Scottish Independence- outside perspective!

I'm currently working in the North-East of England and the vast majority of people that I have heard talking about the referendum have been in favour of a 'yes' vote.
Personally, I'm inclined to think that if a yes vote benefits Scotland then that's got to be the outcome.

Anyway, we'll all end up as a United Europe one day anyhow.

 

I can only imagine it would completely ruin Scotland's economy. I don't see any real benefit for Scotland to become an independent country. I also am noticing a much higher percentage of people saying "no" over the internet and threw polls.

 

My outside perspective, as an unwilling member of the UK, is that I really just want to see the union burn. Not physically, of course, but for all the politicians talk about how we're better together, I hate this place. I might well move to scotland if indepence happens, and works well. In the end, should and shouldn't is irrelevant. It should be up to the scottish people what happens, and it is.

 

To be COMPLETELY honest I can't say that I have a true opinion. I'm American but my ancestors were from Scotland, so I love the idea of Scotland being its own country but I only heard about this vote the other day so I have no grasp of the real implications. So I'm kind of uncomfortable weighing in on this issue...

 

*my short opinion's down the bottom*

Well... I think independence is going to sting economically for Scotland, and could have some long-reaching effects. That's almost certain. I'm also very sceptical of a nationalist party that has had 80 years to think of its vision for an independent Scotland yet can't say with certainty what currency they'll be using a couple years down the line among other things. Plus, while I think it's true Scotland is left of rUK, it may transpire that Salmond will have to make cuts/austerity anyway and things might go a little rightwards (Conservatives still got 17% Scottish vote share in 2010 after all, so they wouldn't exactly be irrelevant in iScotland). Also a lot of the SNP's campaign didn't make a lot of sense to me, e.g. a major part of Salmond's campaign has been reprising control of Scotland... so his answer is using a currency where he won't get a lender of last resort or control over monetary policy then joining a political union which (assuming they get in) will assume many of their newly-won powers then make Scotland change currency again?

Tl;dr I'm not against independence in all circumstances and it's not in itself a bad thing for Scotland but I think the SNP's proposals for it have been optimistic and quite weak- not worthy of taking the plunge given that Scotland doesn't get a terrible deal as part of the UK, relatively speaking. In any case, if Scotland does go independent, all the best for them but no currency unions; if you want independence, stand on your own two feet! Whatever the result, I'm really more worried about how relations between Scotland and rUK will be affected (I really do hope there's no animosity) and how big constitutional questions which have now been let out the box will be resolved.

 

The United Kingdom is better off that way: United.

 

I don't live there, so my opinion is rather insignificant. It'd be like asking a plumber in Cambodia, what kind of tires a guy in France needs for his semi-truck. It's probably better to ask a mechanic, in France, instead of a plumber halfway across the world, in Cambodia, about that.

However, I think independence, would make for a more interesting spectacle. I'm also curious if Scotland can do it.

 

I wish I had an opinion on this, but to be honest.. I really can't give an opinion cause I don't know what decisions led up to this vote on if they will be an Independent country or stay part of the UK so any opinion I had wouldn't be based on anything concrete and I don't like to put forward opinions when I am not fully aware and sure of the situation itself. It doesn't really effect me either so I am not for or against it in anyway.. I would be more curious to know of the opinions of people based in Scotland to see what they think of the situation, wether they wish to become an independent country or not and what your reasons for that are.

 

51% No vs. 49% Yes with plenty more to be counted. Wowzers. 7 out of 32 districts counted.

 

Holy shit, what a nail-biter!

To the OP, I *love* the *idea* of Scotland being its own country in full. BUT, I also recognize the value of the union to both countries, as well as the general philosophy of union being better than separation.

So I find myself hoping the vote continues in the "No" direction.

Good luck to ye, whichever way the wind blows!

 

For us (the people I know or entered my life in the past) Scotland/Scottish people always mentioned as that. They are already known as their own people.

What I wonder is what will it do to Scottish economy. We are living in hard times. I still remember horrible things in Ukraine and Greece.

That referendum won't effect one thing no matter what the outcome, how hot Scottish guys are. :lol:

Related topic:
I learned your votings are done on week days and between 8:00 and 22:00 from my friend last night. Ours always takes place in Sundays and between 07:00 and 17:00. Spanish friend also confirmed similar practice.

You know, the more I learn about UK traditions/practices, I feel less weird.

 

Already said this on the thread in the News section, but I'll say it again here: I am very happy that Scotland elected to stay in the United Kingdom.

 

I was talking to friends, and they all agreed that it's a shame that Scotland is still in the UK. For us, it's more of this "exciting happening" rather than rational debate. We would have loved to see how things worked out if YES won.

That being sad, I think Scotland could in fact be better off without the UK, especially in the whole political perspective. Scotland could also be better off with the UK, like I said, I don't know that much about it. But we were disappointed.

 

As it was in Quebec in 1980, and again in 1995, it was always about the head vs. the heart. The romantic notion of creating a new country is definitely alluring, but it conflicts, as all romance does, with reality.

In 1995, our vote was actually closer (51% No to 49% Yes). The disgrace came immediately afterwards when the then separatist premier of our province, Jacques Parizeau, blamed the loss on "money and the ethnic vote". Money being code for Anglo and Jewish business interests, and "ethnic vote" being code for anyone whose ancestors didn't arrive on the first French boats direct from France in the 1600's.

Such are the demons awakened by nationalism...

 

I shouldn't laugh, but I could only imagine.

BTW, I still find Jean-Drapeau's comment about Toronto versus Montreal to be pompous to the point of being funny.

It was a relief to wake up this morning to see that the Scotland situation went down 55-45, or something close to that. I never realized Scotland was just about the size of England. I thought it occupied a smaller land area.

 

It's a bit smaller. But its population is much lower - it only has like 10% of England's population and the vast majority of that is located in a small part of the country called the Central Belt whereas most other parts are empty. The Northwest Highlands are one of a few places named as 'Europe's last great wilderness'. The more you know.

 

In terms of proportion of land mass in the UK:
-England - covers 53.5% of the land and has 83% of the total population
-Scotland - covers 32% of the land and has 9% of the total population
-Wales - covers 8.5% of the land and has 5% of the total population
-Northern Ireland - covers 6% of the land and has 3% of the total population

Which obviously means England is the most densely populated state (very densely populated), followed closely by Wales, then NI and then Scotland which is very sparsely populated. The likely reason for this variance is the differing topographies. Scotland and Wales are both very mountainous and so in both countries towns and cities tend to be pushed towards the flatter coastal regions. There was less room for population growth and spreading. England in contrast is a lot flatter so there was far more viable land available for building large settlements.

 

Alex Salmond has now stepped down as leader of the SNP, which I guess was on the cards. It will be interesting to see what new powers Scotland get over the next few years, and if they will ever try and go for independence again.

 

I think they might at some point, but I think out of respect they should give it a few decades before the next referendum. Obviously I'm all for rights to self-determination, but these things cost insane amounts of money to run, knock the economy, distract from politician's time (i.e the PM and MPs having to put other issues on a backburner), and generally shake everything up. You can't really have a situation where separatists demand referendum every year until by some fluke independence is achieved.

Interestingly, I've just opened Youtube and am already presented with two videos alleging "Blatant vote rigging", one uploaded by a "Mr GlasgowTruth" (seems like he's been planning to put this up just in case!). :rolle: I was hoping we'd at least have a few year's peace before the raving mad conspiracy theorists started up.