Be Excellent To Each Other

Being granted Scottish citizenship isn't the same as saying 'now you're Scottish' - you do realise this?

Of course, but that doesn't mean that it wouldn't be popular with everyone.

Hot on the heels of billions of pounds being wiped off the value of Scottish companies off the back of ONE opinion poll showing Yes ahead by ONE PERCENT, RBS, Lloyds and Tesco Bank all saying they'll move to England in the event of a Yes vote today.

Being granted Scottish citizenship isn't the same as saying 'now you're Scottish' - you do realise this?

At this point I'd say there was a compelling case for businesses to move south regardless of the result. Why risk potential future uncertainty?

That was always going to be the case, though. As I understood it they'd have to because of needing to be based in the same region where they do the most work, or something.

I suspect someone cleverer will tell me I'm wrong, however.

That was always going to be the case, though. As I understood it they'd have to because of needing to be based in the same region where they do the most work, or something.

At this point I'd say there was a compelling case for businesses to move south regardless of the result. Why risk potential future uncertainty?

If the vote is going to be as close as we're expecting, then half the population are going to be unhappy in either case.

RBS moving to England should count as a blessing for Scotland anyway - means they wouldn't have to bail them out again.

A country that doesnt rely on huge multinational corporations and banks? Actually sounds like somewhere I'd like to live.

If we get 51/49 split on the votes but only 70% turnout then we'll never hear the end of it from the side that "lost"

Not really, no. The BAD bit (and yes, it was a really bad bit) has been done now; at least now reap the benefits of the jobs, corporation tax and VAT receipts etc. moving forwards and local supply chain commerce, after the fact.

Corp tax has nothing to do with where a company's headquarters are based, does it? Otherwise all the tax for companies like Ikea (for example) would leave the country.

Also I don't think they're planning to move any jobs.

RBS moving to England should count as a blessing for Scotland anyway - means they wouldn't have to bail them out again.

One assumes this won't be a regular occurrence

Scotland don't want them.

Yeah those thousands of jobs are a real ball and chain.

Conversely, the "free" NHS and universities could see a migration of people to Scotland, this could either be a good thing or a bad thing.

Eh? I thought a company paid Corporation Tax in the country in which they are headquartered/listed/incorporated (i.e. not Ikea). APOD's our man here, I suspect.

As regards jobs, that might well be the case on Day One but I hardly think that'd remain so. Canary Wharf, here we come etc

A country that doesnt rely on huge multinational corporations and banks? Actually sounds like somewhere I'd like to live.

Galloway was charmingly rabble rousing

A charming, hamas-supporting anti-semitic demagogue.

Scotland and the SNP: Fooling yourselves and deceiving others

There are many laudable reasons to campaign for Scottish independence. But how far should those who passionately want independence be prepared to go to achieve that goal? Should they, for example, deceive the Scottish people about the basic economics involved? That seems to be what is happening right now. The more I look at the numbers, the clearer it becomes that over the next five or ten years there would more, not less, fiscal austerity under independence.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies is widely respected as an independent and impartial source of expertise on everything to do with government spending, borrowing and taxation in the UK. It has produced a detailed analysis (recently updated) of the fiscal (tax and spending) outlook for an independent Scotland, compared to what would happen if Scotland stayed in the UK. It has no axe to grind on this issue, and a considerable reputation to maintain.

Their analysis is unequivocal. Scotland’s fiscal position would be worse as a result of leaving the UK for two main reasons. First, demographic trends are less favourable. Second, revenues from the North Sea are expected to decline. This tells us that under current policies Scotland would be getting an increasingly good deal out of being part of the UK. To put it another way, the rest of the UK would be transferring resources to Scotland at an increasing rate, giving Scotland time to adjust to these trends and cushioning their impact. Paying back, if you like, for all the earlier years when North Sea oil production was at its peak.

This is certainly the impression I get from reading a lot of literature as I researched this post. The arguments in the Wee Blue Book are exactly that: no sustained economic argument, but just a collection of random quotes and debating points to make a problem go away.

Scottish independence: FORMER SNP deputy leader Jim Sillars has claimed there will be a “day of reckoning” for major Scottish employers such as Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Life after a Yes vote.

Speaking from his campaign vehicle the “Margo Mobile”, Mr Sillars insisted that employers are “subverting Scotland’s democratic process” and vowed that oil giant BP would be nationalised in an independent Scotland.

Earlier this week, a number of banks, including Lloyds Banking Group and RBS, said they would look to move their headquarters south of the border in the event of a Yes vote.

Mr Sillars, who earlier this week claimed he and First Minister Alex Salmond had put their long-held personal differences behind them to campaign together for independence, also revealed that he would not retire from politics on 19 September but said he would be “staying in” if Scotland became independent.

He claimed there is talk of a “boycott” of John Lewis, banks to be split up, and new law to force Ryder Cup sponsor Standard Life to explain to unions its reasons for moving outside Scotland.

He said: “This referendum is about power, and when we get a Yes majority, we will use that power for a day of reckoning with BP and the banks.

“The heads of these companies are rich men, in cahoots with a rich English Tory Prime Minister, to keep Scotland’s poor, poorer through lies and distortions. The power they have now to subvert our democracy will come to an end with a Yes.”

He added: “BP, in an independent Scotland, will need to learn the meaning of nationalisation, in part or in whole, as it has in other countries who have not been as soft as we have forced to be. We will be the masters of the oil fields, not BP or any other of the majors.”

Mr Sillars, whose wife, MSP Margo MacDonald died earlier this year, said that under an independent Scotland, Standard Life would be required by new employment laws to give two years warning of any redundancies - and reveal to the trade unions its financial reasons for relocation to any country outside of Scotland.

“What kind of people do these companies think we are? They will find out,” he added.

I now suspect riots will occur in the event of a No vote.

Campaign now at unbearable fever pitch. Placard-waving loons everywhere. Can't wait for it to be over. I now suspect riots will occur in the event of a No vote.