I agree piemonster these debates could have been a lot better, I think agreeing on questions beforehand would have been better so that proper researched answers could have been given. The one-on-one format suits presidential elections rather than referendums as no one is voting for the person in the debate, maybe a panel would have been a better alternative.

There will be no currency union and if they don’t take the debt then an equivalent amount of assets will be withheld Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The English don’t want a currency union Link

I agree with others on here the argument should be Deore or SLX. I would get deore and when the calipers wear out replace them with SLX calipers. The levers look identical other than the lettering.

I see, you meant something different to what you said.

No Ernie as pointed out by ninfan there was a comma there to aid understanding. I will use bullet points from now on. 😉

Ernie, ninfan,

The reason given for their inability to “nuke us” was poor outdated equipment

sorry Ernie I meant that they can’t nuke us because we have nukes i.e. a deterrent. Let’s try to keep the discussion pleasant guys. 😉

Ben, I agree with you nukes are repugnant but I think the world is stuck with them until we all live in peace, due to the amount of conflict going on I predict that won’t be any time soon 🙁 .

Type 45 equals air superiority

Ben Russia and China have poor outdated equipment, couldn’t nuke us and our troops have real combat experience.

Gordi, they invaded Georgia and slyly invaded Ukrainian Crimea as well.

The UK nuclear deterrent is terrifyingly powerful, it could easily lay waste to China and Russia. I am sure that they could very easily do the same in response. Having nuclear weapons allows us to stand up to countries like China and Russia knowing that they can’t use theirs against us. Russia has just supposedly shot down a civilian aircraft as well as invaded two European countries recently, we need a deterrent so that we can put them in their place if needs be.

Everybody that bets always wins don’t they 🙄
Meanwhile in the real world no poll worth mentioning has ever put the yes vote in a wining position.

The polls are against you gordi accept it that independence is over.

Your right gordi who cares about the polls just keep dreaming about being free from the english and how good it will feel to be free and who cares if about being irrelevant freeedooommmmmmmmmm

😆

Only in your limited view of the world gordi 🙄

Fnf Independence is looking more likely now than it has for a very long time More seriously I knew this campaign would be tough and as yet nothing has happened that has particularly surprised me except that it has shown up the poor state of the news/ current affairs at BBC Scotland…not biased but overworked and often shoddy.

Hitler in his last days still thought the war could be won….

Gordi scotroutes I take it you accept independence is now looking unlikely and it is now more appropriate to discuss what happens next.

Of course the EU should vote on any changes that affect the EU, it would be undemocratic not to do so.

If all of the three parties have pledged more powers then I really have no vote on changes to the UK and that is not democratic. I really think this should go to a referendum as more devolution affects the balance of the the UK. If you want definite change have the balls to vote for independence.

Wan I have no problem with the independence referendum I just think in the event of a no vote that further Scottish devolution should be put to a referendum for the rUK.
If Scotland wants to leave the UK then I wish them well. If they want to stay in the UK but change the current political set-up then I would like a referendum on this. Further devolution should be of benefit to the whole of the UK and not just a halfway house to eventual independence. I don’t want the UK to have to go through this again in my lifetime.

Rene can’t you accept that some English people resent Scots making the UK a more unfair place. I am not against Scots getting their referendum I just hope they would not want to deny the rUK a vote on more devolution for Scotland.

Labour say no to a currency union in their manifesto Link

They need to add no to further devolution as well so we can see just how much Scots really want independence. Any constitutional changes should be put in a referendum for the whole of the UK to vote on.

Get some pics up!

I agree that there are other important issues but currency was one of the most important issues to Scots in a poll that I saw. Admittedly it was back at the start of the year.

Yes the rUK would definitely be the lender of last resort to a foreign country wouldn’t it. You are welcome to dream about a currency union as that is all it will ever be.

So why couldn’t he answer live on TV what plan b is and why is he still sticking to his guns in the link I have provided a moment ago. The guy is turning the independence movement into a joke. You need to distance yourselves to get some credibility back.

Eh naw – how can they possibly be rUK assets when there is as yet no rUK? Your argument is bobbins

Have you looked at the polls there is never going to be a rUK. So why do you keep dreaming about an iScotland that will never be.

Has any body had a laugh at this yet. It’s our poond!

