I'm a Scot, my father is a Scot, my grandfather was a Scot, our Scottish lineage goes back hundreds of years and I consider myself British...but I have no vote as I currently live abroad.

In the event of a Yes vote what sort of passport will I get when the current one expires? Although my money is safe(ish) off-shore, my pension is paid in to a bank account in England. What happens if I'm forced to become Scottish rather than British, will I still be able to retain that bank account. Here [in UAE] we need residency visas, etc to open an account.

I know we are all discussing the major issues of currency, Defence, NHS, etc but the little details have the potential to make many peoples' lives a living hell in the event of a Yes vote!

I note that the Immigration Minister has offered to send the fence from the NATO summit to Calais. Perhaps the Borders might be a better location come the 18th...

They will be sore disappointed when they discover they have still some way to go before reaching the border. Unless Salmond is thinking of a land grab.

Does this mean we could revoke James Naughtie's work permit?

I understand that at present if one is resident in Aus or NZ ones pension is frozen at the level it was at when one left the UK. Will this be the case for those living in Scotland should the jocks become independent?

I can't think why it should be any different; it would set a precedent for others.

It is the State Pension which does not get increases if you live in certain countries. The AFPS benefits are treated the same wherever you live (ie. increase with CPI). Haven't heard of plans to freeze the State Pension for those living in Scotland.

Shy torque

Agree and we are on the same page

I don't see why now we are offering even more concessions to stay as one country. They already get four hundred quid a year per person more than the rest of the uk. I can think of other more needy places than Scotland for this money.

Perhaps it is now for the best, if I was in Devon or Cornwall I would start stocking up with iodine

Our service to the crown also included Scotland, so debts, assets and liabilities will have to be negotiated and our pensions are a future liability paid for against the defence budget which I am sure the SNP have factored into their White Paper.

That's not quite true. Should the vote go Yes, the proposed timetable sees Scotland actually going independent in March 2016, (although that seems optimistic to me). Thus next year's general election in May will be fought in all the current seats including those in Scotland. It could well result in a small Labour majority, which would put Ed Milliband in the position of a prime minister who is on death row, figuratively speaking, with the date of his execution, when he loses those Scottish seats, already set. What would be the validity of any legislation put in place by such a lame duck government? The rest of the UK would be without effective government for 10 - 12 months or so.

Just like the last 17 years...

Tanker,

This situation has not gone unnoticed at Westminster, like many issues I don't expect it to be addressed until after the result of the referendum, but I know at least one suggestion that has been put forward is to delay the Westminster elections until May 16 if this situation comes to pass!


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27129813

The effect of the Scottish National Socialists' Braveheart claptrap is already being felt in the world of finance:

From BBC News: Why vote for something which will simply bankrupt you? And more to the point, why doesn't the whole of the UK have any vote in this potentially ruinous folly?

Just my opinion, mind...

Well there is a bit of a difference. The UK is a single country, the EEC/EU is not a single country, it is a lose affiliation of many countries. No member state has the right of interference in another member state's internal business. What we have here is more akin to Yugoslavia and its disintegration - so very, very different.

I thought the concern (certainly among those looking to get out) is that it's no longer such a loose affiliation.

I accept that there are differences, but the general principal stands. Do folks really think that the issue would be settled if Scotland voted to leave, but the rest of the UK voted to keep them in?

Sorry, but the comparison to the disintegration of Yugoslavia is alarmist (and lazy) clap-trap. None of the conditions that existed in Milosevic's Yugoslavia in the late 80s and early 90s exist in the UK today (as evidenced by the fact that the UK government has allowed the Scottish referendum to take place in the first place - not a privilege afforded to the Yugoslav republics by Belgrade).

Whatever happens following the referendum (yes or no), a Balkan-style war is not on the cards.

Beags,

As you were around for the Great Depression and all.....and knowing the Stock Market operates on two emotions, those being Greed and Fear....perhaps you would describe exactly what will happen that will "Bankrupt" us all should the "Yes" Side win in the Referendum?

Well, I said I would not be back to the hamster wheel thread on Jet Blast, and I have not. Yet here we had a mostly civilised discussion around some of the issues, then someone naughty pitches up and gets thirty days in the cooler for his shenanigans - thanks Wholi....

now it has been commented that us'm yokels down here need to start stocking up on the iodine, why? are more of you suspecting the move of the "Moscow Option" down to Guzz?

Let's look at this with a bit of rationality HMB Devonport and the associated big ole dockyard owned by Babcock already have the most nuke experience.

We can fit all the Bombers here without much work.

There is a big weapon store just round the corner, it has direct water and rail links to the yard. It also used to store nukes....

Where else will everything go?

And I never suggested that it would Mellie; reading things in one way not the way they were intended (very lazy thinking) but I will accept that perhaps I should have used the Czech and Slovak example instead. What I was referring to (obviously too subtly) was the disintegration of one country that was made up of a number of nations.

melthmothw, I have never heard of general principal - for which side is he standing?

Now had you written "general principle" your post would have made more sense - and been literate!

Good God. You guys are starting sound ridiculous. Look at the facile squabbles you've resorted to.