Scottish Referendum

The EU and the UK are not the same kind of union.

Lilygran What would be your thoughts if there were to be a referendum on UK membership of the EU? Would you think that it was necessary that the franchise was extended to the voters in every country in that UNION? Do you think that a divorce should only be granted to a spouse citing abuse if the other spouse agrees to the divorce?

Everyone domiciled in Scotland and on the electoral register at the date of the referendum will have a vote. This will include 'born and bred' Scots and those who have chosen to make Scotland their home, it will also include those who are temporarily living furth of Scotland but have remained on the electoral register as 'absent voters' i.e. all those who will be directly affected by the result.

It's a UNION! Two parties! Give the vote to the rest of us, not just Scotland. And what about the Scots living outside Scotland? And the English, Welsh and Irish living in Scotland? It's a constitutional mess.

Votes for 16 & 17 year olds is hardly 'opportunistic'. Having been SNP, Green and Liberal Policy for many years the idea is supportd by the vast majority of the Scottish Parliament. As jane says it is unlikely to make a significant difference to the result but surely the young people who will be living with the outcome for the whole of their adult lives should partake in the decision.

Gaga - good question - I agree. If Scotland becomes independant the Scots will then have an 'in or out' referendum on the EU.

Economists can (and do) make a case either way depending on their own standpoint or who is paying them. Press and Media are all biased towards retaining the Union and tend to feature articles from those who support that perspective. Currently, according to UK government figures, Scotland, with 8.4% 0f the population contributes 9.6% of UK tax revenues and receives 9.3% of UK spending. Besides receiving revenue from the 95% of North Sea oil & gas which is in Scottish Waters, an independent Scotand would save billions by not having nuclear weapons and would be able to SELL its surplus water and electricity, which currently crosses the border unmetered.

As to the banks - The Bank of Scotland, was doing quite nicely until it was taken over by the greedy HALIFAX, becoming HBOS, headquartered in HALIFAX which is in England. RBS is still nominally a Scottish Bank, but it was wild speculative enterprises world wide which led to its downfall.

It is generally accepted that UK assets and debt would/will be split on around a 10%/90% basis under international law.

Is there such a thing as a 'Scottish' bank? They are multinational companies nowadays, aren't they? e.g Some Australian outfit bought out Clydesdale Bank quite a long time ago. UK govt owns most shares (80%) of RBS, etc.

There is the interesting question of the national debt. Scottish banks are partly to blame. Shouldn't these issues be sorted out so that people know what they are voting for? No good the scots thinking they are going to get all the N Sea revenues and none of the debts and then a post-referendum negotiation delivers something they are not expecting.
I can also foresee that there will be a huge cost involved setting up parallel and separate government processes like tax collection. This will take a long time, cost a lot of money. This is not a small matter of a few new letterheads and a new logo! How long would it take them to work out their new tax regs and then get a computer system up and running to deal with it? Years not months that's for sure. And what happens in the interim period?

I would say that the younger voters are more likely to be idealistically inclined toward total independence, and less likely to see the problems. This is a cynical move by Mr S to get his own way, whatever older wiser heads may vote for.

I heard the same thing janeain. I also heard an economist say recently that, even with the oil revenues (which are not going to last forever), they will struggle to pay their benefits and pensions bill, not to mention the cost of equipping and running a separate armed services. I don't know enough about the Scots economy to make an informed opinion, but will be interesting to watch this develop and I hope, if they do vote to break away, the Scots are not going to fall on their faces. At the risk of sounding unkind, I also hope that if they do, we will not be called upon to bail them out!

I heard that 16-18 year olds only make up 2% of the voting population, so they are unlikely to sway the vote in either direction.

My thought on this is that it is setting a precedent for genuine democratic decision making by asking the people to decide. So why does that not apply to our EU membership? We were promised a referendum and now that the Scots have been granted one, when do we get one re the EU?

Presumably something DC conceded to in order to stick with one question. Butwill the 16 yr olds actually vote? I agree they are more likely to vote for independence if they do.

I wonder at a different minimum age for a referendum on a single issue which is lower than the current voting age. Is this a level playing field? I also wonder whether 16-18 year olds are more or less likely to vote for independence and if that is why this decision has been made.

And since this may lead to the break up of the UK shouldn't the English, Welsh and Northern Irish also have the right to vote?