Scottish Independence.

AntrimMan wrote: AntrimMan wrote: As i can't really be bothered looking, anyone able to explain in laymans terms what would happen to Scotlands oil and gas resources in the event of independance? I'd see that as the key factor   Its answered below but was wondering if there were any other complaictions to this i.e, oil and gas fields being already sold off to the likes of BP, exploration rights already sold or something like that.   I don't have a scooby about that whole thing but imagine Westminster wouldn't be keen on letting that revenue stream go easily.

I worked in the Summer for the Scottish Parliament. They are going to vote no, the only support is up North. The majority of people live around the Clyde, that's Labour country. If Scotland were to go on their own, they'd lose the super power, the UN seat, the G20 etc. They may not get the oil as it's a crown estate and may go to the British. However Scotland will have by 2020 nearly all it's energy from wind.

The reason the SNP are in power is not because of the will to have an independent state but because they are a populist party, no road tolls, no water charges, council tax freezes etc. They have no plans either to become a republic, they want to become a free state with the Queen and become members of what they call a 'Sterlinzone.'

I think the UK needs to become a federal state, however there is little desire to become independent. If they were to vote yes, it's not that it's going to become a socalist country, only a few years back the country had a pile of Tory voters. They'll be stuck with a fair share of British debt too, thousands in the military will lose their jobs.

The thing that scares people in Scotland the most is Ireland, they just look at our history, the millions who left, the poverty in the 30s and the current mess.

Must say aswell that when the Olympics and and the Queen's stuff was on, there were Union Flags everywhere, out people's windows, on the streets etc.


Edited by corkery - 22 Aug 2012 at 12:55pm

Hoosay wrote:   They'd be a separate EU state though, so they'd have a lot more influence their than they do currently.

 

will they claim rockall

@clonbhoy
Im not saying what they should or shouldnt do.its of no relevence to me but if i was scottish id think hard about independence if it weakens their position in europe. ive said it before but i have to give the british credit for keeping londons status as a financial centre without interference from Brussels. They ll question europe alot more than we will and can actually think for themselves unlike our government that acts like germanys lapdog. id be wary of independence in that sense tbh. look how long we were in the doldrums after independence. i doubt the scots would want to go there. you need to look at things without the nationalistic aspect that but thats just my opinion. it doesnt mean im right

Edited by irishmufc - 22 Aug 2012 at 1:29pm

RogerMilla wrote: da scientist wrote: will they claim rockall        itll never fall into scotlands greedy hands

irishmufc wrote: @clonbhoy Im not saying what they should or shouldnt do.its of no relevence to me but if i was scottish id think hard about independence if it weakens their position in europe. ive said it before but i have to give the british credit for keeping londons status as a financial centre without interference from Brussels. They ll question europe alot more than we will and can actually think for themselves unlike our government that acts like germanys lapdog. id be wary of independence in that sense tbh. look how long we were in the doldrums after independence. i doubt the scots would want to go there. you need to look at things without the nationalistic aspect that but thats just my opinion. it doesnt mean im right

Quite right we were in the doldrums for a long time after independence. Some of that was down to poor choices by Dev and the madness of a economic war with a superpower of the time and our largest trading partner. However we were still far, far better off than we ever were within the Union. We had no developed industry to speak of at independence because we werent allowed to. We were just used as a breadbasket for Britain. And I stress for Britain, we werent even allowed us our own food to feed ourselves. As bad as things might have got in the 30s, 40s and 50s we never had people dropping dead from hunger in the streets by the thousands. The national humilation of partition copperfastend our lack of industry as we lost the only real bit of industrial output we had in the northeast. Partition would have also had a huge effect on econimies on border counties and does to this very day. The Irish econonmy went through hundreds of years of retardation, its people through hundreds of years of humiliation. Its a wonder we are able to function as modern state at all. I think (depspite our current economic situation) we have done remarkably well considering from were starting from in the 20s. Scotland, by and large, will not have any of these problems. If the people of Scotland want to look at the 30s, 40s and 50s in Ireland and use that as a reason not to vote for independence then that is extremely shortsighted of them and would have no bearing whatsoever on how an independent Scotland would fare.

irishmufc wrote: @the walls I agree with ya that it wouldnt be as bad but the comparison im making with ireland is that their say and positon is weakened in europe. Britain who are still a major power in the EU. this would suggest to me that it wouldnt make sense breaking away from this. I know britain isnt the force it was but its still a big economy with a huge population for its landmass and i wouldnt think it would be advisable to break away completely given the sway france and germany hold

I'm not expert but would this not be financial suicide for Scotland?