PullMyFinger

It's now 7 months since the last poll on here and the question has changed, so how about it? In 18 months time we'll be in the run in, the YesScotland and Better Together camps will be in full throat trying to win your vote. I'm voting yes unless someone can convince me otherwise, contrary to what some may think my mind is open to ideas, arguments and debate. As Wendy Alexander once said, "Bring it on!".

The new scheme introduced to force the unemployed back into work was a shambles from the start and a court ruled that to force people into unpaid work was unlawful. The UK government decided it would be easier to change the law than pay the forced labour their due monies. Tories and LibDems forced this through parliament against a handful of Labour (most abstained the vote!), SNP, Plaid Cymru & Greens. When a government acts to overthrow the rule of law it is in fact the act of a dictatorship and our democracy ceases to exist. What chance does our democracy have when the opposition party abstains from the chance to prevent this injustice? If you are a Labour supporter, is this what you voted for? If you voted Danny Alexander in, are you happy that he actually voted in favour of overturning a court ruling to save a few pounds that should have been paid for work actually done? http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-simon-duffy/workfare-is-modernised-slavery_b_2773051.html http://thirdsector.thirdsector.co.uk/2013/03/11/lets-ditch-the-work-programme-and-introduce-the-community-allowance-instead/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-news/6981-labour-has-questions-to-answer-after-letting-tories-off-hook-on-workers-rights#comment-190297

You really hope we drop points? Let's look at what you're wishing for. For United to make top 6 they need to win both games Dundee Utd v St Johnstone 3 points Dundee Utd v Aberdeen 3 points For St Johnstone to then finish above County they'd need at least a draw against Caley and for County to lose both their games. St Johnstone v Inverness 1 or 3 points For Hibs to finish above County, they need to beat us and Celtic. Hibernian v Inverness 3 points Hibernian v Celtic 3 points County will have to lose to both Killie and Hearts for your scenario. So to recap, six games must have a certain team win and one other game must have a certain team not win. I'd be putting money on that if I was you because the odds must be really favourable. Personally I'm looking forward an SPL top six derby against the shadows to determine which one or both of us goes on our travels in Europe next season.

Nor did they vote for Strathclyde, Dalriada, Lothian and Pictland to join together to become Scotland in the first place - largely because voting was no more an option then than it was in 1707. Nor probably would the people of Pictland have voted to become part of Scotland if they had anticipated the central belt domination and neglect they would suffer - which is a further good reason for no Highlander to vote yes next year and have all their affairs run from Edinburgh. (And the "well it's better than being dominated from London" response to that has been anticipated - and rejected!) Looking at the longer passage of history - the bigger picture - Scotland, England, Wales and to a lesser extent Ireland were arguably just transitional stages in between Strathclyde etc up here and Mercia, Northumbria, Wessex etc down there agglomerating into Great Britain. The next step in this historical evolution is further agglomeration into Europe and the current debate is how far we want to become involved in that. But if the separatists want to turn the clock back, why stop at Scotland? Why not go further than that to Scotland's predecessor states because then you can claim that "It's Pictland's Oil" and we don't have to share it with them down there! If the UK was ever going to be broken up, then there's actually a stronger north case for independence for the Highlands and Islands than there is for independence for Scotland. Vote no and you'll have an in/out referendum on EU membership according to Cameron, how does that fit in with your theory Chucky? To safeguard our EU membership and continued evolution, vote Yes.

This video was pulled because of copyright claims but has now been re-uploaded. Does anyone have one of the unanswered questions? If so will you please hand it in at your nearest police station (whose union are supporting the Yes vote) or post it via Royal Mail (whose union in Scotland are supporting the Yes vote).

Scottish LibDems passed a motion supporting home rule for the Northern Isles. This is a blatant unashamed attack on the independence campaign which is ill thought out. The Shetland and Orkney islands would be considered enclaves in Scottish territory and as such would only be entitled to a few miles of waters around them. I really hope they are given a referendum on independence and then Tavish will see what a fool he is.

