I went to school in weegieland

Zokes – your situation is an interesting one and a case that should not be dismissed out of hand. After all, this is not a vote about economics or convenience, it is (or should be) a vote about the fundamental principle of self determination for Scottish people. Simplicity in voting arrangements should not be the deciding factor here. (OOI – who is paying for the referendum?)

But you have SFA chance of being successful as the fact that you have made a positive choice to move away to find suitable employment will inevitably lead to a perception of a natural bias in your voting pattern. Hmmm….!?!?

But JY raises and interesting point re taxation being the principle yardstick against which to make a judgment here. So imagine you are a Scot with Scottish family for several generations, a Scottish education who would like to live in Scotland but you decide to make a career decision to work overseas for a period before (possibly) returning home. Your view on what happens to your country of birth, ancestory, possible future location etc is considered to be of less value/relevance than someone who has no ancestoral/family ties to Scotland, was not born or bred there, who may or may not be a permanent resident, who is not (for the sake of argument and thru no fault of their own) in employment (and therefore not paying JY’s taxes) but is claiming benefits from the Scottish state (perfectly legitimately).

I will have to have a think about that one!!

Therefore British policies do directly affect me.

Hope you are coping with the public sector cuts, the wage freeze , the increase in VAT and the change to tax codes etc which all have F all affect on you etc
And fade to repeat from us both

You may be the exception, but I don’t know anyone who left the UK long term to find work abroad who wasn’t also ‘expecting a better life’ in the country they were going to.

I guess I came here expecting it to be different, and sure, there are some fabulous places that it would be churlish to not pay attention to.

But TBH, lose 2 weeks of your 4 of leave visiting family back in the UK, or hosting them here, and you don’t get much time to see a great deal. Work’s work – same mad number of hours whether its sunny and 40 or dark and -10! There is a feeling of a better work-life balance here, but that’s rapidly changing even in the 18 months I’ve been here. Sadly, it’s just not that competitive in the international marketplace, and people here are starting to realise that.

I’ll not say I’m not enjoying it, because that would be a lie, but it’s certainly not a better life – more a different one through necessity of work.

I think many who come truly expecting a transformed life either led a very crap one in Blighty, or have failed to grasp that it’s not a holiday, and setting up from scratch knowing noone and very little about the place you’re in can be quite a stressful exercise.

And back to voting in UK elections, as I said – as I’m a British citizen, the UK government does lots of ‘international relations’ stuff on my behalf. I’d rather have a say, however futile, in the image it portrays of my country. More importantly, I’d rather it just stopped picking fights with people full stop, but that’s yet another issue.

JY – think about laterally. He is – he has decided not to be a drain on the state after all!

(But he says, with tongue in cheek, perhaps he neither works in financial services (spit) nor the public sector (spit) and hence has no reason to be in Scotland at all :wink:).

Anyway lunch over…back to work.

Hope you are coping with the public sector cuts, the wage freeze , the increase in VAT and the change to tax codes etc which all have F all affect on you etc
And fade to repeat from us both

PMSL!

Sorry, but if you’d not got it, that’s the very reason I had to leave – bugger all chance of ANY employment thanks to pretty much all of the above (with the exception of the VAT)

So in forcing me to leave to find work, those policies have actually had more of an effect on me than you.

EDIT: Hint – The only places that would need / use my skills would be universities or government-run research organisations such as CEH. So I was, up until I left, very much a public servant. If you had a valid argument, that wasn’t it.

it is slightly bemusing that a “insert EU nationality”” plumber or a “insert non EU nationality”” refugee living in Scotland has a vote and Sean Connery doesn’t 😉

I’m sure Sean Connery will be relocating so he can vote…. at very least large lumps of his cash will be relocating.

a bit like a Polish student paying less than an English one?

whatnobeer – Member
I’m sure Sean Connery will be relocating so he can vote…. at very least large lumps of his cash will be relocating.

a scotsman with a heart or money decision to make, I know which way social stereotyping would say he would go 😉

I’m Scottish my blue skin would turn red and blister down under.

Since the invention of “clothes” and “sunscreen”, it’s been less of a problem, I assure you.

So imagine you are a Scot with Scottish family for several generations, a Scottish education who would like to live in Scotland but you decide to make a career decision to work overseas for a period before (possibly) returning home. Your view on what happens to your country of birth, ancestory, possible future location etc is considered to be of less value/relevance than someone who has no ancestoral/family ties to Scotland, was not born or bred there, who may or may not be a permanent resident, who is not (for the sake of argument and thru no fault of their own) in employment (and therefore not paying JY’s taxes) but is claiming benefits from the Scottish state (perfectly legitimately).

I don’t need to imagine it as I am one such person. I don’t think I should vote in a referendum on a place’s political arrangements if I don’t live in that place. Obviously the voice of the person who lives there is more important than mine.

At these moments, there is a decision point: either MTFU and move home if it means so much to you, or accept not getting a say any more as the trade off for having moved away. You can’t have it both ways, though.

So – who wants my vote then – a lot of you seem to think you should get a vote and are not going to so I am quite prepared to sell my vote tot eh highest bidder

TandemJeremy – Member

So – who wants my vote then – a lot of you seem to think you should get a vote and are not going to so I am quite prepared to sell my vote tot eh highest bidder

I don’t want to vote. I have no interest in Scotland so they should simply go their own way, less mouths to feed, if they wish to but just don’t come back crying when things do not swim well … or start to blame 300 years history. If they like the fish to be their leader so be it …