scrubbedexpat099

Poll: 71% find Alex Salmond victorious in second Scottish independence debate | Politics | The Guardian

Poll: 71% find Alex Salmond victorious in second Scottish independence debate
Alistair Darling defeated by a 71% to 29% margin, according to Guardian/ICM poll of Scots who watched the debate

Vote YES

Hotscot

Alex Salmond doesn't speak for me. I'm sticking with the majority of Scots. The answer is NO.

neilcumming

when im not working in Canada im stuck in Yucatan Mexico,its a hard life ,love the photo

markonline1

scot47

The referendum is not a vote for or against Salmond. It is about Independence.

Hotscot

Ostensibly.
But many see it a vote for something that wee Eck wants and to them that's unacceptable.

And rightly so.

He has still not made a clear case, in my opinion, with facts, why Independence will lead to an economically stable Scotland.
The business uncertainty alone could cause a financial collapse.

And then there's the question of NATO...he wants rid of Faslane/Trident but what...still expects NATO to protect if a nuke gets lobbed over?
Never mind the jobs that would be lost on closing it down.

You think Scotland would be a stronger country on its own? Influential worldwide as the UK is as a whole?

My preference is for Devolution Max, a stronger Scotland within the UK.

Whatever the result I will support what the majority of my countrymen want.
Although it is galling that an 18 year old recent transplant from Greece could have more say than a Scottish expat who's already contributed many years of high value to his country, and hopes to do so again in the future.

neilcumming

Even the kids can see through the NO campaigns scare stories lol.
Yes Scotland Takeover: Schoolboy reveals why he switched from No to Yes for friends and family - Daily Record
Click on the little poll they have.

Hotscot

Yes but the big hole in the story is...where did he find "facts" from wee Eck?


My preference is for Devolution Max, a stronger Scotland within the UK.

neilcumming

From his mammys mammy lol.

dunroving

Must say that in the past month or so, the Yes campaign seems to be getting smarter and smarter (or maybe sneakier and sneakier; see below), and the Better Together campaign troops out Dumb and Dumber (Darling and Brown).

Although logic says that on the day No votes will prevail, it is getting closer and closer.

From Tuesday's debate on BBC:

(Yes debater): "It's not just us that's saying we'll use the pound after a Yes vote. I have been talking with back benchers in Whitehall and they all are saying that the Westminster government will let us use it"

(Debate Chair): "Really? Who are they?"

(Yes debater): "Oh, I can't tell you that; they are personal friends"

(Debate Chair): "Then which party are they in?"

(Yes debater): "The Conservatives"

(Debate Chair): "Then how many have you spoken with?"

(Yes debater): "At least one"

(Chair): "So, one then?"

(Yes debater): "Yes"

Michael

I'm not even sure why that is an issue since I don't believe the British can stop a country from using it's currency.

In fact 7 countries with no association to the US use the US dollar exclusively as their currency including the British Virgin Islands, the Caribbean Netherlands, Turks and Caicos Islands, East Timor, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Panama.

Pulaski

Also Bermuda which has a 1:1 fixed dollar peg, and from what I hear, Zimbabwe after its currency collapsed a few years ago, and many other countries on a partial/ semi official basis.

That said I am inclined to agree with you, though as a practical point, could the British government effectively prohibit bulk cash shipments to Scottish banks? And in an age of increasingly electronic money transfer would that work? Scottish banks already issue their own paper money, and presumably would continue to do so even if backed by "money in an account", not physical Bank of England notes, so could the British government stop Scotland getting electronic pounds? I think not.

dunroving

My limited understanding of the currency issue is that "using the pound" can mean at least two different things:

Currency union (similar to the countries that use the Euro). In this situation, Scotland would a) be entiitled to support from the rUK/BoE if their economy goes tits up or they default on loans, etc., but (b) they would be governed by the BoE in terms of various economic criteria such as the rate of interest.

"Pegging" a Scottish currency to the UK pound. Although this would not entail (a) and (b) above, it would mean that Scotland has no control over the currency they are using - if rUK/BoE decide to devalue the pound, Scotland has to live with the consequences.

For some reason, neither side (but especially the Yes campaign) seems to address this in the various debates, leading to a lot of ambiguity in what they mean when debating whether Scotland can "use the pound". It seems they can't do the first option without the agreement of rUK. They (and anyone else) can do the second option.

Pulaski

That seems to be a fair summary, though the "Yes" camp might want to look at the Italian economy if they think that being in a currency union with a massively larger partner" is even desirable.

scrubbedexpat099

Shock new poll says Scots set to vote yes to independence
'No' campaign to offer radical deal as latest figures show 51-49% backing for end of the union

Guardian

Vote Yes