[Lord Snooty]

If Scotland do vote to go it alone, I hope to God they get themselves a better leader than Salmond.

[TheDaddy]

Perhaps I'm just stupid but shouldn't the negotiations over who gets what re oil, debt, currency etc etc have been done before the vote

[El Car]

You'd think so, but only the willfully blind are going into this believing Salmond has any idea of what an independent Scotland would look like. It's also the reason his supporters have increasingly resorted to violence, schoolyard insults and intimidation - there's simply no meat on the bones of the Yes campaign. An independent Scotland is nothing more than an ideal with no current foundation in realism.

[ritchiebaby]

TheDaddy - you're not stupid, just much too sensible to be allowed an opinion in such an emotive debate.

Alex Salmond has no definite proposals for independence, so he's resorted to portraying the poor, downtrodden Scots being bullied by the rich, Westminster elite.

Spare a thought for us poor Scots - we've no real idea what we're voting for. On the one side it's a pipe dream of Utopia, on the other it's empty promises of Devomax, that's unlikely to be voted for by Westminster.

[St Charles Owl]

Noted that the royal Bank of Scotland have said if the vote is a yes then they will be moving the head office to London

Yes they will, but its really only a symbolic gesture to do with their presence on the London Stock Market, won't effect many jobs, if any at all. I would imagine the likes of Standard Life will also make a similar move, but they have said they will decide what to do only after the vote has taken place.

[Amelia Chaffinch]

[Larry-AV]

My view on this matter has not changed, this is what I wrote last year :

This debate about whether Scotland should be 'independent' misses the point.
Scotland is an independent country, but one that has :
1} Shared its Sovereigns with England and Wales since the Union of the Crowns in 1603.
2} Shared its Sovereignty with England and Wales since the Acts of Union in 1707.
The Union is a partnership, not a conquest of one by the other(s).
If Scotland was a vassal state of England (or Wales !), rest assured there would be no referendum on 'independence'.
My gripe with the Union is the West Lothian Question, whereby Scots MPs at Westminster can vote on matters affecting England and Wales, but MPs at Westminster cannot vote on devolved matters.
This question can be resolved by extending to England that which Scotland already has - its own Parliament.
What this means is a Federal Britain, where each nation controls most of its affairs, whilst sharing at Westminster only those matters that are best covered in common, e.g., Defence, the Currency and Foreign Affairs.

To which I add this, regarding the currency.

A currency union is the precursor of a political union, which is the purpose behind the Euro.
A currency union is never the hangover from a political division.
Now Scotland could still use sterling should it decide to go it alone, but control of the currency will remain with the Bank of England and that control will (as it should) be run for the benefit of the countries in the United Kingdom, irrespective of any impact this might have on Scotland.

[theo_luddite]

Why can't we have a vote to decide whether we want to keep them as part of our Union or not?

[Southeyowl]

"Feck Off Scotland, we're all voting YES!"

[Maddix]

If Scotland do vote to go it alone, I hope to God they get themselves a better leader than Salmond.

That's what most people are actually missing Scotland are NOT voting for independence (read the small print). They are voting to express their preference. If they do vote for independence it will not happen overnight and the protracted negotiations for a split could take years and may never happen unless mutually agreeable terms are met. It's all another big con.

But I'd vote for a split if I was them.