World events

We can go back and forth on this issue forever. I'm sure they said our own independence was a 'fantasy world' as well back in 1814 when we separated ourselves from the Danes, or again from the Swedes in 1905, but it turned out pretty OK for a variety of reasons. I keep bringing up Norway's past again and again, because it's so relevant -- and frequently used by the 'yes' side in the campaigns. The struggle for independence is so ingrained in every Norwegian, that if you took a poll here, the overwhelming majority would be 'pro' Scottish independence.

So my cultural, historical and personal history dictates that I will always be pro Scottish independence, even now after the vote has been decided.

But again, I'm just an outsider with strong opinions on the issue. The 'yes' crowd in Scotland is the one that's REALLY feeling down now, and deservedly so. Hopefully, things will get back to normal in a few years.

Wales? Now there's a funny place!

As it's literally a 20 minute drive from me I've been there more times than I can count. It's a beautiful country, loads of ancient history, fabulous castles and monasteries ( all wrecked during Henry VIII's time Dissolution of The Monasteries ) and of course, great hiking. The capital, Cardiff is a great city, perfect for clubbing, pubbing and partying, I know the city very well. If you ever get there I'd definitely make an effort to see you.

Also, our very own Scotsman, Alan lives there.

Cool.

There are no direct, cheap flights to Wales from Norway, as far as I know, but maybe I could fly into an English city and then travel from there.

(fortunately there WAS the weather to go with the beautiful beach on that day!)

Probably Birmingham would be a good start, easy access from there.

I think Norway would do much better in a Union of Great Scandinavia governed from Stockholm.

Yes, I would have been a NO voter - if I had had the opportunity to vote. I do believe that I should have been given the opportunity to vote even though I don't live there anymore. And I am not sure what the relevance there is (other than geography) for non-Scots being able to vote just because they live there. Their own values may have been different from those born in Scotland - but on the other hand, non-Scottish residents may have been less likely to vote with their heart.

Although I would be a NO voter I do see myself as being Scottish first and British second. That may seem a bit unusual but I think that it hints at my main reason for being in the NO camp - the uncertainty as to whether Scotland could have maintained their level of living being independent. If the YES campaign had been able to lay out the details of how independence would have worked then I may have been tempted to vote for independence.

The world today is globalised and change has more far-reaching effects today than at any time in the past. And because of this far-reaching effect, there would be more consequences that would filter back to affect an independent Scotland. The YES campaign were at pains to point out the - as they put it - the "scaremongering" from businesses who felt that the status quo could not be maintained if Scotland separated. For example, banks would have moved a proportion of their business away from Scotland if independence would have happened. But that scaremongering was, to my mind, just businesses telling it how it was and the YES campaign put their own spin on it.

The YES campaign were just too vague about how an independent Scotland would have worked and should have been planning and negotiating months, years before the vote so that the Scottish people (and business) could understand what would happen after the vote if it was a YES. Remove the uncertainty, give the people a vision of how it would work and let the Scottish people vote with their hearts - and I think that independence would have happened. And removing the uncertainty would have helped business prepare for the changes.

A 45% YES vote from 85% of the people eligible to vote is a significant number of people. There is a strong base for an independent Scotland. That can't be ignored. The UK government has made promises to give more powers and there is an expectation by the Scottish people - all of the Scottish people - for them to deliver. How difficult it is to deliver on the promise (regardless of backbench revolts, etc) are irrelevant - Scotland expects. And if the UK government don't deliver then I don't think that that 45% YES will remain that low for long: there are many who may have voted NO because of the promise and see that as being necessary for the NO votes to remain for the Union.

I've always said that I've never felt so Scottish than when I moved away from Scotland and that's still true. But I see that now wasn't the right time to be truly independent. I think that Scotland will be independent again one day, but there needs to be more thought put into what that would mean, how it would work and how it would affect the Scottish people for it to happen.


And now there's calls for more devolution for Wales, Northern Ireland and even England. Don't get me started on that...

Don't read it sober! I certainly didn't write it that way.

So let me get it, anyone who wants attention (or more moneys) will push for independence votes now?

The thing is D, our Prime Minister, David Cameron is a blowhard bag of wind and a fucking liar ( as most of these odious creeps are ), Cameron probably said all that shit to the Scots with no intention of doing anything about it.

That's absolutely right James. My above comment should be taken with a small pinch of salt as my hatred of the Conservatives, particularly surgically lip removed Mr Punch lookeelikee Cameron and his equally out-of-touch buddies the Osbourne, the IDS and the Hague is nearly boundless. Bunch of Wankers!

Politicians? Actually I hate the whole fucking lot of them.

Oh, we don't do things like constitutions.