Scottish Independence... What are your thoughts?

[PetBazaar]

Since Tony's Politics thread has just touched on this one, I thought I'd open it up as a brand new thread.

So with about 8 months to go to the referendum... what are your thoughts on the whole Scottish Independence discussion?

Do you think it will happen? If it does, do you think it will it affect you. Will we need an eBid Scotland? Will you need overseas postage to get a package from Grimsby to Glasgow? Who wants to volunteer to take a shedload of Trident nuclear missiles. What about the side effect that it could possibly bring down a Westminster government.

All thoughts and opinions welcome.

[MPS16]

.....All thoughts and opinions welcome.

How the h..l can you allow 16 year olds with bu..er all experience of the world a say on such an important question.

[kreativebargains]

I don't think it will happen. Despite the rhetoric from Alex Salmond I think Scotland would be worse off and the majority will realise that. The recent news concerning the UK keeping the debts is not quite as the headlines seem, Scotland would still take on some of the debt but would have to borrow on it's own account in order to do so. With a 'new' country with an unknown track record of independence the interest rate might be higher than many think. And geographically Scotland is not ideally placed. Smaller countries can do well if they have close neighbours that they can easily trade with, in Scotland's case there is the UK, but how much effort would companies put into trading with the Scots? It might sound nice to be independent, but I think the reality would hit home pretty quickly.

[PetBazaar]

How the h..l can you allow 16 year olds with bu..er all experience of the world a say on such an important question.

Got to admit, I was with you on that one. I thought it was a ridiculous idea too. But then someone pointed out that at 16 (in Scotland at least) you:

Can leave home and live independently
Can stand for election as a councillor
Can be prosecuted in the high court
Can legally start a family
Can have an abortion
Can join the army and be killed for your country (or Prime Minister, depending on your viewpoint).

I suppose when you take this into account, having a vote isn't quite so unreasonable.

[Pink_Panther]

It would be good for Scots in that they would be under no obligation to accept their part of the National debt as Westminster incurred it.
They would claim the North Sea oil fields and it's revenue.

The downside is that Haggis smuggling would reach new heights!

[kreativebargains]

It would be good for Scots in that they would be under no obligation to accept their part of the National debt as Westminster incurred it.
They would claim the North Sea oil fields and it's revenue.

The downside is that Haggis smuggling would reach new heights!

They have stated that they would be 'obliged' to take on their share of the debt. They would take on their own debt and repay the UK for their share from this money. Doing so they will almost certainly lose the benefit of the low interest rates the UK gets.

As for the haggis smuggling, they can keep them.

[PetBazaar]

They have stated that they would be 'obliged' to take on their share of the debt. They would take on their own debt and repay the UK for their share from this money. Doing so they will almost certainly lose the benefit of the low interest rates the UK gets.

As for the haggis smuggling, they can keep them.

I think that even the most fanatical nationalists recognise that it wouldn't be in our best interests to refuse to take on a share of the debt. But it's almost certainly a bargaining point too. The theory, presumably, being that if rUK is reasonable about sharing the assets, then Scotland should be reasonable about sharing the debts. Although I could see that all turning sour if anyone digs their heels in.

Are you sure you don't want the haggis? I'm not too fond of the little beasties either.

[kreativebargains]

I think that even the most fanatical nationalists recognise that it wouldn't be in our best interests to refuse to take on a share of the debt. But it's almost certainly a bargaining point too. The theory, presumably, being that if rUK is reasonable about sharing the assets, then Scotland should be reasonable about sharing the debts. Although I could see that all turning sour if anyone digs their heels in.

Are you sure you don't want the haggis? I'm not too fond of the little beasties either.

Would certainly be some tricky bargaining to be done. Many 'assets' are fixed, after all you can hardly move a hospital south can you and as for then debt, would it simply be split per capita, take into account assets north and south of the border, take into account extra expenditure in some parts of the UK, north sea oil revenues. The complexities are endless. No matter how it was divided I still think that Scotland on it's own would find it a lot tougher and more expensive to finance the debt.

[tonyreddevil]

hold whisky to ransome then the english go to Ireland for whiskey

[damian_steele]

I think that so far all I personally have heard on the topic has been wrapped up in so much political BS that I can't dig out what's true from what isn't. I hope that the Scottish people have managed to find some more honest sources of information to help them make up their minds.