The Scottish Independence referendum

[laidbackscot]

So people in the UK are probably sick to the back teeth hearing about the referendum which happens on the 18th September so first I apologise!

But I'm curious how or even if it is being reporting around the world and what peoples thoughts are from other countries - people who maybe have an outside view and a different perspective!

[East]

OK...I am not officially embarrassed. I turned off the news awhile back because we are all being fed propaganda and newstaintment and I couldn't take it anymore. I even turned off my home page because they infused Britney Spears and Paris Hilton into the "news"....

Would you mind giving a brief synopsis?

[Iceblink]

I watch and read quite a bit of news and there is almost no mention in the U.S. Embarrassingly and what speaks to the sad place our news in the U.S. has gone, the biggest mention here seems to be that Paul McCartney came out against the referendum. I suspect there will be more mention in the news here when it gets closer to the 18th.

[LONDONER]

Spain will vote against Scotland's entry in to the EU because it has it's own agenda. Cataluña, in the north east of Spain also wants to achieve independence also and of course the central goverment is completely against that. To allow Scotland to be member of the EU as a separate state from the rest of the UK would mean that their argument regarding Cataluña wouldn't hold water.

[laidbackscot]

Sure East I'll try and make it short and sweet. I'll apologise in advance too if it sounds patronising that's not my intention!

Currently as part of the UK we have a devolved parliament in Scotland. It has power over some areas such as legislation, education etc but not over others eg. welfare, defence. The Scottish National Party who have campaigned for Scottish Independence for years gained a majority in the last Scottish election and thus have set a date for a referendum in Scotland to fully break away from the United Kingdom and be a separate independent country with full control over our own affairs.

The issue gets clouded by arguments like currency and oil but at the core the argument is for home rule. Over here the debate has become really heated and in some ways is fostering bad relations, at least politically, between England and Scotland especially. But that's just my perception.

I'm just curious on what others thoughts are on the matter.

[Miles]

There hasn't been much coverage about it in the press stateside; I've only heard about it from UK residents discussing it on this and other forums going back to last year. I admit any opinion I'd have would be a woefully uninformed one.

[matty7]

im biased because half my family are Scottish , and if I was any good at sports I would play for Scotland , I can say from my workplace in the uk that nobody has mentioned a real opinion apart form taking the mickey out of me needing a dual passport lol - they just don't care -

[Aike]

My leftist crew appears to be split on this so I remain undecided.

[LJay]

Have seen some mention of it from an economic angle. Can't honestly remember whether it was on BBC or something noted in google news or in a US source. There is not much of anything really being said, though.

Scotland is one of those places I would like to know more about but don't have a good source of information to cover.

Any comments would be most welcome.

[Bluelight]

I heard about the possibility of Scotland's separation from the UK a few years ago, kind of excited to see how that turns out.