Scottish Referendum....

[ToraToraTora]

if they vote yes then do you think they should be allowed to vote in the general election next year?

[jim360]

I think we'll stay being called the UK -- sometimes the initial meaning behind names gets lost so it'll just stick despite no longer being accurate.

[baza]

no, if they vote for out then out it is, we have too many from north of the border ruining Engand as it is. Brown, Blair to name the last 2

[jim360]

Even assuming it's a "Yes" vote, there won't be any more than, say, 55% of "them" voting for out. I can just about buy their losing a voice, but what about the 45% who wanted to stay in?

It's not going to be a unanimous decision. And it's not going to happen overnight. And so yes, the Scottish people and those resident in Scotland will and should be voting in 2015 come what may.

[mushroom25]

//What nearly everyone also seems to forget is that Alex Salmond will not automatically become the Prime Minister of Scotland. There will have to be a general election in Scotland to decide which party is to govern there; //

indeed. and before any electoral vote, it needs to be determined what independence will actually look like, the country will need a constitution. the SNP have indicated they will retain the current UK monarch as head of state, but who's to say the majority of scots want that?

[jeffa]

That's correct, mushroom, and Salmond has said that the republic debate is another matter for another day.

I've said it several times, but I firmly believe that if the Scots achieve independence, the first thing they'll do is vote Salmond out and return a Labour government.

[ToraToraTora]

Jeffa all the bits that remain will be united, have you been on the emmie pills? F F sake read all my answers on this thread. When someone leaves a club the rest of the club remains, geddit?

[jeffa]

You're embarrassing yourself. Your club analogy is meaningless. The UK isn't a club, it's the union of two kingdoms. The clue's in the name, you know - united kingdom. Two minus one makes - let me get my calculator out - one. You can't have a union of one.

Which part of the above don't you understand?

[naomi24]

It’s been said that it’s going to take some time for the Scots, should they decide to jump ship, to actually jump, but had the General Election and the Scottish Referendum been co-ordinated to run on consecutive days - the referendum first followed by the General Election - the Scots could have walked the plank immediately if that’s what they want, leaving the rest of us to vote for what we want.

[jno]

Baldric: you're quite right, sorry.

None the less the kingdoms that united were England and Scotland.

[jim360]

If it ain't gonna happen in six months a day won't be long enough either. Holding the two a day apart, coordinated or not, would have been less than ideal. You can't plan for two contingencies all at once. Not on a country-wide scale, anyway.

[ToraToraTora]

oh dear jeffa, geography lesson needed, who's embarassing themselves now? 100%-7% = 93% derrrr. The UK = Wales, England, Scotland, Northern ireland and several smaller bits. Not 2-1, 100-7. I don't care what you believe, if Scotland leave, afterwards it will still be known as the UK, despite your witterings. If Texas left the USA it would still be the USA, if any country left the EU it would remain the EU.

[ToraToraTora]

Oh and the UK is 1 kingdom not 2, still I didn't expect much.

[jeffa]

You truly are an idiot.

[ToraToraTora]

so you have no constructive response then, right oh! I'll take that one then!

[anneasquith]

'' decide to jump ship '' oh my :(

[jno]

all the elements you list, except Scotland, were together before 1707, and more besides; and yet it was not the United Kingdom. It only became the UK when Scotland and England united. So if Scotland leaves it will revert to its pre-UK state. As emmie says, it can call itself a united kingdom if it wants, but it won't be one.

[jeffa]

I've already explained how a union of two kingdoms can no longer be such when one of them leaves. You're just being deliberately obtuse by pretending not to understand this.

[jeffa]

That's correct, jno. TTT is pretending not to understand this to prevent having to admit to being wrong.

[Svejk]

probably not deliberate to be fair.

[naomi24]

Jim, just a suggestion, albeit a little facetious. ;o)