An independent Scotland?

[ronmcd]

Pure coincidence, but spotted this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20048521 on the subject of who gets to vote.

Yup, it's nothing to do with being Scottish, it's residence, the people who live in Scotland and are on the electoral register for the Scottish Parliament & local elections, plus an intention to add all 16 and 17 year olds (who are legally adults in Scots law).

[Thinking Aloud]

Pure coincidence, but spotted this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20048521 on the subject of who gets to vote.

Yup, it's nothing to do with being Scottish, it's residence, the people who live in Scotland and are on the electoral register for the Scottish Parliament & local elections, plus an intention to add all 16 and 17 year olds (who are legally adults in Scots law).

I was interested in the numbers of migrants within the UK in particular.

[ronmcd]

Pure coincidence, but spotted this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20048521 on the subject of who gets to vote.

Yup, it's nothing to do with being Scottish, it's residence, the people who live in Scotland and are on the electoral register for the Scottish Parliament & local elections, plus an intention to add all 16 and 17 year olds (who are legally adults in Scots law).

I was interested in the numbers of migrants within the UK in particular.

Do you mean the number of people born in England, or from outside UK? Either way, I think it's the right decision to use the same system as was used in the referendum to setup the Scottish Parliament, ie those who have chosen to live and vote in Scotland.

[Thinking Aloud]

Pure coincidence, but spotted this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20048521 on the subject of who gets to vote.

Yup, it's nothing to do with being Scottish, it's residence, the people who live in Scotland and are on the electoral register for the Scottish Parliament & local elections, plus an intention to add all 16 and 17 year olds (who are legally adults in Scots law).

I was interested in the numbers of migrants within the UK in particular.

Do you mean the number of people born in England, or from outside UK? Either way, I think it's the right decision to use the same system as was used in the referendum to setup the Scottish Parliament, ie those who have chosen to live and vote in Scotland.

I'm quite in agreement on the voting. Yes - those from other UK regions who live in Scotland, and those from Scotland who live elsewhere in the UK. I had no idea of the proportions.

[Rum]

I wonder what the nationality of your kids might end up being if Salmonella wins..

[Svartalf]

I'm surprised there's so much a 5 M people in Scotland... I wonder how many of those are concentrated in Glasco and Dùn Eideann, and areas around and/or South of them

[Svartalf]

I wonder if future Scots will be allowed to retain British passports... I mean, if so, every Scot will forever have the option of also being a British citizen...

[Rum]

More than half are in the central belt I believe - i.e. Glasgow and Edinburgh, but the rest of Scotland is surprisingly empty! It is 100 miles from here to Edinburgh/Glasgow and all but the last seven or eight, where it starts to build up is very quiet countryside, a few small towns and villages and not much else. It is a lovely area, not a huge tourist destination either which is a bit of a surprise. Perhaps the weather puts them off.

[John_fi_Skye]

Highland, which includes Skye where I live, is the largest local authority area in the UK, but has a population density of 9 per square km [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_(council_area)]. If you left out Dundee and Aberdeen, as well as the central belt, you'd have a very sparsely-populated country.

[ronmcd]

Pure coincidence, but spotted this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20048521 on the subject of who gets to vote.

Yup, it's nothing to do with being Scottish, it's residence, the people who live in Scotland and are on the electoral register for the Scottish Parliament & local elections, plus an intention to add all 16 and 17 year olds (who are legally adults in Scots law).

I was interested in the numbers of migrants within the UK in particular.

Do you mean the number of people born in England, or from outside UK? Either way, I think it's the right decision to use the same system as was used in the referendum to setup the Scottish Parliament, ie those who have chosen to live and vote in Scotland.

I'm quite in agreement on the voting. Yes - those from other UK regions who live in Scotland, and those from Scotland who live elsewhere in the UK. I had no idea of the proportions.

Yeah, I wouldn't have had any clue how many there are in Scotland from other parts of UK, I guess thinking about it the figures in that article make sense. Of course it's not really migration in that sense, as we are all one state so people move relatively often depending where the work is, done it myself. I must check with my brother in England, I've never actually asked him how he feels about not being able to vote in the referendum, I would guess he would agree it's not his right to vote as he isnt registered here any more, but I dont know for sure.

I do wonder how the electoral register might change in the next 2 years, as theoretically anyone with a family residence in Scotland could register to vote here rather than somewhere else in UK where they actually live.

[devogue]

I think Scotland should go for it.

In 1973 New Zealand faced a major crisis when the UK joined the EEC - all of the bilateral trade agreements were scrapped and the resulting figures are staggering:

In 1973, 30% of NZ's exports were sent to the UK - within 20 years this fell to less than 10%. But it went both ways - in 1960 43% of NZ's total imports came from Britain. By 1980 this fell to 14.5% and by 2007 the figure was 3%.

So what you have is a complete readjustment of the direction of a national economy by necessity - and behind those figures lay stories of immense energy, entrepreneurship, opportunity, fighting for new markets, new ideas, new friends and partnerships. All this was done by a tiny country in the back arse of nowhere - forced to face a cold wind rather than having the choice to go it alone. The umbilical cord to empire was well and truly cut. By all accounts it was really scary, serious soul searching was done, but look what NZ has become in the past 40 years - it is consistently rated as one of the top five countries in the world to live, it has one of the top five education systems in the world and it has mastery of its own destiny with, for instance, trade agreements with countries like China which give it first dibs on investment and trade opportunities. There is much to be said for the strength of great economic bloc's like the USA and the EU, but there is also a place for the nippy little yachts like Australia and NZ and I quite like the sense of national confidence and optimism this freedom seems to bring.

Scotland has natural resources NZ can only dream of (even if it only got a pro rata 9% of North Sea resources after independence). It is incredibly well placed geographically. It can learn the lessons of Ireland's demise, and the reasons for its initial success. It can create its own dynamic economy by opening its English speaking shop right next door to England - why shouldn't Glasgow become a London of the north?

What a fantastic opportunity - I think the Scots would be scared fucking pussies if they turned down this once in ten lifetimes chance.

Face the wind!

[Pappa]

I think they should claim ownership of the North Sea gas. It'd be really funny watching Westminster decide whether to send the troops in.

[devogue]

I think they should claim ownership of the North Sea gas. It'd be really funny watching Westminster decide whether to send the troops in.

And watching the Ulster Scots squirming over who to support.

[Woodbutcher]

The Parti Quebecois is in power in Quebec again. Soon the independence for Quebec rhetoric will start. We'll give England Quebec and Alberta for Scotland....

[Jason]

The Parti Quebecois is in power in Quebec again. Soon the independence for Quebec rhetoric will start. We'll give England Quebec and Alberta for Scotland....

Is there a way we could do it so we keep Quebec and Alberta and trade the Quebecers and Albertans instead?