There is a reason reserves keep going up.

Overstated oil reserves

Salmond struggles with the truth again

Got an already cut silver thomson elite post if you want it? It is just under 30cm.

The world according to Ben Cooper

If something very slightly supports the yes campaign it is gospel. If it doesn’t and is backed up by rock solid facts I will pretend that it does back up the yes campaign anyway by stating my personal opinion as a fact. I will also add a smiley at the end of my statement because the yes campaign is the positive and happy campaign 🙂 😀 😆 Then I will raise a glass with Mrs Cooper to an independent Scotland.

Scots only dislike Cameron because he sounds so English that you can’t bare it. What has Cameron done to this country compared to Gordon Brown and Tony Blair? I am surprised you can even stand up with such a big chip on your shoulders.

Ben you have been proven wrong on currency and the EU. Maybe that is why you are starting to get bored?
Big infrastructure projects are good for the economy. I imagine people in
Portsmouth will jump at the chance for a bigger dry dock. We don’t build war ships in foreign countries I am afraid, another negative aspect of the yes campaign.

3 litre bladder

£3 for a cleaning kit and you really need one to avoid a dodgy tummy

Ardents are very sketchy on the front when cornering in anything but perfectly dry conditions. Dual ply minion on the front for me but I am tempted by minion kevlar 2.3 to get the weight down.

Northwind Vince Cable was not speaking in any official capacity. Why do independence supporters take his unofficial word as gospel? It is not as if Cameron has been caught admitting a currency union is on the table. I really do not understand the continued desperation for a currency union when it is so unpopular in the rest of the UK.

Ben the senior politician you refer to is supposedly Vince Cable, with the way the lib dems are doing in the polls he will be lucky to be in parliament let alone in a coalition come 2015 so his influence on any separation negotiations will be nill. So one minor lib dem politician undermines the chancellor and the what 58% of people in the rest of the UK think? I just do not see it.
Is the reason you can’t admit that a currency union is no longer an option for an independent Scotland because it couldn’t function without one?

Ben it is not just “Osborne et al” that don’t want a currency union it is also the majority of people in the rest of the UK, can’t independence supporters just accept this and move on? The fact that a currency union is still an issue makes the independence movement look very weak.

Which is a far-off might-do.
We have just gone through the biggest recession since the great depression of the 1930s. I seem to remember the UK bailing out a few banks that are based in Scotland so it does not require an active imagination to see the rest of the UK having to bail out the banks of an independent Scotland should we join a currency union. We trade with lots of countries and don’t have currency unions with them. I don’t think Scotland is too wee to go it alone and I am sure you think the same about the rest of the UK without a currency union.

Another reason why there is no plan b is that without a currency union the majority of Scots won’t vote for independence. The only way to guarantee a currency union and safeguard all the trade that Scotland does with the rest of the UK is to remain in the currency union you are in already. It is called the united Kingdom. 🙂

Gordimhor here is the poll link. newsnet panelbase poll

In response to Ben Cooper.

Currency union is the joint third most important issue to people in Scotland behind the economy and NHS based on a recent poll. So people in Scotland are not “more interested in our shared history, our combined international reputation and influence, things like that“.
You can bury your head in the sand about this issue all you want but the poll in the guardian I linked to earlier suggests support for a currency union in the rest of the UK simply does not exist. You say that “Everyone I’ve talked to thinks that some kind of agreement would have to be reached“, it doesn’t sound like you have talked to many non-Scots about this then. If a currency union is put to the people in the rest of the UK in a referendum it will not pass. The fact that there is no plan b shows the plan for an independent Scotland is poorly thought out.

They should be totally waterproof. You can test them by filling them up with water.

Well it looks like a currency union actually has a lot of support in England.
Scotland to keep the pound?

Sorry Gordimhor it wasn’t a link and should have looked like this.

Looking across the board though, the direction of travel in recent months does appear to slightly be towards YES.

I get around change 1% in the last 5 months with an average of 33.75% saying they will vote yes. The figures quoted by gorimor also remove the don’t knows, there has never been a poll showing higher than 44% support for a yes vote since 2012 and that is a distinct outlier.

