Location of Scotland in the UK and Europe, on terrain map showing surface and underwater contour areas. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is a MUST-READ lead article in the Economist. Check it out!
via Scottish independence: UK RIP? | The Economist.
For me, the Economist makes a powerful argument for Scotland to continue to stay as part of the UK; this is in Scotland’s best interests and those of the UK.
The Scottish independence debate has assured Scotland she will receive constructively the same same reforms as part of the UK. Scotland has shown the UK that Westminster must be reformed in the interests of the whole of the UK. It’s time to devolve power. The political classes of Westminster need downsizing and some of their own austerity medicine.
Voting “No” to independence will give Scotland the same as “Yes” but without the catastrophic risks and certain pain of a “Yes” vote.
Please vote “No” and give Scotland a greater say in the UK!
Thoughts?
Dr Alf's Blog 
Scotland,s economy has never been self sustaining so what Dr Alf and the Economist are saying and have been saying are obvious statements of fact.
For hundreds of years people of Scottish descent have emigrated to the four corners of the globe for precisely that reason and there are now 80 million of them living everywhere in the world other than Scotland.
The Scottish population by contrast is just 5.5 million plus large numbers of sheep and cattle.
North Sea oil revenues are lower than Alex Salmond says they are by a very wide margin and Salmon,whiskey,wool,fund management and tourism is simply not enough to make the difference.
Alex Salmond hopes that by promising armies of deprived Scottish benefit recipients he can get Labour voters to switch their allegiance to him and he imagines that he can get David Cameron,who is a useless negotiator to make concessions which allow him to keep the pound ,retain North Sea Oil and keep the Barnett Formula subsidies.
The numbers do not add up and the Scots must be told directly no more money and put up or shut up.
Either they want independence and are really on their own or they stay as they are.
The question of reforming the UK public services is a separate issue but all but 15000 civil servants must be put to the sword along with all but 12 of the county councils,constabularies and fire commands that exist in England.
Districts and Boroughs,unitary authorities and all other types of council need to be abolished and their functions outsourced.
The NHS needs to be abolished and recreated along German lines and all but 250 of the MP,s need to be sacked.
The pay of those who remain can rise to £150k gbp but their expenses,housing allowances and perks would be abolished and I would require them to only be an MP for 8 hours a day with no second jobs.
The Welsh similarly need to be dealt with sternly as do the people who now run Northern Ireland.
If they do not respond well to this dose of straight talking then they must be made to become independent and we must then become an offshore tax haven with a “smartsized” monarchy or ideally no monarchy at all.
Similar conversations must be had with the people of NE England and the descendants of Michael Ango in Cornwall who are similar biters of the hand that feeds them.
Scottish independence will cause a mass exodus similar to the effects of the Highland Clearances and a lot of them will come south looking for work whilst the best and brightest will go to Australia,Canada and America.
Alex Salmond,s bluff must be called and he must be exposed for what he is,a man determined to mislead,obfuscate and confuse for his own ends.
We are even without these reforms better off together.