Scottish Independence

[Rabbie]

[quote user="Quillan"]Just as a matter of interest what will happen to the Scottish currency now in circulation? I mean they have the Scotish Five Pound note for instance which is legal tender in England but if they decide to use the UK pound will their current currency become worthless after a set period?[/quote]No need to panic whatever happens tomorrow. There will be no change in the legal status of Scotland for at least eighteen months maybe even longer if there is a Yes win.

Scottish Bank notes are in fact promisory notes and clearly state that the Bank promises to pay the amount in Pounds sterling. As the Scottish banks will have to move their registered offices to England (EU Rules) when independence occurs you money will be guaranteed by the BAnk of England and the rUK government. So no immediate need to panic

[woolybanana]

I have watched Wallonia and Flanders rip themselves apart over a period of years and believe me, it is not simple or nice. In fact, I would not wish the process on anyone, even the Scots!

[Rabbie]

That's why I really really want a NO result. Unfortunately in that case I fear the SNP will want another go in five years if they keep their majority in the Scottish Parliament

[Quillan]

Well the Scots living in what will be the new UK will wake up on Friday as foreigners.

There is a plus side for the rest of the UK. The Scots will want to carry on trading with the rest of the EU. My guess is they will try and join the EFTA whilst waiting to sort out their membership. This would mean they would be in the same situation as Norway which is where the Kippers want to take the UK. What I hope will happen is that it will show the Kippers that you can't have your cake and eat it for being in the EFTA is the same as full membership with all its rules and costs but without a vote. The other thing I guess is the UK 'annual EU membership' fee should, in theory, reduce. Not by much but at least by a bit.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Rabbie"]That's why I really really want a NO result. Unfortunately in that case I fear the SNP will want another go in five years if they keep their majority in the Scottish Parliament[/quote]

Well twice now Salmond has said there will not be another vote for at least a generation and more likely never but then he is a politician and Westminster does not have the monopoly in political liars.

[DerekJ]

[quote user="Quillan"]

[quote user="Rabbie"]That's why I really really want a NO result. Unfortunately in that case I fear the SNP will want another go in five years if they keep their majority in the Scottish Parliament[/quote]

Well twice now Salmond has said there will not be another vote for at least a generation and more likely never but then he is a politician and Westminster does not have the monopoly in political liars.

[/quote]

Was he lying? Well, his mouth was moving.

[PaulT]

Never believe a politician

[Rabbie]

[quote user="Quillan"]

Well the Scots living in what will be the new UK will wake up on Friday as foreigners.[/quote]

I don't think so. As a Scot and holder of a UK passport resident in England I will not be a foreigner. Pedantically A Yes win on Friday does not make Scotland independent straight away. There will be months and months of negotiations and then Westminster will need to pass the enabling legislation before Scotland becomes independent.  The present target date proposed by AS is in March 2016 but many people believe it will a lot longer than that.

[quote user="Quillan"]

There is a plus side for the rest of the UK. The Scots will want to carry on trading with the rest of the EU. My guess is they will try and join the EFTA whilst waiting to sort out their membership. This would mean they would be in the same situation as Norway which is where the Kippers want to take the UK. What I hope will happen is that it will show the Kippers that you can't have your cake and eat it for being in the EFTA is the same as full membership with all its rules and costs but without a vote. The other thing I guess is the UK 'annual EU membership' fee should, in theory, reduce. Not by much but at least by a bit.

[/quote]AS still appears to hold the belief that clause 48 applies and Scotland will continue in EU membership without interruption. Of course until Scotland actually gets independence it continues to be a constituent part of the UK so there is no reason to reduce the UK membership fee until then. Remember this is being handled on a legal basis and is not a unilateral declaration of independence.

As I said in an earlier post there is no need to get over excited. A yes result on Friday is not the end of the process - just the beginning

 

[woolybanana]

All police leave has been cancelled in case of violence when the result is announced.

And the bars have an all night licence on Thursday.

DDDDUUUUHHHHHHHHHH!

[Rabbie]

[quote user="Quillan"]

[quote user="Rabbie"]That's why I really really want a NO result. Unfortunately in that case I fear the SNP will want another go in five years if they keep their majority in the Scottish Parliament[/quote]

Well twice now Salmond has said there will not be another vote for at least a generation and more likely never but then he is a politician and Westminster does not have the monopoly in political liars.

[/quote]Leaders come and leaders go. Who said Salmond will be SNP leader in five years time? Scottish independence has always been the raison d'etre of the SNP and I don't see that changing. If there is still a strong current of support for independence then I would expect people to campaign for another referendum. To be honest I would find it hard to respect any politician who was not prepared to fight for his fundamental beliefs

[Rabbie]

[quote user="woolybanana"]All police leave has been cancelled in case of violence when the result is announced. And the bars have an all night licence on Thursday. DDDDUUUUHHHHHHHHHH![/quote]This report from the BBC may put things into perspective[:)]

[YCCMB]

[quote user="Rabbie"] If there is still a strong current of support for independence then I would expect people to campaign for another referendum. [/quote] In the continuing spirit of the motto of the current referendum "we want to have the government we vote for", you mean? ETA..I've just had to swap browsers to Chrome because Facebook has stopped loading properly for me in Firefox. I am sure there's something that will prevent Chrome from churning out gobbledygook, but, if large entities are not prepared to make their software work for me, then I'm not wasting my time modifying my software to work for them. Sorry to anyone attempting to make sense of the above quote.