Looking across the board though, the direction of travel in recent months does appear to slightly be towards YES.[/u]

I get around change 1% in the last 5 months with an average of 33.75% saying they will vote yes. The figures quoted by gorimor also remove the don’t knows, there has never been a poll showing higher than 44% support for a yes vote since 2012 and that is a distinct outlier.

In response to Duckman.
It was the same polling company that correctly predicted the swing towards the Nat’s at the last election.

Polling companies do not predict outcomes they ask people questions and then present the results of those question. Panelbase tend to show higher support for independence than other polling organisations. One high poll does not show an increase in support for the yes vote it shows that panelbase have more independence supporters in their polling group.

The lowest poll for a yes vote in 2014 was 29%.
The highest poll for a yes vote in 2014 was 41%.
The lowest poll for a no vote in 2014 was 42%. (Yes on 29%, don’t know on 29%)
The highest poll for a no vote in 2014 was 57%.
The average Yes vote over the last 20 polls since November is 33.75%.

There has been no continual month on month rise in the Yes vote. So there are no figures that suggest a lead in the polls come July. The average of the polls predict a No vote although there are still enough undecided voters to make a difference.

Panelbase polls are all quite high, yougov polls tend to be low. With the undecided included the yes vote is only 40% and the chances of the undecided not voting is slim given how the debate has gripped Scotland. The average poll result over the last 20 polls is only 33.75% voting yes. The no vote is still in the lead and no amount of statistical massage is going to change that. There is still a lot of time to go though and it is the vote on the day that counts not the polls.

New wheel size means lots of new frame, fork, wheel and tyre sales. Is it any wonder the industry collectively opted for a new wheel size?

Oh dear looks like politicians do lie.
Cameron hints at a currency union

Junkyard Africa is a continent and not a country.

You need to remove your us and them, I am not voting in this and reside in england.

A referendum would be needed for a currency union and I would be voting against that. Why should the UK be the lender of last resort to iScotland? I wish an independent Scotland all the best but would not want the UK to have the responsibility of bailing Scotland out should things go wrong. If the majority of Scots want independence then I respect their decision, the majority of people in the UK do not want a currency union with an iScotland, can you not respect that?

How is a currency union still on the table when all parties state is is not and the electorate don’t support it either? I can get my head around trident not being negotiable can you not do the same for a currency union? I don’t see the UK voting for being lender of last resort of a foreign country.

Woosh…. What a nice way to miss the point entirely and then attack Scotland. No country has an illustrious history re slavery but do you think this small nation may have bullied other countries in the past…the conquests and the empire would suggest that the answer is a no brainer.

He mentioned Africa and I pointed out the role of Scots in bullying African nations, he also mentioned India and we took over India by liquidating the East India company, hardly bullying. You are not jealous of our successful empire in comparison to the failure of the Darien scheme are you? 😉

Declining it before the negotiations that you said you would not negotiate before the vote is what exactly then?
Your so one sided – hell you even make ben and THM look balanced

Hey I can handle Scotland saying no to Trident Can you not handle us saying no to a currency union? Saying no to a currency union and threatening not to take on any debt are two separate things, the UK is declining an offer and AS is make a threat in return. The hypocrisy is AS saying we are being bullies for not accepting currency union while trying to bully us into one. The last time I felt this bullied I was still at school.

In response to epicyclo, I wouldn’t have thought you would have mentioned Africa due to the prominent part played by Scots in both the slave trade and slave ownership.

Codybrennan, taking a big chunk of debt or keeping trident has not been offered, instead we have been threatened with no currency union means no debt. Not a very amicable start to negotiations. I also have a link, The only way to keep the UK pound is to stay in the UK. It is amazing how nats take the words of one minister as gospel if he supports your cause but the three potential chancellors after the next election are bluffing when they say no to a currency union. How about the polls of the rest of the UK showing no support for a currency union, is that more bluffing? AS has said there is no need for a currency union referendum in the UK, so he gets his referendum but wants to deny the people of the UK theirs. Is AS being a bit hypocritical here?

She may have been female but that does not mean you aren’t gay now. We look forwards to you meeting the man of your dreams and all expect invites to the wedding.

People like Steve got us hooked on mountain bikes and kept us hooked. RIP.

