Independent Scotland....

[VR6Lee]

As an Englishman, i'm generally indifferent as to whether the Scottish vote Yes or not. But from a very slight interest in the matter (basing my information on the English newspapers and the BBC news) has there been any definitive answers from Alex Salmond on some of the more important matters, such as how they'll provide healthcare, the general wellfare state etc? From my point of view, it doesn't look like he's answered many of those important questions i'd assume the general Scottish public have.

In this instance i feel the Scottish would be better off staying as part of the UK. Also, what does Alex Salmond have to gain from this? From the media coverage it looks like one big PR stunt for him should the Scottish vote yes. Would he become the leader of the new republic? etc. etc.

Oh and to add to this, the British government have handled all this terribly. All been very last minute and of all the people to try and get Scotland to stay in the Union you have David Cameron, one of the most universally loathed PM's in recent years alongside his lapdog Nick Clegg.

[Waspy]

Well, doesn't matter now, back to reality.

[roberto]

 

[Gti_Jamo]

We're clearly not ready for independence socially. We lack unification among ourselves generally and that's not a good foot to get off on.

[VW BUSH]

Hope we get some reform across the nation now.....

[roberto]

its got to be a wake up call for Cameron and his numpties going by the way he was pleading for Scotland to stay. at the end of the day it could benefit us all. north and south of the border. and it just goes to show the power of the person on the street when given the chance.

[roberto]

As an Englishman, i'm generally indifferent as to whether the Scottish vote Yes or not. But from a very slight interest in the matter (basing my information on the English newspapers and the BBC news) has there been any definitive answers from Alex Salmond on some of the more important matters, such as how they'll provide healthcare, the general wellfare state etc? From my point of view, it doesn't look like he's answered many of those important questions i'd assume the general Scottish public have.

In this instance i feel the Scottish would be better off staying as part of the UK. Also, what does Alex Salmond have to gain from this? From the media coverage it looks like one big PR stunt for him should the Scottish vote yes. Would he become the leader of the new republic? etc. etc.

Oh and to add to this, the British government have handled all this terribly. All been very last minute and of all the people to try and get Scotland to stay in the Union you have David Cameron, one of the most universally loathed PM's in recent years alongside his lapdog Nick Clegg.

if you say you are indifferent then you really haven't thought about it much. do you really think a yes vote wouldn't affect you?

[Jackie Treehorn]

Cameron has done one of two things.

Either been very very lucky to come out the winner, or his team of Whitehall officials and civil servants have looked and played the political sphere perfectly.

Day One after vote: 

1: Addressed the public at 7am and took back the initiative from Salmond and the SNP.
2: Stopped the SNP in there tracks from saying everything is the fault of Westminster,  Now with more powers and a "No" vote you just need to shut up and get on with it, potentially reducing there power in Scotland.
3:  By seeming to offer more than should be offered to Scotland without anything for the UK, he built up a negative policy amongst the British public for Scotland which he could counter within days.
4: Understood that the growing resentment for Devo-Max (see point 3) among the rest of the UK, would allow him to play his trump card and sideline the 40-ish Labour MP's in Scotland out of all future UK parliament policy, and Labour will be on the wrong side of the argument with the public if they protest too strongly. So with the above timeline he will be able to reduce the power of Labour for years.
5: Seized some of the UK/British UKIP support for great powers for British people.
6: May come out as a stronger leader and head off a leadership bid in the political short term (5 years) from Boris.



Personally i thought the no campaign and Cameron looked very weak and ran to offer too much when a poll said they might lose, however it could have been a very clever political game and if that is the case, I think the Tories may have won.  We may not know for years but it would be interesting to find out if it was headless chickens time, or a brilliant piece of realpolitik...



   

[clipperjay]

It was never about independent Scotland