From the point of view of engineering and industry, would it be a good thing or a bad thing for Scotland to vote for independence?
• I’m Scottish and it would be good for Scotland to be independent
• I’m Scottish and it would not be good for Scotland to be independent
• I’m not Scottish and it would be good for Scotland to be independent
• I’m not Scottish and it would not be good for Scotland to be independent
• None of the above
This page will show the poll results from 2nd September; to go straight to the poll click here. Please let us know what you think of this subject and the options we have suggested.
I’m not Scottish and it would be good for Scotland to be independent
Read more: https://www.theengineer.co.uk/opinion/poll-scottish-independence/1019108.article#ixzz3BV2yKyMs
I don’t see much difference. It would be nice to be able to travel to Scotland without the need to travel 4 hours to London to apply for a visa for non-eu people.
I wonder what Salmond is going to do if the vote goes against his very personal crusade? The honourable thing and disappear? I very much doubt it. The most probable is that he will continue to take the money and be a waste of the UK taxpayers hard earned cash.
How about the option:
Decisions of this magnitude are far too complex (and emotive) for ‘ordinary people’ to make and should be left to their elected representatives, supported by the offices of government/civil services etc., to make the decisions we pay them to make on our behalf rather than using referenda as a cop out.
I’m not Scottish and it would be good for Scotland to be independent
Actually, it’s the other way around. They say that “An Englishman is someone who lives on an island in the North Sea, ruled by Scotsmen.”
Why would the Scots want to let go of the control they have on the English?
I’m not Scottish (though I was born in Aberdeen).
I think independence would be a bad thing for the whole of the UK.
To me it feels like a personal crusade by Alex Salmond and a few others and they are prepared to go to any lengths (lowering voting age to 16) to try to further their cause.
They also seem extraordinarily badly prepared with fundamental questions such as EU membership and currency arrangements still unresolved.
I’m inclined to agree with the earlier commenter that this is too complex and emotive a subject to be left to the blunt instrument of referendum.
Before oil was found Scotland was heavily supported by government investment of heavy industries, infrastructure and housing where there was none or very little.
Now the heavy industries are fading with third world rapidly expanding theirs.
Consider the time when the oil/gas finally runs out and what results without support from the south?
What no Navy/Army to prevent invasion, fisheries protection (remember the cod wars) ?
Conjoined Scotland within the UK is essential for power and everyone’s security in our islands.
I am Scottish, live in England. As do a multitude of professional scots. It’s not just wander lust that created a huge Scottish diaspora . The idea that it is easy to separate two bureaucratic systems from two hundred years of integration both fiscal and legal using civil servants is ludicrous to the point of insanity. I have not yet met 1 expatriate scot who thinks this is a good idea. Emotionally , fine . Paint yourself in wode and sing Scotland the brave into the wind coming off the North Sea before going home to a diminishing unemployment benefit cheque. Be careful what you wish for!
I think independence will be great for Scotland and the rest of the UK. I am an engineer and see lots of investment coming into an independent Scotland because for the first time Scotland will be able to invest in itself. So there will be huge benefits for construction companies etc from all over the UK.
Like the commentator at 2:24 above I am Scottish, living in England, along with many other professional Scots. I also believe that to separate systems that have worked together quite well for two hundred years of both fiscal and legal integration is ludicrous to the point of insanity.
I, too, have not yet met one expatriate Scot who thinks this is a good idea. We are as Scottish as anyone living in Scotland (and more so than many) and proud to be so but we don’t have the vote because Salmond was scared to give it to us and Cameron too weak to insist.
Emotionally it might be nice to be independent but be real and don’t destroy a working system for the sake of emotion and Salmond’s ego-trip Those who have the vote should be careful what they wish for!
Read more: https://www.theengineer.co.uk/opinion/poll-scottish-independence/1019108.article#ixzz3BXDsGNbt
The Vote is UK union or E union? will the EU bring the jobs to Scotland? Look at Ireland . A few rich people cannot move it for all, the young have no future and are leaving.
Defense alone will take a good few thousand jobs away. Rather than everyone investing in an EU Scotland, people may have to leave to find work.in what is left of Great Britain. That is if EU migrants have not snapped up the jobs, We have places where 20% of working people are on benifits.
