Sir John Major said this week that some Scottish voters will be going to the polls without realising ‘all the implications of separation’. That’s an understatement. Most if not all Scottish voters will have no idea what they are letting themselves in for if the vote is ‘Yes’. (His article is well worth reading).
Any citizen of the Republic of Ireland and other EU countries who is resident in Scotland (and on the Electoral Register) and over the age of 16 at 18th September 2014 can vote. No matter how ‘Scottish’ you are by birth, if you live south of the border you can’t vote. Any 17 year old from any EU country who is registered in Scotland can vote.
My three kids are all half Scottish and we all have visited regularly. They all also went to Edinburgh University. Their father is a Scot and Scotland is part of their heritage. Their unanimous thought about this referendum is amazement that it should have got to this stage. None doubt that the Union will remain. I hope that they are right.
There are dire prognostications in the press; these are a few of today’s
Telegraph: RBS and Lloyds Shares Leap on Plans to Leave Scotland
Telegraph: Scots won’t get independence from a Yes vote
Essential Reading: Financial Times: How can one of the world’s most successful multinational states contemplate such a wilful act of self-harm?
Financial Times: Scottish Independence In Depth
The Guardian: 10 Reasons why Scotland should vote no
And one delightful Twitter notification to me yesterday ‘it’s utter nonsense not one firm will move’. Well I hope we won’t have to find out.
There’s a lot of emotional talk going on, a lot of discussion about currency, about oil, about the economy which I suspect most aren’t taking in because they believe it’s all politically driven. Read first and then decide.
The point is none of us knows exactly what the ramifications will be on any level. The one thing that is absolutely without doubt is that this is a huge decision being taken by many who won’t know what they’re doing, or have done, until it’s too late. And this is not something that can be changed back. Once Pandora comes out of the box she’ll be there to stay. And the regrets may well follow.
As Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, said a couple of days ago ‘the Bank (of England) would not aid an independent Scotland in using the pound, leaving Yes campaigners with few options on currency.’
"That's just the economics of it",
More reading; Time Magazine - What Happens If Scotland Votes For Independence?
