Scotland Referendum: Independence Yes or No?

And yes....

I say yes for the hell of it cuz i hear that the UK will go to shit and break up and what not.

So sure, i want to see shit happen

As an American I am not terribly versed in UK politics. I will just say that if this is what the Scottish people want then it should happen.

Clearly not a fan?

American, i hope not. Might inspire some people to make a run for it here. I rather the USA not lose any land.

Considering how long Scotland has been in the UK I think it's pretty weird to go for secession now.

Bith scotland and uk will suffer from seperaration, scotland may to have adopt the euro and could turn out like greece.

They have a comfy place as part of a strong economy that weathered the Euro crisis. I'm not sure how they could be stupid enough to do such a thing as break from England.

So long as we still have the Welsh.

Well so far the poll has suggested that the result will be close to 50% either way; I have read there is a divide between generations on the matter but either way almost half of the voters are going to be displeased with the outcome.

Been English I don't really care either way.

But Scotland will definitely be worse off financially if they do and several countries have already said they'd veto a independent Scotland joining the EU.

I'm Scottish and I vote yes. Still I'm very close almost half and half but when I think how much money the UK spends on England that doesn't reach Scotland then I have to vote yes, sure we get free education(used to) and the Scottish government funds millions of private healthcare for patients who need specialized treatment and whatever but its not enough, we have the oil, the land the heritage and its all drowned by England's influence. I want it gone.

Scotland has far more spent on it compared to how much is contributes in taxes, last year for example £47 billion paid in taxes compared to £65 billion in public spending.

Don't know why they play up the oil card so much north sea oil is near enough exhausted production rates are plummeting.

Of course more money is spent on England than the rest of the UK. 85% of UK citizens live in England.

If you look at how many people live in Scotland and how much the government spends on them, you'd realise that proportionately more is spent on Scotland than England.

Here is a good primer on the whole situation for those uninitiated.

Ten Questions About That Scottish Independence Vote

Hell no.

Go UK!

I'm English and even i would vote yes. England is a dump no thanks to the government, islam and the EU. It's too alien unlike it used to be. England isn't safe and its not a nice country to live in. I 100% hope scots win the yes vote, but i really hope the scots wont be too stupid enough to join the EU. The EU is the present day 3rd Reich. Scotland should be a republic and ditch the queen, she is useless. Good luck Scotland, i sure hope it works out for you guys either way be it a yes vote or a no vote.

It would be really interesting to see how they work everything out, for sure.

Will Scotland create their own currency? Joining the EU is probably years away at least. Will the UK grant them permission to continue to use the pound - seems unlikely. They made vague mentions of continuing to use the pound without permission, but that would leave them without an active central bank, among other issues.

Will they come to an agreement on Scotland's oil valuation? I've heard the Scotland values it at 1.5 trillion, while the UK values it at only a tenth of that.

It seems... messy.

What are the main argument points on both sides of the issue?

Hmm, if you are asking me what i think might be the end result here next week, i am guessing it will be to close to call right up to the end and the stay in uk will win with a very narrow margin that will keep the idea alive for years to come.

If you are asking me what i want/think should happen then i have no answer, even though my family can be traced to scotland and i have lived there for a few years i have no meaning, also it will have no meaning for anyone outside Scotland and since they will probably be offered to join the EU, it will also mean that there will be no restrictions or distinctions between scottish and immigrants.

Yeah, the economic implications are a bit scary for Scotland if they do choose to split. I'm not quite sure why they really would wan to (granted I'm not too well versed on the topic).

I would vote no. The economic implications for Scotland would be disastrous if they broke away from the UK. Plus they may find joining the EU a lot harder than they think right now.

If I was Scottish I would probably vote no. It just seems like this would do a whole lot more harm than good.

You'll still be able to move down south and get a job if the economy is f*cked. Especially if both remain in the EU.

My Grandfather grew up in Ireland shortly after they left the union, and that's how it was for his generation. They hold school reunions in London, because the majority of them had left the country during the decades of stagnation that followed independence.

I'm not from the UK but I think it will not be good for Scotland.

