""The Stone of Destiny will, of course, be widened and strengthened for the event" "

Will it be ceremonially deep fried at the end of the independence ceremony?

Ah more Tory gerrymadering like the Labour one in the 1970's.

Going back into recent history in 1979 there was a a referendum in Scotland on the 1978 Scotland Act. This act would have given Scotland much of the powers that it has now. The requirement then was that at least 40% of the TOTAL registered voters in Scotland had to agree to the Act to make it law. In the end around 60% of the voters voted and of those just over 51% voted for the Act. This did not met the 40% of the voting role requirement so Scottish self-rule went on the back burner for a decade.
The 40% rule meant that if you could not be bothered to vote then it was effectively a 'NO' vote; something a lot of people took advantage of. In theory if those people had got off their backsides and voted 'NO' then a majority in favour of the Act would not have been achieved.
Because of the way the then Labour government had organised it they lost the support of the few SNP MPs in Parliament and the Callaghan government fell; and was replaced by Maggie Thatcher.

Wow, didnt realise a vote in Scotland brought down the Callaghan Govt. I thought it was The Winter of Discontent!

UK Govt are going to be caught out if Scotland votes for Independence and they try and worm their way out of it or attempt qualification of it.

Can see many countries petitioning United Nations to get involved in ensuring that a fair vote occurs and that United Nations has monitors in place.......oh the ignominy of it as Scotland petitions UN to protect it.

I reckon that UK security services and their cohorts will be spending billions in trying to ensure there is a no vote and these guys will play it as normal.

Could I suggest that what is going to give Herr Salmond a yes vote is complacency on the part of all those who believe the theory that only 38% of Scots want it!

That complacency will lead to a low turnout at the polls and the yes vote will win the day!! Especially if you allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote!!

I am totally opposed to a potential break up of the United Kingdom, I do however believe the Scottish should be able to decide their own future.

Although a referendum on Scottish independence is sought. I also believe a UK wide referendum should take place as both acts of Union would have to be amended. Scottish Independence would technically mean English Independence as well. Surely the English have a say in that?

The reason being is that everything from National Debt, Government assets, armed forces and resources would have to be divided and would have a great effect on all sides and that is only the top of the iceberg.

JMO

FE21 - Totally concur - especially since the Union was forged by a Scottish King - Something that the the Hard-line "Patriots" Forget up here.

he can't, he doesn't have the constitutional power to call for such a referendum. If he tries all it takes is for someone to get a judge to stop him spending money illegally.

Someone's been taking their history lessons from the pages of the Daily Record. The only reason James VI got the job down south was because Queen Bess wouldn't 'put out'; thereby leaving no Tudors in her wake. All James can be credited with is being the first backside to occupy all three thrones of these isles, for having a bible printed in a language the common people (in England) could just about understand, and for instructing his Heralds to create an Anglo-Scots flag; the design of which being so popular in Scotland that his most loyal Subjects came up with their own alternative...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...g_-_detail.JPG

Regal union wasn't a new concept either. That claim belongs to Edward I; who almost succeeded.

Contrary to what you've apparently read in the Record, political union wasn't down to James, but to his great-granddaughter Anne, the last Stuart monarch, and she, unlike her continental-based Stuart cousins, didn't even bother to get her fat backside up the Great North Road to set foot in the Kingdom of Scotland; either side of 1707.

All that aside, I'll look forward to the current Queen taking the opportunity, when she addresses the UK Parliament in a few short weeks, to say how those in Scotland would be ill-served by voting for independence. Whilst respecting the individual, if not the institution, I'm afraid M'am that this particular Subject will likely disagree.

rab-k, I would have thought it most unlikely that she would say any such thing, regardless (as usual when acting in a constitutional capacity) of her own opinions on the matter.

No I dont - Prmarily because the crossword is crap but however I did read this quite some time ago

Union of the Crowns - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ok its wiki but more informative than the Daily Social Diatribe :ok:

Really? Didn't stop her dipping a regal toe into the Devo' debate back in '77:

Althenick-
I thought it was the demise of the politcal union we were discussing, not the regal union. All that might change in that respect is that HMQ would be known here as Elizabeth, Queen of Scots. (A term already used by the then Sir David, now Lord, Steel to address Her Majesty, in person, at the 1999 opening of the Scottish Parliament).

HMQ would probably be known as Elizabeth the Second and First, much as James was the Sixth and First. There are those who say she should have been anyway.

But what of the British coat of arms? And will the Scots keep their unicorn? And will we reinstate that verse with Marshal Wade to the National Anthem?

It's all very worrying. We should get some brand experts in from Hoxton.

Can't see these changing any...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...lms%29.svg.png

They each had pre-1707 versions so I can't see them requiring to be altered so long as HMQ remains Head of State in Scotland.

Did not "Shorts" produce an aircraft called the (Nicola) Sturgeon?

From the Wiki on the Sturgeon:

From this:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...t_Sturgeon.jpg

to this:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...urgeon_SB3.jpg

I expect Nicola will prove rather more adaptable; she's a clever political performer.

What Currency would an independent Scotland use? The value of the Pound Sterling depends on the Policies of the Parliament in London.

True but the political union was a Stuart ambition from the moment James I an IV climbed onto the throne of England. It just took 104 years to achieve.

Currency
 

Caz,

obvious really. The Pound Stirling. :ok:



OK, hat, coat etc