Devolution was undemocratic, as the whole of the UK should have been given the opportunity to vote in a single UK Referendum on all the devolved Governments of Scotland, Wales and NI.
But why was England not given an opportunity to have its own Government, as we support the economies of the devolved Governments.
English MPs have to tolerate the MPs from the devolved governments, voting on matters affecting England interests who get a salary enhancement but they cannot vote in the devolved governments on matters that might affect England.
Now our position in European and World Markets has been weakened, as we can no longer claim made in Great Britain.
I tend to agree with your former contributor “The idea that it is easy to separate two bureaucratic systems from two hundred years of integration both fiscal and legal using civil servants is ludicrous to the point of insanity.” However an independent Scotland would deprive the Labour party of a chunk of its power-base so maybe every dark cloud has a silver lining!!
If the yes vote wins they can finally shut up about the UK being London centric despite Scotland receving more spend per head than any where else… Despite this feeling I do think it would be a bad thing.
I hear a lot of comments both within this forum and outside. ‘Scotland will be free to invest in itself’ from where ? And if money is available in what way is investment restricted at present? If the money refered to is North Sea oil which the English biased government pinches at the moment then how is an independent Scottish health service to be financed? Nothing seams to stack up except the emotional ‘brave heart’ vote.
As an emotional expat scot engineer who dons his kilt every burns night and sings at the Calcutta cup march I am not just happy in a United Kingdom I’m thankfull for the support received and given in union
I am Scottish and work for the Scottish Government. Independence will be great for Scotland. Its a natural progression, a grass roots campaign, for the people of scotland to determine their own futures. This isnt about the rest of the UK. Scottish industry needs this for us to prosper, and engineering will grow in Scotland again because of Independence. We used to lead the world, innovators and inventors, we (all people living and working in Scotland) will be that again.
I’m not Scottish and it would not be good for Scotland to be independent.
This vote is for the self centred SNP leader and to **** with the rest of you. I shall not see the final demise of Scotlamd, but relish in the idea that having taken the English Crown and when we have had a left inclined government in the UK, have been ruled by the Scots, this should all change.
A better solution overall would have been Federal, with National Parliaments and the House of Lords done away with and be reformed as the Senate.
Keeps the Pound, keeps the UK and keeps everybody happy!?
I doubt if it makes any difference at all to business and you should have that option in the poll. To believe otherwise is not only an unjustified slur to Scottish intelligence but it belies the sheer economic inadequacy of the rUK government whose policies are directed at pleasing mainly the South-East of England and specifically the casino capitalists in the city of London who sold on the toxic US debt to all of Europe, stoking the false boom that inevitable led to a big bust when debt-based reality bit back. The rUK parties have clearly little of value to teach anyone about fiscal management and it is sheer blind arrogance for the English to claim that Scotland would do worse without big brother England leading them off the financial cliff.
But this is not so much about the economy – it is about basic democracy. Currently a party with one MP in Scotland governs it. Whatever else that is, it isn’t democracy. It has been clear for some time that the South of England prefers to copy the USA whereas the rest of UK (Northern England too) would prefer a more Scandinavian-style government.
As for this referendum being Salmonds crusade; this is again just a result of democracy, inevitable after the SNP was unexpectedly voted for in overwhelming numbers. Obviously the population were happier with the economic management of John Swinney & Co. than under the London-led puppet regimes they experienced before, growth in Scotland having resumed rather earlier than rUK. If the vote is yes, then finally the Scots vote will actually count for something rather than being voted down 10 to 1.
And anyone who is English should frankly just keep quiet. It is nothing whatsoever to do with you! If you think Scotland is a subsidy junkie then you should be happy for a yes vote. If you realise the truth is otherwise then you’d have been better to drop the patronising tone as it just caused even more resentment to rUK.
I am not Scottish and it would not be good for Scotland to be independent.
I can’t help thinking this is just a play by Mr Salmond to get his name in the history books!
I cannot imagine the UK taxpayers agreeing to currency union given the fiasco in the Eurozone, The UK underwriting a foreign government! If Scotland does not play ball over paying their fair share of the national debt then all bets could be off (The UK can play hardball too Mr Salmond).
