Had to laugh at the BBC news editing this morning. Starting with news that B&Q, RBS etc, etc, all had plans to move headquarters and jobs south of the border in the event of a yes vote. Then followed by a cut to Alex Salmond for his comment - 'This is good news for Scotland and shows that in the event of a yes vote, Scotland will be significantly better off financially..blah'
I live in Scotland, I work in Scotland and I climb mountains in Scotland...I meet many, many Scots from all walks of life and most/many of them are voting yes,
TOFO,
Perhaps you live in a sh1t part of Scotland? I also live in Scotland, in an affluent part alongside many professional, intelligent, capable and dare I say it - capitalist neighbours. All of them will be voting 'NO' on the basis that economic wealth and a known level of standard of living outweighs the benefits of 'freedom' and the huge uncertainties that come with it. Thankfully, these same neighbours do not take issue with my English accent or show even the slightest tendency towards rascism.
Now back to the original post. For me - as someone who wishes to retire and live in Scotland for the rest of my days, I would never put my military pension in the hands of an independant Scotland. Yes, they could make guarantees on day one to honour the pension payment but what if, it all goes wrong for the country and cuts have to be made to avoid bankruptcy? I'm not prepared to take the risk that my pension could be affected.
So rUK payment please, to an rUK bank and taxed at an rUK rate. I will then have to live with the exchange rate issue and draw my own conclusions if remaining in Scotland is still viable.
In a similar vein, chopping from the RAF to the SRAF has a certain attraction. But the guarantee of providing the same wage structure and pension system as I currently have is worthless. I can honestly say that I haven't met a single Scottish member of the RAF and RN who will be voting 'yes' or would elect to transfer to the fledgling SDF. It comes down to the same view as above. Whether the current UK is good or bad, at least the 'knowns' that currently exist can be expected to remain in place. At least for a certain age group that haven't been shafted by new T&C's and the new military pension about to come into effect!