[Cmca1]

David Cameron with his past wrangling over the date of the Scottish Independence Referendum and his attitudes towards the wording of the question of the referendum really has been winning the Independence argument for the SNP. Tory cuts, 1 Tory MP north of the border, Westminster trying to dictate the Scottish referendum, the Conservatives can't really win unless they back away...

...but they've now done that and Cameron has conceded that he will not control the date of the referendum...but this has angered his Scottish Tory counterparts.

I wonder how disenfranchised the Scottish Conservatives must feel with the Westminster and Cameron brand of Conservative politics?

http://newsnetscotland.com/index.php...date-climbdown

Also, does this even make sense? Seems a bit hypocritical of Labour and the Conservatives...
http://newsnetscotland.com/index.php...rtory-alliance

Scottish Independence is inevitable...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukp...1337075518530A

POLL - WILL Scotland become independent? (Not do you want them to.)

[meenu89]

I still believe the Scots will choose will vote to remain part of the Union, once they sort out that dreadfully biased question...

[Cmca1]

(Original post by meenu89)
I still believe the Scots will choose will vote to remain part of the Union, once they sort out that dreadfully biased question...

Go on, say it, you're really in favour of Scottish Independence

[meenu89]

(Original post by Cmca1)
Go on, say it, you're really in favour of Scottish Independence

Personally I couldn't care less.

[ukip72]

I want to be optimistic but the union campaign need to find a popular unionist in Scotland. Any Tory involvement and the 300 year old union is dead.
Sadly I'm not sure people will notice Salmond's ridiculously biased question and his unrealistic demands.

[Cmca1]

(Original post by ukip72)
I want to be optimistic but the union campaign need to find a popular unionist in Scotland. Any Tory involvement and the 300 year old union is dead.
Sadly I'm not sure people will notice Salmond's ridiculously biased question and his unrealistic demands.

Well, I think it would be rude to think that the Scottish people are stupid. At the end of the day, if someone wants independence or not, they'll know exactly what they're voting for on a ballot form, regardless of the wording of the question.

By the way, the question on the poll above is about will Scotland be independent, not should they be or do you want them to be. (Just so it's clear for everyone )

[ukip72]

(Original post by Cmca1)
Well, I think it would be rude to think that the Scottish people are stupid. At the end of the day, if someone wants independence or not, they'll know exactly what they're voting for on a ballot form, regardless of the wording of the question.

By the way, the question on the poll above is about will Scotland be independent, not should they be or do you want them to be. (Just so it's clear for everyone )

I do not believe Scottish people are stupid. The question is biased and will influence the result, only the SNP argue otherwise. My point about Tory involvement was saying Cameron is helping the SNP.

[Cmca1]

(Original post by ukip72)
I do not believe Scottish people are stupid. The question is biased and will influence the result, only the SNP argue otherwise. My point about Tory involvement was saying Cameron is helping the SNP.

Oh I know, but if someone has always wanted Scotland to be independent, they'll vote for that. Similarly if someone equally knows they want Scotland in the union, they'll vote for that.

[ukip72]

(Original post by Cmca1)
Oh I know, but if someone has always wanted Scotland to be independent, they'll vote for that. Similarly if someone equally knows they want Scotland in the union, they'll vote for that.

I know some people will already know how they'll vote regardless of the question however otherwise the question is a pathetic attempt by the SNP to fix the referendum

[RyanT]

(Original post by ukip72)
I do not believe Scottish people are stupid. The question is biased and will influence the result, only the SNP argue otherwise. My point about Tory involvement was saying Cameron is helping the SNP.

If a biased question is enough to cause Scottish independence, then there wasn't much keeping them in anyway.

I don't see Bristol seceding from England, regardless of how any question is worded.

Cameron doesn't do himself any favours but it's hard to tell if it's incompetence or a secret desire to **** it up. I hope he carries on regardless, better happy and separate then unhappy together.

[Aj12]

Problem with this campaign is that none of the actual issues are coming out. Someone needs to question Salmond on how he plans to turn Scotland into a prosperous nation. I want to know his economic plans since if Scotland gets independence it will be overly independent on finite North Sea oil.

