Do you think the JOCKS will vote YES ?

[Pavilionaire]

Alistair Darling, Nick Clegg and to a lesser extent George Osborne - leaders of a NO campaign which should be out of sight by now, IMO. I suspect (and indeed hope) that they have all signed the death warrant to their own political careers if they lose this. Completely arrogant, and an absolute shambles.

My view on this is that whereas Alex Salmond's whole political career has been about this issue and the vote is his defining moment both Clegg and Osborne never asked to be spokesmen for the 'Better Together' campaign and both have important 'day jobs' as constituency MPs AND Cabinet Ministers.

It's like watching an episode of 'Grand Designs' where the build goes tits up because the owner has tried to project-manage whilst simultaneously holding down a full-time job and raising a family. "Unforeseen" problems have occurred that could clearly have been foreseen if the owners had had focus, and now the builders are taking the piss.

 

[beorhthelm]

How people feel about what has been done to the NHS ...

which the Scottish parliament already have control over. it is surprising how much they have already through devolution and how little the No campaign has made of this, not highlighting where the Scottish parliament could already be addressing issues that it blames on Westminster.

 

[Pavilionaire]

What also concerns me about this whole sorry business is that Westminster has now hurriedly announced the Scottish Parliament will get extra powers in the wake of a NO vote. The tail is wagging the dog.

 

[beorhthelm]

What also concerns me about this whole sorry business is that Westminster has now hurriedly announced the Scottish Parliament will get extra powers in the wake of a NO vote. The tail is wagging the dog.

another fine example of their poor campaign, they have previously announced this, its been there as long as ive followed it. but what those powers would be and specifics have never been presented. they have been complacent, i suppose that happens with a 22point lead (which i still find odd has turned around so quickly, one would expect a gradual shift not a swing in a matter of 2-3 weeks)

 

[Mattywerewolf]

What concerns me is that your average Sun reading Scot will vote YES just because they hate the English and swing the vote from the thoughtful Scottish minority. Not that I am sided either way but this sense of perverse hatred will certainly distort the vote.

 

[Bold Seagull]

I don't know enough about this tbh. Will every Scotsman need a new passport? Will every Scotsman living and working in GB, need to either apply for citizenship/work visa or move back to Scotland? If Scotland is not accepted as a separate state into the EU, what will happen to all the GB people living and working in Scotland? Is anyone preparing a schedule of works for the reinstatement of Hadrian's Wall!?

 

[sten_super]

What concerns me is that your average Sun reading Scot will vote YES just because they hate the English and swing the vote from the thoughtful Scottish minority. Not that I am sided either way but this sense of perverse hatred will certainly distort the vote.

'This sense of perverse hatred' is all that there is to the vote. The economic case is at best inconclusive and the social case is nonsense because the government finances don't add up. If the 'Better Together' chumps had anything about them at all the only thing that Salmond would have been able to build a case around would have been the nationalist fervour of 'sticking one to the English'.

 

[Pavilionaire]

The Pub Landlord Al Murray once said "The Scots are OK...they work for us now". This explains a lot about the situation past, present and future.

 

[fruitnveg]

Fed up with the whole thing. I think they'll vote no, and quite rightly. I want them to vote Yes now though. Osborne and co must be stark raving mental if they're promising more powers for a No vote. It takes the piss out of the rest of the UK. Let the Scots go and good ridance.

 

[Triggaaar]

If this is the sort of stuff they are getting up to, they deserve to lose.

It's a little more important than what a few annoying politicians get up to though.

 

[surrey jim]

Really geeky question, but what will happen with driving licences / registration plates. Would all scottish drivers need to change plates to a different colour/format to distingish from English/Welsh cars. Would all drivers need to replace their UK licence with a new one?

Eit: and previous question I had, if anyone knows?

Hypothetically if Scotland gained independence and then wanted back in, say 10 years down the line is this possible? On the same note if the no vote wins when would the next referendum be held (ie when is the earliest possible next date?)