I hope they vote, No, as I think it would be a blow to stability. But, Scotland has every right to do whatever it wants.

the republican in me votes yes, the man of caution votes no

I always considered Scotland its own country anyway.

The same thing can't really happen here in the US. Any break from the union is considered an act of war and would be treated accordingly. The civil war provides an example of a states right to secede. Legally it cannot happen. Scotland on the other hand does have a legal ability to break from the U.K. Cameron himself signed the referendum to discuss Scottish independence. That hasn't happened in the United States so if a state did wish to secede they would have no legal basis to do so.

@ferrari2001: We do have territories that have the right to leave the US. Puerto Rico can leave if they choose, but they continue to vote to stay as they are.

Didn't Puerto Rico just vote to become a state a while ago? Whatever happened to that?

As for Scotland, it's whatever the people want. I don't fully understand why they would want to break away from England, but it's their choice.

Nop. We don't have a "right" to leave, we serve at the pleasure of your Majesty's Congress:

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"The commonwealth system does not, however, describe a legal status different from Puerto Rico’s constitutional status as a “territory” subject to Congress’s plenary authority under the Territory clause“to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory … belonging to the United States.”"

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/documents/2007-report-by-the-president-task-force-on-puerto-rico-status.pdf

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Contrary to popular believe kids, the US is a colonial power. That isn't to say that if Puerto Rico were to vote OVERWHELMINGLY for one option between statehood/independence (specially independence) that the United States Congress wouldn't be compelled by world wide pressure to deal with the Puerto Rico "problem". You could say that morally the US Congress would be oblige to the will of the US Citizens living in Puerto Rico but I have seen stranger things.

Many in Puerto Rico consider the results of that 2012 referendum illegitimate because of the way the ballot questions where (arguably) oddly and confusingly redacted [in favor of a yes vote for statehood].

Which was unnecessary since the statehood option probably would had won outright [the statehood option keeps getting a larger % of the votes each referendum if not an actual majority].

I'm pretty sure that if Puerto Rico voted for independence, most people in the US would be more than happy to have them granted their independence from the US.

I don't think anyone would really care if Puerto Rico left......except Puerto Rico of course.

Really? And watch the Feds pull the nukes and all military out of those states faster than you can blink an eye. I'd bet they suddenly wouldn't feel so secure.

Scotland will be a third world country without England. Scotland will become a European equivalent of an African nation over night.

It's a good thing we have plenty of hares to eat.

I don't live in Scotland but I don't want to see the UK break up, I think it would end badly for as all and there's no reason for it. This independence referendum has led to the fantastic achievement of getting nearly all of Scotland's population interested in politics again, discussing and debating issues and most importantly, turning out to vote. That's what we should be seeing at every election. I'm hoping for a no vote but one close enough that it brings about change, and that the people of Scotland can share their newfound enthusiasm and energy with the rest of us.

I voted yes today for independence.

I hope it does become independent.

Why? It doesn't make any sense.

Get the governments you vote for? It's called democracy, sometimes you get governments you don't like.

Remember that England suffered under the Labour Party for 13 years, despite most people in England voting Conservative.

I can't think any other excuses for independence so please enlighten me.

@Englandfc1966:

• If you removed all of the Scottish votes, the outcome of many elections would still be the same.
• We can then remove Trident and save money and get the oil out of the area.
• Hopefully wealth is spread around much better. Get rid of the food banks.

Labour aren't the same as old Labour. They're not that much different from the Tories.

Either way the vote goes, hopefully everything changes for the better.

Unless it breaks all ties with the Western world, that is literally impossible.

Anyway, I'm an American. It has no real discernible concern for me, so the Scots will vote for what they want and that's that, from my perspective.

It looks like Scotland has voted to remain part of the UK, according to CNN.

I think they made the right choice. Independence would have been a disaster for them and I say this as a person with ties to Scotland.

It's a ruse so they can cross the border without suspicion and come back with all the English whiskey in their bellies. Then who'll be laughing?

Well this is a depressing start to the day.

I don't want to hear those that voted against independence complain about any NHS cuts or Conservative / UKip Governments or powers promised for Scotland being broke.

Leave the UK and they would have had to cut £15-20 billion from scotland Public spending guess where that would come from.....