Will Scotland Leave the UK?

[Osem]

My God, the Islanders are bullying Salmond now...

How ironic that the SNP's grab for oil could have set off a chain of events in which it's ultimately snatched from them. That is of course if they really believe in self determination...

[Jimi]

Originally Posted by Sirius

So i was right you are full of poo

How do you think we power our wind farms, eh?

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Hugh,I don't believe those dates.

That just makes you a good little nationalist. When you don't like the facts, you don't believe the facts.

Are TNS engaged in some unionist conspiracy then, just inventing the dates they give on their polls?

Originally Posted by Jimi

How do you think we power our wind farms, eh?

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Hugh,I don't believe those dates.

They must be lying on their website, then.....

http://www.tnsglobal.com/uk/press-re...opinion-steady

Notes to editors

1. A sample of 1,019 adults aged 16+ was interviewed in 71 constituencies of the Scottish Parliament over the period 26th February to 9th March 2014

[Russ]

They ARE lying. They're all part of the conspiracy....

[Jimi]

Originally Posted by Chris

That just makes you a good little nationalist. When you don't like the facts, you don't believe the facts.

Are TNS engaged in some unionist conspiracy then, just inventing the dates they give on their polls?

If truth be told,the only one that will count is on September the 18th,we can argue right,left and centre until we're blue in the face and still won't get us anywhere.
Hugh posted about the Shetlands/Orkney Isles wanting a vote a week later,well it won't make one iota of difference.

http://www.shetnews.co.uk/features/s...althing-debate

[Russ]

Originally Posted by Jimi

If truth be told,the only one that will count is on September the 18th,we can argue right,left and centre until we're blue in the face and still won't get us anywhere.

Does that mean you won't be posting any more polls showing the 'yes' vote in a favourable position?

[jamiefrost]

Originally Posted by Jimi

Hugh posted about the Shetlands/Orkney Isles wanting a vote a week later,well it won't make one iota of difference.

http://www.shetnews.co.uk/features/s...althing-debate

Does that mean your OK with them devolving powers away from Scotland to give them more say in how their oil money is spent or not?

It wasn't about independence for Scotland but more powers for them.

J

[Pierre]

Originally Posted by Jimi

How do you think we power our wind farms, eh?.

Wind?

[Osem]

Hot air emanating from the SNP won't be enough to keep the lights on...

[Jimi]

Did I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Beer?

[Jimi]

Tick tock,tick tock,tick tolk.
Don't say I didn't warn you,but all you did was laugh and jest,I suppose if I was in the BT camp then I'd do likewise,Darling and Lamont are doing a great job for us right now,I'll drink tae their good health on September 19th once the results are declared.

Ooh look, the Daily Mail.

[Jimi]

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Originally Posted by Chris

Ooh look, the Daily Mail.

You want more like?
Okay,there you go.Facts !!!



Wealth distribution in Britian is so skewed that Britain's five wealthiest families are worth more than the poorest 20%, or 12.8m people. In many cases these families inherited wealth from landowners and politicians going back centuries:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/10702213...ciety.html

In some cases - such as in David Cameron's case - that inherited wealth is directly linked to slave ownership and slave trade, as well as compensation given to slave owners after slavery was abolished:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/hom...08358.html

Meanwhile, despite this enormous wealth disparity, the policies of austerity currently being imposed in Westminster are overwhelmingly targeting the poor:

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-simon...02793.html

This may be related to the fact that our Westminster government is run by personal millionaires(1), who are accountable to massive city finance donors (2) and extremely wealthy individuals (3):

1) - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics...llion.html

2) - http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011...-donations

3) - http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/sun...ne-1846462

That same cabinet of millionaires overwhelmingly represent constituencies within commuting distance of London:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jimwaterson/brit...of-england

Perhaps coincidentally, 80% of new private sector jobs created in the UK since 2009 have been based in London:

http://www.standard.co.uk/business/busin...87093.html

Corporate tax avoidance - companies like Starbucks, Boots, Amazon etc. legally avoiding tax they would conventionally owe - accounts for £35bn in lost revenue annually:

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013...nonpayment

Benefit fraud, on the other hand, costs us 1.6bn:

http://www.cas.org.uk/features/myth-bust...efit-fraud

Meanwhile, we actually save £2.8bn a year on benefits that go unclaimed:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17139088

Despite this, there were twelve mentions of welfare, and six mentions of benefit in David Cameron's 2013 Conservative Party Conference speech. No mention whatsoever of corporate tax avoidance, or tax evasion:

http://www.newstatesman.com/staggers/201...-full-text

There's been a fall in real wages by an average of 8.5% since 2009, which is the worst decline in living standards since 1870:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/regional-t...-2009.html

Meanwhile, income inequality growing faster in the UK than in any other wealthy country:

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/...-faster-uk

Despite this, top level tax for earners over £150k was reduced by 5% in 2012 under the current government: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/budge...o-45p.html

Whilst the gap gets bigger at a faster rate than any other rich country, 25% of Scottish children are living in poverty:

http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/where-...m/scotland

To date, no politician campaigning for the union appears to have even suggested that Scotland would be a fairer or more equal society if it remained part of the union; positive reasons generally appear to be thin on the ground:

http://www.bettertogether.net/pages/the-ve-case

Standard and Poor's credit assessment on an independent Scotland indicates that the economy would be rich and diversified, with wealth comparable to AAA-listed nations:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/209646043/Stan...t-Scotland

And the OECD ranks an independent Scotland as the 14th wealthiest nation in the world based on GDP per head of population:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0044/00446013.pdf

Scotland can afford to be independent, and David Cameron agreed:

"It would be wrong to suggest that Scotland could not be another... successful, independent country." - David Cameron (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/perso...nion.html)

[Osem]

Has someone trodden on a bagpipe?