a yes vote as they consider any union with Scotland to be seriously damaged by this referendum.

Oops - the Scottish thing just on our TV News now. Mostly they're talking about Cameron & Co mad rush to Scotland to try and make an emotional appeal to the people. Apparently, as per our news, Cameron & Co are promising Constitutional change, 25% of voters in Scotland are undecided and that is it. Just a short clip.

That is another aspect that I find distasteful, why are our politicians doing all this butt kissing? They are either in or they are out, it's their choice. If they choose to stay then they should have the same terms and conditions as the rest of us and not separate little sops to appease an unhappy electorate. You make your choice at the ballot box and Scotland has had it’s own parliament for years along with a lot of other autonomous powers that most English regions can only dream about, so if that is not enough then bye bye, no more butt kissing, IMO it only encourages the likes of Salmond and annoys most of the rest of the UK.

I'm really fed up of it all now wish the 18th was all done & by with.

As for D Cameron & the rest here yesterday it's a little too late.

Just a thought how would it be if it was turned the other way................England wanted to be independent !