Quote:
Originally Posted by LondonRoad
It's moved on from the bull***** of BT and the false smugness of the Yes campaign. I'm witnessing the debate taking place in the street, in the office, on the train and in the living room. The ordinary punters have suddenly became galvanised by the referendum and it's not down to politicians or the mainstream printed media.
From being fairly convinced that I'd vote No, I've moved towards considering voting Yes. Much of the BT together campaign is based on scaremongeing; the facts as presented aren't so concrete as they had me believe, and some of it is just downright insulting to anybody with half a brain.... you won't get BBC (that'll get the Eastender fans voting no), Cancer research funding will be removed from Scottish Universities etc.
The main point that made me reconsider my position was from a colleague who turned the argument on it's head. He asked, if Scotland was already independent, would I vote Yes in a referendum to become part of the United Kingdom..... my behind is getting sore sitting on the fence while I ponder that one. 
In my circles, at the moment, there is definitely a fair bit of momentum for the Yes campaign that I don't think is quite being captured in the rest of the UK. It's not quite a juggernaut so I suspect the No vote will still win.... but maybe not.
In Football terms, the No campaign were winning by 2-0 against 10 men. The yes campaign have now got a penalty and the No campaign have had their goalie sent off.....There's still 10 minutes to go...  |
But the basic principles remain the same. Yes is advocating a better, wealthier, Scotland and No is advocating remaining in the Union. You either believe Yes can offer this or not you either believe Better Together's protestations that their promises aren't possible or you believe they're scaremongering.
(As I side note the SNP have already said there would be a Scottish Public Broadcaster so not sure why saying you won't get the BBC is absurd considering you won't be paying towards it)
I have seen the question before about would Scotland vote Yes to joining the Union and really find it very insulting. It's a slap in the face to everyone else in it and the history behind it. As Derek says there are many times in which Scotland almost certainly would have longed to join. Would Scotland even be in a position to join if it weren't? Did Scotland's trade and manufacturing booms do well in spite or because of the Union? For it's size the UK has been absurdly successful in almost every department.
We don't know what Scotland would be otherwise. Scotland was built in the Union and the Union was built with Scotland. There have been 300 years of pretty successful history in which both sides did well from the it. However in recent times Scotland has had a smaller deficit than the rest of the UK and there is no direct budgetary gain from remaining the Union and the SNP are asking why Scottish money should be spent on the rest of the Union instead of Scotland. Fine. Another reason to vote Yes. This is a one of the moments in the Unions long history where Scotland is a net contributor so I guess it wouldn't join.
As with Rizzyking I am slowly losing the will to care. I do believe Scotland will vote Yes at this point. The momentum is with them and the gap is close.