I dont think what you is say is an unfair proposal but they counter by saying they need to then get a share of the assets and this includes the currency [see what i did there]. The law is not on iS side there but rUK will have to make a choice and other factors [ bullying as you call it] will impact on this decision.

You are not talking about an asset that can be split and you take your share you are saying that the UK government and UK taxpayers should bail out Scottish banks after independence or you will not take on a share of jointly accumulated debt. I am sure in the scenario of an iScotland suffering a banking crisis we would offer some assistance but expecting us to totally bail out your banks is madness. Post independence you need to stand on your own feet, have your share of UK assets but do not expect UK taxpayers to save you should your banking system collapse.

They do not legally need to take the debt but if they do you will steal assets to pay off a debt
You can disagree with the law and the “threat” but what you propose is at least as bad ….still they are the baddies eh.

I offer my own opinion about the UK holding back assets from Scotland whereas AS has issued a threat that I consider blackmail against the UK therefore using your logic AS is a baddie but the UK government are still the goodies? eh! We could always apply tariffs on all Scottish imports to the UK until your debt to us is paid off and we could get away with this because you won’t be a member of the EU or the WTO. It is the UK’s name that is on EU and WTO agreements just like it is the UK’s name on all UK debt, how ironic. Small countries shouldn’t try to bully big countries or maybe it is just bluff and bluster.

Do I really have to be the first person to say that the film sucks and the book is a million times better. If you haven’t read it yet get ready to spend an entire day reading it and having watched the film already won’t spoil it for you.

No he is saying that if we enter into a currency union then Scotland would not take on a share of the national debt, if he does not get what he wants he threatens to not take any of the debt. I view that as AS trying to force the UK into a currency union that we don’t want, that is blackmail.
The debt was run up by the UK government for all of the people currently in the UK, if part of the UK leaves it is not unreasonable for them to take some of the debt. Even if they don’t accept any debt a similar amount in assets can be withheld. I do hope things don’t come to this though and a currency plan b is announced.

AS started the threats by saying no currency union means no debt. I personally think that it would have been better to start negotiations by offering an incentive for a currency union, like offering the use of Faslane for 20 years, more than enough time to set up an alternative site.

Junkyard telling the rest of the UK that they have to be the lender of last resort to Scotland in a currency union or Scotland would not take on any debt is not negotiating it is blackmail.
I also hope that in the event of independence we could amicably agree a fair division of assets. We did help out Ireland but we were not obliged to bail out their banks entirely and that is what Salmond is trying to force us to do.

Johhners cybernats continue to argue the case for a currency union while ignoring statements from the three main political parties saying there will be no currency union and polls from the rest of the UK indicating no support for a currency union. Ignoring facts and accusing the people stating the facts of bluffing or being bullies is bit mad as well. Is it not time for plan b?

It doesn’t matter what government ministers say the people in the rest of the UK do not want to be responsible for bailing out foreign countries. We don’t care if businesses suffers a bit if we don’t go into a currency union we are not prepared to lose some of our own independence to help a potentially foreign country gain more independence. A currency union would have to be put to a referendum and the polls indicate that it just would not happen. You can whine on about not taking your share of the national debt or kicking Trident out on day one because the majority of shared assets are in the control of the UK and would remain that way after independence. From day one you would have no military assets, no lender of last resort and no access to UK embassies around the world. If Scotland does not take any debt we withhold an equivalent amount of assets. The UK can also block Scotland joining the EU and there are no legal documents stating that Scottish citizens have any EU status they all state that UK citizens do though. We are not going to be dictated to by a small foreign country.

Far too many road bike pictures on this thread already, and then someone goes and posts a picture of a fixie!!!!

Further cut gate sanitisation? Where?

The Tories would love to be rid of us – unfortunately it’s Scottish oil money that props up Tory tax cuts. It’s our oil they want, not us.

The fact that the Queen hasn’t sent you a card saying how much you are loved doesn’t mean you aren’t wanted. Now take your skirts off and man up! 😉

used responsively, massively enlightening

They just stop your brain from functioning correctly. What is enlightening about that?

One very good reason drugs should not be legalised, pot heads are the most boring people on the planet and we don’t need any more of them!

They drag like hell. Hated them.