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Old 9th Mar 2013, 21:28
  #186 (permalink)  
Hummingfrog
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Up north
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Courtney

This is, of course, IF. Very unlikely that separations will happen, but I get the feeling it's getting slightly more likely every month.
I think the opposite is happening. As the yes/no campaign drags on the SNP's claims are being put under the microscope more and more. Where once Salmond appeared to be a consummate politician the facade is beginning to crack. He was caught out being economical with the truth about taking legal advice on Scotland not having to apply for EU membership - he hadn't. Recently he has said the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) figures were wrong on oil and he will publish his own soon! The OBR, an independent body, has recently criticised Cameron so will people believe Salmond?

Should Scotland become independent then I think that Lossiemouth will close as it won't be required. The small Scottish Air force (SAF) could quite happily follow other small country templates and share civil airfields. Prestwick is underused now that Ryanair is its only scheduled airline so MPA/Transport could be based there with FJs as well, if the SAF needs them, with any excess requirement being utilised at Glasgow as the North side seems to be available for development. Kinloss still has an active runway and lots of spare hangarage so helicopters could be based there with the Army.

The advantage of co-locating with the civilians is there is then no need to have runway maintenance, ATC or fire services within the military budget.

HF
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