Scottish Independence Debate on BBC Tonight

[Pauline]

The Scotland Referendum, where Scots vote whether or not to stay in the UK, takes place in a few weeks - on September 18. Tonight is the second and final debate on the topic.

We will be in France when the vote happens, but I will be glued to the news. In 2013, pollster Nate Silver said there was no chance that Scotland would vote yes. The latest article that I read still has the NOs winning, but not by a large margin.

One profound effect on England would be that it would be much harder to get a Labour government elected, since all of Scotland's MPs, except one, are Labour. From the Financial Times - "Labour would need nearly a quarter of a million extra votes to win a majority at the next election if Scotland becomes independent, according to new calculations."

The Guardian has a good overview of the Scottish Independence vote.

(Yes, I am breaking my own rule about "no politics".)

 

[Pauline]

An article in today's Guardian about the vote.
http://gu.com/p/4x3jj

 

[Pauline]

The latest polls show Scotland evenly divided on the issue.

The Guardian - We have 10 days to find a settlement to save the union
There is only one way now to stop the independence bandwagon. Westminster's party leaders must offer a fully federal Britain that would benefit everyone

 

[Pauline]

They are voting in Scotland today. Polls close at 10pm. No reporting on the vote until the polls close. Results should be know by tomorrow (Friday) morning. Read more here http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-29176884

 

[Pauline]

The results are in and they voted No.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-29270441

Part of me wanted Scotland to separate, but I think it will be better for all of us in the UK if they stay a part of it.

 

[Terry]

Just catching up with this thread. We were in Scotland for the week and a half leading up to the vote. It was a time just full of buzz, and quite exciting. We definitely felt wrapped in it. It was the ONLY thing on the news. Everywhere we went, city or countryside, were signs of "YES please" or "NO thanks." In Edinburgh and especially Glasgow, the YES-es seemed to be in the overwhelming majority. But maybe they were just louder. The streets of Glasgow felt like a trip back to the '60s, with rock bands, stickers, banners, and lots of politics, banter, and gatherings in the streets, parks, coffeehouses, windows, everywhere to vote YES.

I too wanted to see an independent Scotland, but I don't know enough about the economics of such a move and how the country would have fared. Ultimately, I guess, things will never be the same again, and that's part of history now, and the future. I admire the peacefulness of the process, the democracy in action, and the amount of patriotism and national pride that the Scots all feel, no matter which side of the equation they fell.