Scottish Independence Debate

Slave · Sep 18, 2014

COB said: ↑

I really do think it's going to be a No result when all's said and done. There's no chance so many polls can be wrong, is there?
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Has everyone already forgotten the first series of Pop Idol?

Dinlo · Sep 18, 2014

I just want all the NO voters on Moopy to know in the event of a YES result they'll all be very welcome to apply for political asylum in the The United Wastelands of rUK xox

monsta · Sep 18, 2014

George Square was full of fucking bams tonight.

I'm a proud NO btw.

COB · Sep 18, 2014

A lot of my friends were there

Kalabaliken · Sep 18, 2014

No 1/14 Yes 15/2

Sharla · Sep 18, 2014

Kala have you still got a feeling it's going to be YES?

Kalabaliken · Sep 18, 2014

Sharla said: ↑

Kala have you still got a feeling it's going to be YES?
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I'm not jinxing it by saying what I think.

Diddy · Sep 19, 2014

I'm going to read a poll and become a political Svengali

Mats · Sep 19, 2014

ANARCHY IN THE UK please

Lucille · Sep 19, 2014

Results trickling in from the smaller areas. Orkney votes 67% no

Queen of the Bay · Sep 19, 2014

What will happen if yes turns out to be lower than expected? Will they still be offered Devo Max? Because a 67% no makes you think they really are more than happy the way they are.

Dinlo · Sep 19, 2014

I'd love an English referendum now on whether we actually want to keep Scotland.

Diddy · Sep 19, 2014

I want an English referendum from the other bits. Leave them to DRIFT!

Dinlo · Sep 19, 2014

I like Wales

I'd happily ditch Northern Ireland though.

Penelope · Sep 19, 2014

I found this very interesting in the FT - although I can't see it changing many minds.

Now that all the Scottish referendum votes are in, a new received wisdom is emerging. This says the contest was always the No camp’s to lose but that by running an uninspired, negative campaign that was forced to offer hurried concessions at the 11th hour, it won victory at the price of constitutional uncertainty. The problem with this narrative is that it does not stand up to the facts.

If you look closely at the underlying attitudes among the population, the inconvenient truth is that Scotland had become a pro-independence country – all other things being equal – if no change had been on offer.

Better Together’s achievement lies in securing a No vote by demonstrating that all other things would not have been equal in the event of independence, twinned with the promise that real change would be forthcoming.

When Populus started polling for Better Together more than a year ago, we found just under 40 per cent committed to voting No and just under 30 per cent committed to Yes; the rest were undecided. In general elections, parties can focus on a handful of key marginal seats. In a referendum campaign, this is not possible, so the result depended on isolating and understanding the motivations of the uncommitted voters.

To take a leaf out of Alex Salmond’s book, you should hold three figures in mind about this key bloc who ultimately determined the outcome: 64 per cent, 9 per cent and 70 per cent.
The 64 per cent refers to the proportion of undecided voters a year ago who said they would vote for independence if they were certain Scotland would be no worse off. Small wonder, then, that as polling day drew closer and uncommitted voters began to make up their minds, the headline gap between No and Yes closed or disappeared altogether. This was not because the No campaign was too negative or prosaic, but because the risks of independence had yet to hit home.

Those who yearned for a more emotionally upbeat No campaign from the start should think of the second figure: 9 per cent. That is the proportion of undecided voters who back in the summer of 2013 said they shared a common bond with people who were like them in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The message, “Let’s stay together”, may have galvanised those who were already committed to voting No, and brought succour to their allies among the UK media and political classes, but it was never likely to shift more than a tiny proportion of those whose votes would prove decisive.

Which brings us to the final figure: 70 per cent. That was the share of undecided voters from a year ago who liked the idea of independence but thought it represented too big an economic risk. These are the people who ultimately opted for No in sufficient numbers to keep Scotland part of the UK.

It took the guarantee of extra powers for the Scottish parliament – and also a warning from George Osborne that an independent Scotland would not be allowed to share the pound; big supermarkets saying food prices might have to go up; and Scottish banks threatening to relocate their headquarters south of the border – to turn these voters away, however grudgingly, from choosing Yes in the hope that everything would be all right on the night.

The lesson of the Scottish referendum for campaigners is that to be successful you have to focus on what the evidence says rather than what commentators say. Victory belongs to those with the greatest understanding of what really drives the decisions of the people who actually matter in elections – not those who assume that wavering voters are thinking about the decision in the same terms as themselves.

Fast-forward to a potential referendum campaign on UK membership of the EU in 2017. Once again, this would probably be decided by swing voters who at best have a transactional relationship with a wider union. Again, a successful appeal for continued membership will need to combine constitutional concessions with warnings of the practical difficulties that would result from leaving. There will still be those arguing for the need to put a more inspiring, positive case for our EU membership. The chances are they will be speaking mainly to, and for, themselves.