Salmond is becoming a bigger joke by the day. The SNP have no answer for a plan b but keep rattling on about a currency union that is never going to happen.

How much does the £1bn Trident maintenance bill we’d save get us?

I don’t know, go get your own currency, work out the exchange rate and get back to me.

Scotland doesn’t take any debt it gets less assets. Try being an independent country with no embassies etc.

Tell that to AS. He is trying to bully the rUK into propping up an independent country. The UK doesn’t have a currency union with any other country it trades with so there is no need to have one with iScotland.

BTW a Scotland with no debt would certainly qualify for the euro but a country which had effectively reneged on its share of a national debt isn’t going to be a very attractive candidate for membership, but perhaps I forget Scotland is already a member.

No debt means less assets. iScotland wants to join the EU??? Well they better play ball with the rUK as we have a veto. Have I not mentioned that little boys can’t bully big boys!

Dr Madsen Pirie is President of the Adam Smith Institute, and was one of three Scots graduates working in the US who founded the Institute in 1977.

Based in London but run by Scots. Not saying Scots should not write just that they might be slightly biased. 😉

I have heard of them and I doubt many other people have. Minor articles offering support such as this are not evidence a currency union is going to happen. The fact remains a currency union is not in the interest of the rUK.

This ‘sterlingization’ would emulate a number of Latin American countries that use the US Dollar without an official agreement with the US government.

So Scotland is going to leave a union with one of the largest economies in the world and base it’s new economy on that of a banana republic? 😕

Because Scottish banks would not have access to a currency-printing lender of last resort, they would have to make their own provisions for illiquidity, and would necessarily act more prudently.

Oh yes we all trust the bankers to do the right thing don’t we .
🙄

One of the worst cases of blind nationalism I have ever seen.

They can’t have the pound.

They can’t have the Euro.

They need a new familiar sounding currency.

They could call it the Giro.

Currency union is still not happening, there is still no plan B and the polls are still saying a no vote will win. Do any nats feel like they have lost already?

Darling did not give a straight answer on whether an independent Scotland would be successful going it alone. Salmond did not give a straight answer on currency again. There is enough information available for Scots to know that they would have a successful economy it is a bit of a shame that they still don’t know what currency they would be using.

I loved the guy in the audience who said something along the lines of the rUK will have to have a currency union because without oil money helping the balance of payments the pound would be doomed.

I never realised we were too poor to go it alone. Are we too wee and too stupid as well. Don’t nats complain about this one? 🙄

Some quotes from your article

However, life expectancy in Scotland is still lower than elsewhere in the UK.

But Registrar General for Scotland Tim Ellis said: “More generally, while life expectancy at birth in Scotland is higher than it has ever been, life expectancy at birth in Scotland is still the lowest within the UK.

“In Scotland, males and females can expect to live shorter lives (by 2.5 years and 2.1 years respectively) than in England, where male and female life expectancy is the highest in the UK.”

Ernie I don’t have the answers but I would expect a politician to and to be making it their number one priority. This is not a cheap dig at Salmond and I am genuinely concerned at the inequality in health between Scotland, N Ireland and England and Wales. To add some balance to this I would also like to know what the UK government has been doing about it.

I have just looked at figures for a range of different causes of death and Scotland is worse than England and Wales in all of them that I looked at (didn’t check them all though). It is also worse than a lot of European countries. There has been big reductions in deaths for some causes since the 1970s so it is not as if nothing is being done. I just think more could be done and Salmond should be spending his time on this instead of devoting 24/7 to independence.
After all Scottish independence is not just about the SNP, couldn’t the various independence groups have joined forces and created a “better apart” organisation to campaign for independence? This would have freed Salmond up to get on with his day job.

maybe rUK men will live longer without all of this referendum grief

The truth is that life expectancy south of the border is already higher. Salmond would do well to sort things like this out instead of spending all day, every day, campaigning for independence.

Pictures and any fancy parts on them would help as well. Check ebay and pinkbike etc. Sorry for your loss, hope you get them back.

Ben this is like nats saying Scotland will be one of the richest nations in the world based on GDP per capita. After independence you won’t wake up with more money in the bank. Your money might be worth less or more depending on currency exchange rates though. If you ever decide what currency you are going to use 😉