 

[Cian]

Really geeky question, but what will happen with driving licences / registration plates. Would all scottish drivers need to change plates to a different colour/format to distingish from English/Welsh cars. Would all drivers need to replace their UK licence with a new one?

Going on when this happened before (in 1921, so there were a lot less vehicles...) - Ireland and Northern Ireland kept using the standard island-of-Ireland numberplates until 1986, Northern Ireland still does. Format stayed identical, colours stayed identical for a long time too. Licences would be valid till expiry and swapped like for like.

The licence-swapping would be required reciprocally as part of being in the EU if they get in and the rUK stays in; it could be arranged outside of the EU otherwise and I'm fairly certain it would be.

 

[Postman Pat]

If Scotland do leave, I assume it will give the aussies an excuse to remove the Union flag from their own flag and the Kiwi's an excuse to move to the silver fern as theirs.

Will there be a prisoner exchange? All scots currently in prison will be extradited back to their own country and vice versa?

 

[Cian]

Will there be a prisoner exchange? All scots currently in prison will be extradited back to their own country and vice versa?

That'd depend on where they did the crime firstly - if there's Scots in English prisons for crimes committed in Scotland I suspect they'd be sent back fairly sharpish but otherwise it'd become similar to any other repatriation.

There is actually an interesting and fairly pressing issue in terms of prisons that Northern Ireland's psychiatric detention facility is in Scotland. NI hasn't got one of its own at all.

 

[Seagull kimchi]

If it's a yes - what happens to all the EU passport immigrants living and working in Scotland. There must be a fair few, does their legal status become instantly void?

 

[Cian]

If it's a yes - what happens to all the EU passport immigrants living and working in Scotland. There must be a fair few, does their legal status become instantly void?

If its a Yes, Scotland doesn't become independent instantly - its a date in 2016. Even if they don't get in to the EU by then they should have arranged some form of EEA membership to cover that and a huge number of other issues.

 

[BensGrandad]

Will there be a prisoner exchange? All scots currently in prison will be extradited back to their own country and vice versa?

What about the Scot residents of England unlike Poles etc will not be eligible to work if not in the EU, without a visa perhaps.

 

[ALBION28]

I live in Glasgow and I know what's driving this current momentum and it's nothing to do with 80s Tory governments it's pure nationalism.

Well that's a surprise!(you living in Glasgow) All my family and Scottish friends often express their anger at the 80's Tory experiment and the fact the Labour party ceased to be Socialist therefore failed to reverse Thatcherism. Can't believe you have not heard that. So little choice but to break away if they are to build a nation relevant to Scottish tradition. They have had enough of the right wing politic that has dominated this nation since 1979.

 

[ALBION28]

Don't disagree with your point about the Tories, however despite their woeful record in Scotland there was little appetite for independence in 1997 when Labour swept to power under Blair (or what would have been John Smith).

Labour subsequently introduced devolution not because they had to but they thought by doing so it would spike the guns of any independence movement. They were so conceited in that regard that they never considered any one party could take control of the assembly. How wrong they were.............

The reality is that people voted (and installed) the SNP as the party of power because after 1997 Labour took the Scottish labour vote for granted. Independence for Scotland was not why many people voted SNP, they just couldn't vote for the political establishment, Tory or Labour.

This is exactly like why many people vote UKIP down south.............

I agree with you but think its more the disappointment in the shift to the right by Labour and the Conservatives opened the way for the SNP. Scots have a strong sense of Justice and Westminster does not deliver.

 

[ALBION28]

really? you seem to have overlooked the 1979 referendum and rather trivialised the impact of Labour's devolution, which has empowered the SNP.

Not seeing your point. The referendum did not reach the required turnout showing little appetite for independence at that time. The years that followed starting with Conservative policies of the 1980's which alienated a large portion of Scots driving down Conservative support north of the border, note MP numbers. They initially turned to Labour before finding they too had shifted to the right. The SNP filled the void . We are now at tipping point.