The argument about how much oil is left is irrelevant, eventually it will run out be in 30 years or 50 years. It will be the current young generation’s grandchildren who will be repenting in leisure.
Without a common border control organisation there will have to be UK / Scottish border controls put in place.
Membership of the EU is by no means guaranteed, that could leave ex pat Scots with no automatic right to work in the UK that is assuming the UK stays in the EU.
Same with NATO, there is currently a great deal of dissatisfaction with member states who are not pulling their weight, i.e. spending 2% or greater of GDP on defence. Will a new member really be allowed to join whilst only planning a 1.7% GDP spend?
The list of problems and costs associated with disentangling Scotland from the UK just goes on, it cannot be compared to countries like Canada or Australia since they already had largely independent systems in place.
I was born outside the UK, but was naturalised Scottish / British.
I’ve worked in finance for several years and I think independence is bad for Scotland:
– 2 thirds of our trading is with the rUK, setting up barriers, a different fiscal system, currency, etc.. would increase operational cost and hit profits, which would cause lay-offs.
– Many companies and tax payers would move down south
– We have an older population, aging faster, higher public spending, will lose investment, how are we going to make up for that, just with oil? also oil won’t last for ever
– the idea of using the pound as a free float currency is harmful for our economy and very risk for banks and the economy in general and would only last for a while. We still don’t know what the long term currency would be.
I am not Scottish but I think Scotland’s independence is not good
I don’t think there’s ny doubt that Scotland would lose jobs if it were to become independent. Certainly UK defence jobs would move South, let’s not be naive about countries jealously guarding jobs whenever they get a chance to. Once substantial closures happened, we’d see the end of small companies that support them and I’d expect that many sectors in the engineering inductry would fall below the critical mass that’s necessary to keep them viable.
While the oil industry is likley to last for the next few decades albeit on a declining scale, support services should remain viable but I expect will have to compete with companies based in lower labour cost countries as major new fields off Africa, South America and the South China sea come on stream.
Declining Government tax revenue from oil revenues combined with higher unemployment due to the loss of substantial parts of manufacturing industry and the finacial sector add up to a double whammy which does not bode well for the economy of an independent Scotland.
…and don’t get me started on currency or the EU…
i have read Peter Gore’s comment there will then be people who will say that they did not have their say this way if people wish to vote and have there say so be it but to the people who won’t vote then that their decision and what ever the outcome they cannot complain
I am not Scottish but currently a citizen of “UK”.
It seems I am about to be disenfranchised by a group of UK citizens attempting to completely changing the constituents of my country.
There is a similar attitude to making political mileage in Eastern Ukraine.
It is a key question for me that only those in Scotland can vote on a subject that could break up the union. Additionally, forget Braveheart, no country is blameless in history but it cannot be denied that strength lies in the collective not the divided. That is why the US and the former Soviet Bloc was/ is so powerfull – Arguing your case in the world on a one to one basis works far better than from a minirity possition. The union is one of equals, to break it or not should be the decison of us all.
After the London Olympics in 2012, I would of thought everyone in the UK including the Scottish would be proud to be British. It’s amazing how people forget.
Also, what beats me is how can anyone trust this Alex Salmond. He is friends with Putin who would be quite glad to see the Nuclear Subs disappear. Does anyone see the link? The UK will never be the same again and Russia will take advantage of this..
The trouble is we will get a narrow no vote, which will enable Salmon et al to claim a ‘mandate’ for more devolved powers and no doubt more money out of the UK. I am sort of hoping that the Scotch will go independant so that they will no longer be able to pass the blame for everything back onto the English, but I fear that old habits die hard and this would continue even after independance. The Scotch need to realise that no matter what they vote for they will still tend to be dominated by their larger and wealther neighbours, it’s simple mathematics. The very same arguments for joining the EU (collective efficiencies etc) are true for the UK. At least in the UK the Scotch have a significant say (perhaps well above proportional to the relative populations), within the EU an independant Scotland will be a minnow on a par with Greece (and look what Germany did to them!)
I am Scottish. I am governed by socialists in Edinburgh and conservatives in London. I actually like English people.
The independence question is bogus. First we are told “its not a political question” then all we hear is totally immature and feeble political debate.
Do I think Scotland should be an Independent country? Yes.