[Gardian]

I know that it was me who started this, but if it hadn't been me, it would have somebody else.

Tell me that its going to be over soon? Enough is enough.

Its hissing with rain, I can't do any work outside, the weather is forecast to be just as bad for the next 10 days .............. and its all the fault of the Jocks.

[Alan Zoff]

To me it's a lot of fuss about something that, in the great scheme of things, is really not that important. But then I'm not a Scot.

As a UK taxpayer, I see it as a vast waste of money. It will have cost a small fortune so far and fulfilling the pledges to bribe voters to vote No will cost us even more for years to come, should the Nos succeed.

Even then, the SNP won't go away and if the result is as close as predicted, they will use that as a reason to keep pressing for independence.

So they might as well be granted it now, whether or not it is good for them and the rest of us, so as to draw a line under it.

And perhaps south of the border can then keep to British Summer Time without having to worry about the effect on Scottish farmers. (My 9-year-old granddaughter tells me the reason the Scots want to break with the UK is that too many of us go there on holiday. I'm still working on the logic of this, but it's a view.)

[NormanH]

I think this has moved over your way..

http://www.midilibre.fr/2014/09/16/il-risque-de-pleuvoir-tres-fort-cette-nuit-dans-l-herault-et-le-gard,1051969.php

As usual over in the south west Hérault we haven't had much rain...

[Quillan]

Rabbie - When I said "will wake up on Friday as foreigners" I am not talking about the technicalities but that is the way many English people will view them. Yes of course many things will not become a reality until at least May 2016 when Scotland has its first parliamentary elections as an 'independent' country. I was searching for the date in two years time when they truly become independent and Scottish MP's lose their Westminster seat but can't seem to find it. I think it is sometime in November 2016 but don't quote me as I may well be wrong.

For the passports it will primarily depend on what happens with the EU i.e. when they decide Scotland is no longer a part of it as your passport is firstly EU and secondly, in yours and mine case, United Kingdom. It only requires one of these two to become void for the passports to require changing.

Yes your right about it only being the beginning if they vote 'Yes' and there will be a long way to go in uncharted waters and much depends on the negotiations between the Scottish parliament and the UK parliament.

Of course none of this may happen; they might vote ‘No’ as these pre voting polls are often unreliable. What people say and which box they mark when standing in front of the actual voting slip can often be different. I did notice the betting odds have changed since yesterday to 15/4 for Yes and 4/2 for No.

 

[PaulT]

Excellent front cover on the latest issue of Private Eye, or as it is titled Private OchEye - Your fortnightly dose of Saltire

HOW SCOTLAND WILL LOOK AFTER INDEPENDENCE

Yes Campaign - and a picture of a palm tree fringed golden sand beach with a turquoise blue sea

No Compaign - volcanoes spewing lava

This is not yet on the website.

[EmilyA]

Do you think the average temperature of the Former UK will come down enough for France to be colder and us to get our WFA back?

[Jazzer]

The bookies and the dealers got it right!

[woolybanana]

What I see as the most important news of the day has been missed by you all, particularly Norman who is normally an avid chaser of these things; Harry and Cressida are back together again. Now that is important. 'ugger this stupid and expensive voting thing which was a waste of money and time and down to a refusal to accept the democratic process.

[Rabbie]

Thankfully we have got a clear result. Now provided there is a sensible answer to theWest Lothian question we can all move forward and have a prosperous and fair UK

[Quillan]

[quote user="woolybanana"]What I see as the most important news of the day has been missed by you all, particularly Norman who is normally an avid chaser of these things; Harry and Cressida are back together again. Now that is important. 'ugger this stupid and expensive voting thing which was a waste of money and time and down to a refusal to accept the democratic process.[/quote]

Yes Wooly and you missed THE most important vote which was to allow women members of some Scotish golf club. How these clubs (of any type) in this day and age get away with being male or female only is beyond me.

[Jazzer]

Harry had just inherited £30 Million-any connection?

[woolybanana]

No, Q, I didnt miss it, I was deeply in shock and thinking of going into mourning.

However, to more serious things; without looking it up, can anyone tell me what the national animal of Scotland is? (In case you are wondering, the Americans have the bald eagle, which looks a bit like Norman when he is trying to find a dropped tickie which is an old fashioned Saouth African threepenny bit in silver.)

[mint]

Good for that club and I think I might as well profit from this particular vote.

So, any woman out there want to buy a full set of hardly used golf clubs with graphite shafts (NO jokes please Wools) including a No 7 driver, bag, ball bag, brolly and all accessories?[:)]