[Cmca1]

(Original post by Aj12)
Problem with this campaign is that none of the actual issues are coming out. Someone needs to question Salmond on how he plans to turn Scotland into a prosperous nation. I want to know his economic plans since if Scotland gets independence it will be overly independent on finite North Sea oil.

Well any economic problems that exist within the union have an opportunity to be corrected by a government elected by the Scottish people.

I also believe that Scotland leaving the political union would help England, Wales and NI. It would strengthen the case for devolving power to councils and regional assemblies and could give local people a greater say on the way in which they are governed.

A split of the union could strengthen and improve the remaining areas - it could be the wake up call the UK needs, and the chance for Scotland to prove its worth as an independent nation

[ukip72]

(Original post by Aj12)
Problem with this campaign is that none of the actual issues are coming out. Someone needs to question Salmond on how he plans to turn Scotland into a prosperous nation. I want to know his economic plans since if Scotland gets independence it will be overly independent on finite North Sea oil.

Salmond's whole career has been about achieving independence, I doubt he has a plan for what to do if his dream is realised.

[Cmca1]

(Original post by ukip72)
Salmond's whole career has been about achieving independence, I doubt he has a plan for what to do if his dream is realised.

Scottish Independence has never had a better chance of becoming reality than it has now! I'm sure the SNP and pro-Indy crowd are working on it. England and the rest of the union too should be preparing for a constitutional change!

[RyanT]

(Original post by Cmca1)
Well any economic problems that exist within the union have an opportunity to be corrected by a government elected by the Scottish people.

I also believe that Scotland leaving the political union would help England, Wales and NI. It would strengthen the case for devolving power to councils and regional assemblies and could give local people a greater say on the way in which they are government.

A split of the union could strengthen and improve the remaining areas - it could be the wake up call the UK needs.

NI is Scotland's colony. If Scotland leaves, NI will be following it.

Somewhat of a non-sequitor to say it strengthens the case for regionalism. A region that was less similar to the other regions leaves... that reduces regional differences and hence demand for regional governance. It's already deeply unpopular in England with referendums being consistently voting against devolution within England.

[ukip72]

(Original post by Cmca1)
Scottish Independence has never had a better chance of becoming reality than it has now! I'm sure the SNP and pro-Indy crowd are working on it. England and the rest of the union too should be preparing for a constitutional change!

I agree it's never been more likely however there is still a slim majority against independence. Also the SNP might have a plan however they could also be hopelessly incompetent.

[JumbleJumble]

Having spoken to people at school (about their own and their parents' views) I feel that unless people have a clear view either way for some reason, they will generally vote in favour of independence simply because they like the sound of 'independence' and not because they see any benefits socially/economically. I'm not sure how people can be educated on the possible positives/negatives of voting either way, but i think this definitely needs to happen to ensure that this vote isn't entirely skewed by people with a bias against England for no real reason. I also agree that the wording of the question is fuelling this bias as people tend to see 'independence' as an inherently good thing without trying to look further and see the benefits of the union.

[Cmca1]

(Original post by RyanT)
NI is Scotland's colony. If Scotland leaves, NI will be following it.

Somewhat of a non-sequitor to say it strengthens the case for regionalism. A region that was less similar to the other regions leaves... that reduces regional differences and hence demand for regional governance. It's already deeply unpopular in England with referendums being consistently voting against devolution within England.

Spot on, I agree, NI will leave the Union eventually too.

[Cmca1]

(Original post by ukip72)
I agree it's never been more likely however there is still a slim majority against independence. Also the SNP might have a plan however they could also be hopelessly incompetent.

They could well be yeah...but so could successive Labour or Conservative governments at Westminster...as could the current coaltion.

[cl_steele]

isnt it in camerons interest to see the scottish get independance though? labour have a fair number of seats up there and loosing them certainly wouldnt help labour at the polls whilst the tories havent really had a presence up there since thatcher
dont get me wrong itd be a serious shame to loose scotland but please do correct me if im wrong in the way im looking at this..