Can Scotland afford it? No, not on your life!
Do I care about independence? If the debates to date are anything to go by then No…not on your life!
Am I interested? It doesn’t matter…..the answer will be No anyway so what is the point in all this?!
Conclusion…..a load of bull for nothing! Time for another drink!
Cheers!!
Be proud to be Welsh, Irish, English and Scottish, remember your heritage and keep your culture. But be proud to be British as well!
I’m Scottish but live and work in the South East of England. I think an independent Scotland could show the way to the rest of the UK how to cultivate and grow a vibrant and successful technology-led economy. Look at the example of Denmark, where a similar size country has world-leading companies in engineering, encouraged by a forward-looking government and backed by a socially progressive wider society. Compare that to England, where a precarious economy, ever more reliant on casino capitalism, property speculation and consumer debt is cultivated by a government presiding over an increasingly divisive and unequal society. I know which one I’d vote for (if I had a vote)..
I’m Scottish and it would be good for Scotland to be independent
Albeit I don’t get a vote as I now live in Wales. I will be voting by proxy in that I’ve convinced at least a dozen undecided voters that a YES vote is their best option so that’ll do for me.
For those commentators on the first page, I’m one of those ex-pats who know that only a YES vote can bring social justice and fiscal parity to the people of Scotland.
Fears over currency union and whether independence would put jobs at risk are simply that – fears whipped up by panicking unionists. They see that the swing is increasing towards a ‘YES’ vote and hopefully we’ll wake up on 19th September to a new dawn in Scottish History.
Our English neighbours should not take this as a slight against them (unless they are part of the Westminster elite), as this is not anti-English sentiment coming from Scots; it’s pro-Scotland, pro-equality and pro-social justice.
3 important things we’ll never get from Whitehall.
BobH – You mention ” pro-Scotland, pro-equality and pro-social justice”, but Scottish MP’s consistently refuse this privilege for us English on purely English matters in Westminster.
Personally I believe the UK will gain from a ‘Yes’ vote through collateral damage to the Labour Party and its ruinous efforts to destroy this once great country.
So, a Yes from me, but not for Scottish gain, but for England and it’s partners in UK plc.
It will be either good or neutral for Scotland, since if it all goes wrong, England will end up carrying Scotland as we have done since the Union.
However, since Salmond does not actually want independence, but wants a currency union and therefore only Devo-max, it’s a moot point.
On the question of democracy. It is estimated that turnout for the referendum may be 80%. On that basis 40% of those elligable to vote could be enough for independence. So as few as 1.7 million people will have changed the lives of not just the majority 3.5 million who did not vote for it, but also the 58 million countrymen who had no say. This is not democracy!
Mike – on that basis, we haven’t had a legitimate British government for many years
This is not about electing a government though, this is a decision about all our futures, forever! It is not about short term political decisions for a government that can be got rid of after 5 years. If you are going to change a 300 year old status quo in this way at least 50% of those eligable should be required in my opionion, let alone the other 58 million of us who’s country may be changed without a say. On the subject of governments a great deal is made of the ability to vote for the government you want by the yes camp. Compare the last Scottish Election to the last UK one. The SNP have a majority of seats on 45% of a 50% turnout. So the ‘mandate’ to hold this referendum in the first place was from 22.5% of those eligable to vote. The Coalition Governments combined vote was 59% of a 65% turnout, making their 38.5% mandate to govern for one parliament somewhat more legitimate. So in my book 22.5% of the Scottish electorate have given a mandate to hold a life changing referendum that could be won by 40%. I am sorry but in this instance for me two minorities do not make a right! 1.7 million people changing the lives irriversably of 60+ million others cannot be right.
I’m Scottish and it would not be good for Scotland to be independent at this time.
While I agree with the fact that Scotland could go it alone, have a just, equal country and be self governing, there are too many unanswered questions and there has not been enough debate!
I don’t agree with most of the SNP white paper and to say that in the event of a Yes vote that Scotland will have a completely separate government by 2016 is a load of crap. Try 10 to 15 years! This vote will have the greatest ramifications for my grand children and great grand children, not me.
While I am a proud Scot who whole heartedly believes in Scotland, the SNP have not done enough to convince me to vote Yes.