Scottish referendum quote of the week

[David Johnson]

Paul Krugman, Nobel prize winning economist

"Well, I have a message for the Scots: Be afraid, be very afraid. The risks of going it alone are huge. You may think that Scotland can become another Canada, but it's all too likely that it would end up becoming Spain without the sunshine."



Of course, according to the SNP, all of this is just scare mongering just as the many, many, many European leaders and bureaucrats who have stated that Scotland would need to reapply to join the EU and they would need to use the euro as a pre-requisite are scare mongering and all the leaders who state that the rUK will not allow a currency union with Scotland just as they will not allow a currency union with the EU are scare mongering. And Mark Carney who states that for Scotland to be in a currency union with rUK is incompatible with independence is scare mongering. And all the prominent UK companies and banks who have expressed their concerns about all the uncertainties are scare mongering because they are being forced to do so by David Cameron.

The more I hear Alex Salmond speaking the more I dislike the guy. He comes across as an evasive, dishonest, unbelievably, smug spiv who's flutter on Scottish independence will probably end up as being as successful as his horse racing tipster job in the Scotsman newspaper earlier in his career i.e. shite.

[number 6]

Agree with all you say David . Quite looking forward to about 9 am Friday morning so i can see smug Salmond's face when his dream is in tatters. The man has an ego the size of London.

[Sam Slater]

Salmond is an opportunist. I suppose the only good thing if you're a unionist is that Salmond isn't that likeable......even lots of Yes voters say they'll dump the SNP after independence. Salmond just wants to go down in history like a modern Robert the Bruce.

Whatever happens, though, nearly half of Scotland will be majorly pissed off come Friday morning and that's rather sad imho given the importance of it all.

[Arginald Valleywater]

Come 9am Friday I hope the SNP implodes, Salmond and Sturgeon are being ridiculed and there isn't any civil unrest.

[fatmick]

Quote of the week by wee woman on TV:

"see when you've goat nothin', it dizny matter whit currency it's in"

and there you have it

[David Johnson]

And if you have savings, a wage, a mortgage, it diz matter whit currency it's in.

and there you have it

[frankthring]

I have not always agreed with David Johnson, nor he with me, but by
heavens, David, you are spot-on this time ! I am an old codger, though
born after the 2nd World War, but tonight is the most important event in
British history since the last war. Today and overnight we might see the
dissolution of the "united kingdom" and farewell to the world`s nicest and
best flag, along with a ton of troubles in the wake of Scottish independence.
It is so obvious that Scotland will turn arse-up without the rest of the U.K.
that I am shocked they cannot see the wood for the trees ! And Salmond
is sooo smarmy it hurts ! I have started biting my nails again today....and
hope on Friday my homeland remains unified as agreed under the terms of
Queen Elizabeth`s I`s will and later Act of Union.

[RoddersUK]

David, you are spot on about the fat little "Snake oil salesman" as described by a Scottish academic last week.

[alicia_fan_uk]

"Snake oil" is an interesting phrase. It seems many voters were convinced to vote no at the 11th hour by "a solemn vow" which may by the equivalent of a potential promise of some sort of snake oil. Just a few hours after the result, that promise was of dubious veracity. It still is.

With the same turnout, consider if even c9% of the No voters (equivalent of just over 4% of the electorate) were swayed by this promise of snake oil. (Not a wholly ridiculous proposition, especially considering the original appetite amongst Scots for Devo Max)

Just a thought.

[David Johnson]

"It seems many voters were convinced to vote no at the 11th hour by "a solemn vow" which may by the equivalent of a potential promise of some sort of snake oil"

"With the same turnout, consider if even c9% of the No voters (equivalent of just over 4% of the electorate) were swayed by this promise of snake oil".

I can see how people can come forward with this theory and indeed, it suits Salmond to blame the "Westminster establishment" for this last minute "vow" and link it to the defeat of the Yes vote. He can now argue that No voters were "tricked"

Personally I am not convinced. Why?

1. Out of the many hundreds of polls taken including umpteen in the last week, only one or two showed the Yes campaign in the lead. It would appear much, much likelier that the rogue poll two weeks before the vote which gave the Yes campaign a shock lead that energised the No campaign and ensure that there was a big turnout amongst No voters who, perhaps, had thought it was a foregone conclusion up until that poll.

2. Salmond himself, stated that the "vow" was a panic measure because it was made days after the circa 800,000 postal voters could have sent in their votes and hence been unaffected by the "vow".

3. The head of the Better Together campaign, Alistair Darling, said the pledge of extra powers for the Scottish Parliament is "non-negotiable". Lib Dem Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael said the government would be sticking to the undertakings given in respect of new powers for Scotland. No 10 sources insist that "one (Scottish devolution and English devolution) is not conditional upon the other" We will see but it doesn't look to me that it fits into the "snake oil" mould. Certainly not at the moment.