Most of my family are Scottish but have moved away so read in to it some and tbh i think it as crazy as the UK wanted to leave the EU.
Points I dont understand-
- Look at Ireland, I worked (recently got made redundant) for an Irish bank and they are truly screwed as country if it wasnt for the ECB they wouldnt never have survived. And so many other small countries Iceland, Cyprus & Greece are all truly in the shitter.
- The Oil - How much of it can there be left and surly half the revenue is the UK's/other EU countries.
- Some of the biggest employers Llloyds Tsb and RBS ( who as far as I am aware are now British owned due to the bail out) will have to re locate to England due to laws that the headquaters have to be in the country that they are registered with. Also the ship building in Aberdeen employees 0000's of people but that is the UK navy - so again that would most likely be moved back to southampton.
The Army - yes the Scottish have it's own section but are they able to fund it and is it enough?
Trident - What will happen to that??
- Currency - If they get the pound then they still be governed by the UK and if they dont then is there a guarantee they will get the Euro which again mean controls and sanctions by another group of countries.
- EU is there a guarantee they will be accepted and if not - then what?
- The Monarch/Common Wealth - will they become part of that?
- The few I have spoken to who are considering Yes mention that they want freedom from Westminster - but over what policies - Scotland already controls it's NHS, School, Legal System and the general day to day running of things.
- The UK is said to have the fastest recovering economy in the EU, yes things are still shit but they much better then alot of other countries - Will Scotland be able to carry this on when it will be drowning in debt.
I dont know - whilst I fully support peoples right to independence and democratic vote I really struggle to see what the pro's are but me sitting here in London I also dont get a realistic view of what it is like for those struggling in England a London it's own bubble.
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However there are many other small countries who are thriving under the difficult economic conditions, e.g the Scandinavian countries. Who is to say which way it would have went?
Scotland would own the vast majority of the oil. Independence is not dependent on oil btw (regarless of what project fear is spouting). We are rich in other resources, and without oil taken into account our gdp would be 99% of the rest of the UK. With oil, our gdp surpasses it. Oil is of course a fantastic asset, but in the event of independence we are not completely reliant on it.
Trident would be scrapped. The vast majority of people in Scotland do not want trident- and there would be billions of pounds of saving from that alone. Alongside this, If we don't vote for independence the Scottish people would have to (with the rest of the U.K) pay billions of pounds for the proposed upgrade of trident. No-one in Scotland wants it!
There would be a currency union with the rest of the U.K. It is in everyones best interests. Even the leader of the Scottish Conservitives Ruth Davidson agrees that this would be the case. The Euro is not on the table. Incidently no one has to "let" the people of Scotland use any currency. The pound is as much a scottish asset as anyone else's, no one can stop Scotland from using the pound. However, a currency union (at least for a while until we set up our own currency), is what the SNP are proposing, and is what's best for everyone involved.
Scotlands future in the E.U is probably better protected with independence. If the Tory's get in for another term (which is looking more and more likely), there will be an in-out referendum. Given what's just happened in the European election, It would be safe to bet that the rest of the u.k will vote us out! Even if EVERY SINGLE PERSON in Scotland voted to stay in, it would make absolutely no difference to the outcome if the rest of the U.K wanted out. The majority of Scots want to stay in the E.U.
Yes we have devolved powers, however we are still subject to ultimate control from Westminster from a Tory government who harly anyone in Scotland voted for. How is that democratic?
Scotlands recovery is actually surpassing that of the rest of the UK, so I think we would be alright. Even with the referendum looming, business is still happy to invest (regardless of the doom and gloom predicted).
Scotland is far more left wing that the rest of the U.K. I don't know if it was reported down south, however there was a daily record poll the other day that put independence ahead by 3 points if Scots thought they would be subjected to another 5 years of the Torys. The polls are narrowing significantly regardless.