Rick Nye is the managing director of Populus, which carried out polling for the No campaign
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COB · Sep 19, 2014

There's some major shit going down in Glasgow tonight - I feel sick, how disappointing

PercyPig · Sep 19, 2014

I'm going out tonight

Wish me look bois

straightorbroken · Sep 19, 2014

I've cancelled my favourite Friday night gym session tonight due to some footage I've seen (although in fairness it's the exact same outside the Royal Concert Hall whenever Jane McDonald's playing). I'll go in the morning when 'that sort' should all be asleep, on benches or in cells, and out of the way hopefully.

PercyPig · Sep 20, 2014

Pure Gym? So cruisey.

KindaCool · Mar 21, 2015

Quite an entertaining read from the STOP FUCKING HATE

http://www.STOP FUNDING HATE.co.uk/...-Nicola-Sturgeon-soon-run-England-Red-Ed.html

Sturgeon's school pic LOL

Madison · Mar 21, 2015

Bring back the banning game.

LOL

KindaCool · Mar 21, 2015

Introduce a block function. Oh wait... LOL.

Ag · Mar 21, 2015

DREADFUL.

Penelope · Mar 22, 2015

Regardless of KindaCool's dreadfulness,

http://i.STOP FUNDING HATE.co.uk/i/pix/2015/03/21/00/217D5C0600000578-3005054-image-a-49_1426898775783.jpg

IS pretty jawdropping

KindaCool · Mar 22, 2015

lol it's just an article. I didn't write it. I thought people here liked Sturgeon.

Sharla · Mar 22, 2015

Penelope said: ↑

Regardless of KindaCool's dreadfulness,

http://i.STOP FUNDING HATE.co.uk/i/pix/2015/03/21/00/217D5C0600000578-3005054-image-a-49_1426898775783.jpg

IS pretty jawdropping
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one to add to the Bieber inspired 'Teenage boys who look like lesbians' list.

Ag · Mar 22, 2015

KindaCool said: ↑

lol it's just an article. I didn't write it. I thought people here liked Sturgeon.
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KC posts DM article just adds fuel to the fire.

KindaCool · Mar 22, 2015

lol this is obviously one of those British things that I'm not aware of. I know the STOP FUCKING HATE is borderline tabloid, but isn't that the appeal?

Sharla · Mar 22, 2015

This clip explains the STOP FUCKING HATE's finer qualities. The pathetic looking man on the far right is one of their writers.

[video=youtube;9JIvARoGbS4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JIvARoGbS4[/video]

FYI, The STOP FUCKING HATE is a right wing rag read by mainly women who are generally UKIP sympathisers who long for Britain the way it used to be and hate other women (as well as left leaning moderates who buy it for the TV magazine).

They have a lot of spiteful and vindictive hags writing for them, notably Jan Moir (infamous for her Stephen Gately death expose, the barren and bitter Amanda Platell (she can't have kids so she doesn't think gays should be allowed to either) and the sad, sloppy, menopausal mess that is Miss Liz Jones. They also have charming male columnists like Richard Littlejohn, Peter Hitchins and Piers Morgan, and you can research them in your own time.

Britain's former Prime Minister Gordon Brown is a close personal friend of the editor Paul Dacre which demonstrates the paper's impact on the political establishment.

And back to the main topic, having watched Alex Salmond on Andrew Marr this morning he's still a cunt.

KindaCool · Mar 22, 2015

The only person I properly know from that list is Piers Morgan. The one from CNN. Quite a fall.

Gordon Brown though, I remember my British university tutors getting so red talking about him.

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Scottish Independence Debate

Independence?

I am Scottish - YES

I am Scottish - NO

I am Scottish - DON'T KNOW

I am British (not Scottish) - YES

I am British (not Scottish) - NO

I am British (not Scottish) - DON'T KNOW

I am not British - YES

I am not British - NO

I am not British - DON'T KNOW

Slave User

Dinlo Gypsy Princess

monsta CAUGHT YOUR FEVER

COB jumped up little prick

Kalabaliken Pop Precision Since 1978

Sharla The Resistance

Kalabaliken Pop Precision Since 1978

Diddy Rice Queen

Mats User

Lucille Sniffing in the VIP area

Queen of the Bay User

Dinlo Gypsy Princess

Diddy Rice Queen

Dinlo Gypsy Princess

Penelope SMIRKING LESBIAN MOON

COB jumped up little prick

PercyPig The Last of Us

straightorbroken rebel heart

PercyPig The Last of Us

KindaCool Kick Rocks. Eat dirt.

Madison Everything goes up by six

KindaCool Kick Rocks. Eat dirt.

Ag BRING BACK TAGS

Penelope SMIRKING LESBIAN MOON

KindaCool Kick Rocks. Eat dirt.

Sharla The Resistance

Ag BRING BACK TAGS

KindaCool Kick Rocks. Eat dirt.

Sharla The Resistance

KindaCool Kick Rocks. Eat dirt.

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