Well done Terry Mo and the Boys. plenty to brag about at work tonight.

http://m.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/mar/15/dwp-law-change-jobseekers-poundland This is democracy in action in the UK 2013

http://wingsoverscotland.com/guffwatch/ This is another day in the life of YesScotland. There was a time when journalism was a calling, a noble profession, reporting events as they happened. What we have now is editorial opinion designed to stop you thinking for yourself. The BBC even admitted they have no interest in reporting a balanced view until the run in to the vote next year. We pay them to tell us what to think? I'm off to work, back in a few days. No doubt someone will give me something to think about, at least I hope so.

I, for one, stand corrected. I was sure I remembered, when the new Falkirk High School project was given the go ahead, it was known as Private Public Initiative. I get mucking fuddled myself too sometimes.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bf19ad60-8681-11e2-b907-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2Nd4gt7nl "The Institute for Fiscal Studies suggests that there exists “a more than 50:50 chance that (on a like-for-like basis) borrowing this year will be higher than it was in 2011-12." Green Budget Westminster borrowing is increasing despite austerity but Government will not change approach to the economy. Yeah, it's boring but it affects each and every one of us whether we care or not. I do and I would suggest when you're out on the town, at the match, at work, at home or even talking to strangers start to share your thought on the Independence referendum, discuss each side of the argument and help us all make an informed choice next year. The more informed we are the better the choice will be. I will be happy either way as long as the electorate has been told the truth.

PPI - Payment protection insurance PFI - Private finance initiative PPP - Public private partnership

I'm not, please join the debate and give it your full consideration before dismissing one argument as you are now.

Is the thread title not clear enough? Please direct me to a political forum where I can converse with anyone interested in the debate, not just confirmed yes voters. The implications of tomorrows game will not affect the lives of a nation.

This is thing though, you get your knowledge from the main stream media who have an agenda. Last week when the GERS figures were released showing that as a country we contribute 9.9% of revenue but receive 9.3% of spending, where and how was this reported and by whom? On internet blogging sites. See here http://wingsoverscotland.com/gers-between-the-lines/ This is how BBC reported it. http://newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-opinion/6885-bbc-scotland-hard-core-on-war-footing-as-the-battle-for-minds-heats-up What was the mainstream media reporting? A poorly copied document doctored to make it look confidential ("TOP SECRET") that was leaked and then used by the Better Together campaign. http://wingsoverscotland.com/would-you-like-to-know-more/ Excellent demonstration of your rapier wit yet again PMF. Very much out of the SNP handbook no doubt - when you have nothing positive to say, ridicule the opposition. Yawn. Mmmm hmmmm Here's another that may interest you. http://newsnetscotland.com/index.php/scottish-opinion/6908-scottish-oil-and-natural-gas-will-last-for-well-over-one-hundred-years Get your own news, think for yourself and join the debate. It's your future, it's our future, Scotlands future.

Maybe he prefers this?

