General Chat

Ex pat celebrity friends of Alex Salmond who have not lived in Scotland
for years want independence, if that should happen God help us, they
don't live here so will not suffer the consequences that the rest of us will.

Scotland and it's people doesn't matter a jot to them so imo should not have
the right to vote.

Emma

I am presuming the judgement that the European Court of Human Rights handed down in respect of UK elections has set a precedent, if that is the case, I think that if a case is brought on behalf of Scots ex-pats in respect of the Scottish referendum, the European Court of Human Rights could well rule that a blanket ban on Scots ex-pats is to rigid and unfair.

Only time will tell, because if such a case is brought, it will put a spanner in the works, for the plans of Alex Salmond and his cronies, not least, whether the referendum can go ahead on the planned date.

Why all the focus on what Alex Salmond thinks? If it was just him then it would be just one vote for independence. No, what matters is what the people resident in Scotland, of whatever nationality, think. If they gained independence then Salmond could be out on his ear at the first Scottish General Election. That's how democracy works. Furthermore, this is not an argument about if Scotland will go independent but more a matter of when. The referendum might just be too soon but change is underway and many see independence as inevitable.

I have lived in Spain for nearly 10 years & am married to a Spaniard.
I can vote in the local elections, but not the national ones unless I take Spanish nationality. I can´t do that until I have lived in Spain for 15 years...not that I want to!!
Surely there is a need to equal out people´s voting rights throughout the EU. Either you can only vote in your country of birth, or only in your country of habitual residence no matter where you were born.

70%-30% for the NO vote is my prediction. You heard it here first. Bob

Radio 4 had a fascinating play on Friday afternoon based around the Yes votes winning. The play centred around the post election meeting at Holyrood between David Cameron and Alex Salmon to negotiate terms.

Worth listening to if you missed it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03xgsly

I lived in Scotland for 10 years and I can see both sides

Yes, I caught the play while I was driving.

I am not sure what point the author and/or producers were trying to make. Possibly just that the media glitterati have a preference for any kind of opposition to the English and especially Dave the wannabee Scotsman.

The idea in the program that post a "yes" independence vote negotiations would be held anywhere near Holyrood House is fatuous - the English have seen too many episodes of Rebus to take such a chance.

The program as usual portrays Dave the brave as dim and by proxy the entire English ruling establishment. There are many things you would not say about the English ruling class ( including the Left ) in front of the horses but they are neither dim nor soft ( other than the Stansgates of course ).

Wee 'eck on the other hand is portrayed as somebody infinitely smarter than dim Dave who is allowed to negotiate away solo all UK red lines such as no currency union. Dave is allowed a small victory on the golf driving range.

The heavy focus on the submarine base at Faslane betrays the motives of the author and very likely the producers of the program. The conclusion that the English would pay any price to maintain the base for 20 years is absurd.

Leaving Radio4 fantasy behind the Scots people are not daft and moreover have long and dreadful memories of the Sassenachs as enemies. I kinda doubt that they want a rerun. As it is wee ' eck is already showing just what kind of democracy he has in mind for Scotland. Unfortunately the English are already showing their teeth.

The vote will be a crushing "no".

As it is considered correct to disclose any personal bias in such matters I have a great friend who works for RBS at Penecuik, one of my female rellies was married to one of the Bentinck - Cumberlands, my GGF was garrisoned at Fort George, Inverness where his wife had three daughters, a present day rellie is a uni lecturer in Dundee. Going a bit further back an ancestor was one of the victors at Flodden. A female ancestor was burned alive in her fortified house by the Scots in a border raid. Biased? me, no, I love malt Scotch, Ian Rankin, Angus beef, Auld Reekie and sailing through the Minch.

I strongly believe that both Scotland and England have benefited no end from the union and breaking it asunder would do neither country any good at all. The sums now wasted on the referendum are a drop in the ocean to what an independent Scotland would burn through.

Maybe in the spirit of friendship we could lend Mr Lancaster to Scotland for a few months and he could instil the basics of how to play rugby union football.

The most frightening thing about it all is that the senior Civil Service are in favour . The Treasury sees a chance to make a major slash in expenditure. Creating Scottish duplicates of all the departments of state could create a jobs beanfeast. Osbourne - who has said very little in support of the Union - sees it as a great chance for permanent Tory govt in England. Alistair Carmichael MP has gone feral.

Many of the non-Scots living in Scotland will vote NO. Are the thousands of RBS, Standard Life, Bank of Scotland and Shell Staff who may lose their jobs on independence likely to vote Yes???

It will never happen.

This is a waste of time and money!!!