Quote Originally Posted by xsnaggle View Post
I meant to comment on this before. you say what you say with the utter confidence of someone who is convinced of his own opinion. I don't mean that nastily but I cannot see what the confidence is built on.
When southern Ireland ceded from the union it raised its own defence force so why shouldn't Scotland? I recall during the last referendum Scottish pro independence people saying they would run Faslane on a commercial business servicing and repairing the ships of any Navy that paid for their services. The British government said at the time that the could not permit any submarine to enter Faslane that may have an effect on the UK's national interests. Can you imagine Russian boomer turning up to get serviced? It would never be allowed to happen.
But if as you say they just contribute to the overall defence costs and UK continues to protect them where will the get the money from and who will foot the bill for UK Troops in Scottish garrisons?. Will they also be part of NATO and how will they contribute to that?

All these things just add more and more costs to the strain already on the budget and Ms Sturgeon has just pledged that if they win the election they will double family benefit. Additionally in the short term at least they will be a loss of jobs, particularly if the military in Scotland is downsized. And I don't just mean the troops but all the civilians that work in the dockyards airfields and barracks and all the small companies that supply them. And that has another knock on effect to the community businesses that those unemployed people used to spend their money in.
I can't honestly see how they will be able to sustain and (as they aspire) increase the standards of living of the population with the burden of all the costs their independence will land them with. Loss of jobs will also decrease tax revenue decrease VAT revenue and increase the burden of unemployment benefits and the other payments that support families.

Someone said they will get a lump from the pension pot but that is not how it works. When it was set up it was on the principle that what is collected in pay packets this week goes out to the pensioners next week, and despite the growing cost that is still the principle it is based on. They didn't start taking NI payment months before they began paying pensions in is an in-out system. The government meets the weekly shortfall from other revenue but it was never intended for that to need to happen.
So if they leave they will have to collect from a reduced work force and find more money to sustain the level of payments.
Also if all the pension and financial institutions feel the need to migrate to the remaining UK where the vast majority of their business is they will take a good number of their workers with them, further reducing the number paying into the government communal pot and leaving a higher percentage of non working population to care fo.

I think people may think from this that I believe the biggest problem for them is and will be financial. And the high minded and very honourable feelings of Scottish Patriotism will feel cold in the stomach when there is no food on the table for the children
Going off at a tangent, Ireland doesn't chart its own waters. That task is still carried out by the UK government, which also owns most of the IP therein.