http://wingsoverscotland.com/the-no-future/#more-31055 This is what you’re voting for if you vote No. 1. The end of the NHS (more) 2. The end of universal health care free at the point of use (more) 3. Privatisation of the police 4. Thousands made homeless by the Bedroom Tax (more) 5. The rich getting richer (more) (don’t expect Labour to be any different) 6. The highest child poverty in the Western world (and growing all the time) 7. Another 300,000 public-sector job losses 8. No votes for the unemployed 9. The continuing persecution of the disabled 10. The poor driven to suicide (more) (more) 11. The income of nurses, teachers and soldiers slashed 12. Scotland to keep subsidising the Treasury (more) 13. More collusion in torture 14. £100bn spent on Trident (stationed on the Clyde because it’s too dangerous for England) 15. The continuing mass exodus of Scotland’s youth (sporting talent too) 16. Drastic reductions in access to higher education (coming soon to Scotland) 17. Slashed benefits for the elderly (is there an echo in here?) 18. The evisceration of the Royal Mail (in preparation for privatisation) 19. Corrupt banks acting above the law because they’re “too big to fail” 20. The UK leaving the European Union 21. The repeal of the Human Rights Act 22. The removal of the rights of injured workers 23. The removal of workers’ rights in general (as fast as possible) 24. £5bn of Scottish money spent on English infrastructure (also including Crossrail, HS2 and more, all without Barnett consequentials) 25. New nuclear power stations 26. Hundreds of thousands more people in fuel poverty 27. More cripplingly expensive PFI projects 28. Expansion of the House Of Lords (why that’s bad) 29. The poor subsidising the rich in local government funding 30. MPs demanding enormous pay rises (despite already costing us £250,000 a day in expenses alone) (and still cheating to get even more) 31. More and more people queueing at food banks (and being abused for it) 32. Forced unpaid labour for the sick and disabled (forever, or else) 33. More working families living in poverty 34. Welfare cuts to bribe the wealthy 35. Social cleansing of the poor from cities (more) 36. More (and worse) urban riots 37. Wage cuts for anyone outside south-east England 38. Children going hungry in schools to save money 39. Unprecedented intrusion into citizens’ homes (yes, even more than under Labour) 40. Unprecedented surveillance in public (so don’t be thinking of protesting about any of this stuff)

BBC bias http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2013/03/oh-dear-new-labours-control-of-bbc-scotland-must-be-curbed/ Care to comment Chuck?

Congratulations Alex, what did you win?

Part 3 Please read that out loud to yourself. What are you talking about? Oh Lord above, can you please provide a link no matter how tenuous to something even remotely resembling that statement that can be attributed to the SNP government, SNP party or the YesScotland campaign? Again, can you please provide a link no matter how tenuous to something even remotely resembling that statement that can be attributed to the SNP government, SNP party or the YesScotland campaign? I dont' think we need to be so worried about what they do for their citizens but should be thinking about our own, what do you think an independent Scotland should be like? This is a once in a lifetime chance to do something remarkable for your country, your family, your friends. Talk about it with them, explore the facts not what scare story the tabloids and broadsheets are running that day or the biased bull**** being sold as fact on our biased BBC (they've even admitted as much publicly and unashamedly) What level of representation do we have with Westminster now? 90% of scottish MPs voted against the bedroom tax, it's happening. 80% of Scots don't want nuclear weapons on our doorstep, they're here. We contribute 9.9% of revenue to Westminster but only account for 9.3% of spending.

Part 2 of reply to FoolPhysio BIts like illegal wars in Iraq? Buying a nuclear arsenal that 80% of Scots don't want in Scotland? Aircraft carriers for our new.....oh wait, we haven't got planes to put on them. What incapacity would that be? SNP policy is to reduce defence spending by £1billion which will still mean capital spent on defence in Scotland would incread by over half a billion pounds, such is the imbalance at the moment. We would have more troops based in Scotland than we've had for many a year. SNP can't join NATO, they are a political party. SNP policy is for an independent Scotland to continue it's membership of NATO (we are already in NATO as part of the UK)

Just had a quick squint at the foreign embassy list for the UK. Seems most are registered in London. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/136377/LDL_March_2013.pdf "Seems most are registered in London" First line on page one - "Alphabetical list of the representatives of Foreign States & Commonwealth Countries in London". Did you even read it? Why would you expect them to be anywhere else anyway? I went to the bother of transferring them to a spreadsheet. (Which didn't format well in this naff new quotebox.) Irish Embassies.xlsx So 66 of Irelands Foreign Ambassadors are also the Ambassadors to the UK and resident in London? I'd guess they would also be the Ambassadors to an Independent Scotland too. Nice to see that a wee country like Ireland can still attract 60 foreign Embassies though. That's really pleasing. I wonder how many we'll have?

Yes, buy the best. Alternatively if you had an old router you could configure it to do exactly the same thing as those although they would possibly be easier to set up.

ANGUS ROBERTSON RESPONDS TO DEFENCE SPEECH

Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont scaremongering on state pension in an independent Scotland at Parliament.