Promises to leave Britain
Morgan promises the public that he will leave the UK if they vote No:
Dear People of Scotland, if you vote NO, I promise to go straight back to America. #indyref
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) September 14, 2014
Result due Sept. 19
0 CommentsThe result of the Scottish independence referendum is due to be announced on Sept. 19, the day following the vote. Unofficial estimates place the announcement around 6:30-7:30 a.m. local time (1:30-2:30 p.m. EDT). The Chief Counting Officer expects the announcement is likely to be around ‘breakfast time.’ Results will begin being compiled from the 32 regional centers in Scotland as early as 1 a.m. On the basis of registrations, the Electoral Commission is expecting turnout of 80%, with a total of 4,285,323 people registered to vote, the largest ever electorate in Scotland for an election or referendum, while logistical difficulties may also slow counting. The result will be revealed once it becomes a mathematical impossibility for the other side to win – this may be before the precise final result is known. The referendum requires a simple majority – at least one more vote is required for independence than against.
Beckham: ‘No’
Beckham says that captaining England was his greatest pride, including in the 1-0 loss to Scotland in the Euro 2000 qualifier at Wembley:
I saw that same pride and passion in every Scottish player and fan whenever we played each other, it was a common bond that I have always related to and admired.
He recalls the UK’s Olympic bid:
I took as much satisfaction in seeing Sir Chris Hoy or Andy Murray win gold as I did watching Jess Ennis and Mo Farah do the same in the Olympic Stadium.
Sports are only part of what he says is a historic connection:
We want to let you know how very much we value our relationship and friendship. Of course regardless of your decision that will never change, however, my sincere hope is that you will vote to renew our historic bond which has been such a success over the centuries and the envy of the entire world. What unites us is much greater than what divides us. Let’s stay together.
Murdoch criticizes SNP, Salmond
Murdoch criticizes the SNP just days before the Scottish Sun is expected to issue its editorial stance on the independence referendum. On a stop-off in a Glasgow pub during a tour of Glasgow, Aberdeen and Fife Murdoch says he is ‘considering’ giving the Yes campaign the Sun‘s backing – he later publishes several tweets critical of what he says is Salmond’s pro-EU, pro-welfare stance:
SNP not talking about independence, but more welfarism, expensive greenery, etc and passing sovereignty to Brussels.
Scotland. Have to worry about some of Salmond's allies. Far left socialists and extreme greenies. Must change course to prosper if he wins.
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) September 14, 2014
Daily Record statement
Clegg, Cameron and Miliband sign a joint statement for the Daily Record promising to transfer more powers to the Scottish Parliament if a No vote is successful:
The people of Scotland want to know that all three main parties will deliver change for Scotland.
WE ARE AGREED THAT:
The Scottish Parliament is permanent and extensive new powers for the Parliament will be delivered by the process and to the timetable agreed and announced by our three parties, starting on 19th September.
And it is our hope that the people of Scotland will be engaged directly as each party works to improve the way we are governed in the UK in the years ahead.
We agree that the UK exists to ensure opportunity and security for all by sharing our resources equitably across all four nations to secure the defence, prosperity and welfare of every citizen.
And because of the continuation of the Barnett allocation for resources, and the powers of the Scottish Parliament to raise revenue, we can state categorically that the final say on how much is spent on the NHS will be a matter for the Scottish Parliament.
We believe that the arguments that so powerfully make the case for staying together in the UK should underpin our future as a country.
We will honour those principles and values not only before the referendum but after.
People want to see change. A No vote will deliver faster, safer and better change than separation.
Lottery winners are biggest Yes donors
0 CommentsFormer television cameraman Colin Weir and his wife Christine, a former psychiatric nurse, who won $261 million in the EuroMillions lottery in 2011 are the biggest donors to the Yes campaign. Over the last nine months, the couple from the seaside town of Largs gave a total of 1 million pounds ($1.6 million) or 67% of all reportable donations. Overall, they may have donated as much as 4 million pounds. An opinion article the couple wrote:
As lifelong supporters of independence, it would be strange if we did not support the Yes Scotland campaign. So that is what we have done, nothing more and nothing less.
Survation poll: ‘No’ 52%-48%
0 CommentsA Survation poll for the Scottish Daily Mail shows support for the No campaign at 52%, down one percentage point, while support for independence is a point higher at 48%.
Letter to public
Salmond writes an open letter to the Scottish public, saying that now the campaigning is almost over, the focus is on the people of the country and how they will decide:
So in these last days of the greatest campaign Scotland has ever seen, I want to ask you to take a step back from the arguments of politicians and the blizzard of statistics. The opportunity for our Parliament to gain real job creating powers, the ability to protect our treasured National Health Service and the building of a renewed relationship of respect and equality with our friends and neighbours in the rest of these Islands.
But for all that, the talking is nearly done. The campaigns will have had their say. What’s left is just us – the people who live and work here. The only people with a vote. The people who matter.
‘Hadrian’s Wall of health’
NHS England medical director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh writes in the Mail that independence would create a ‘Hadrian’s Wall of health’ between England and Scotland:
‘The people of Wales, England or Northern Ireland could not privatise the Scottish NHS even if they wanted to’.
Taiwanese video
0 Comments
Graveheart: Cameron worried as Scottish independence vote goes down to the wire.
Men wearing the logos of Clydesdale Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland saw down their office buildings and start carrying them across the border. Darling is shown in his office with his feet on the table when a lawn bowl representing the Commonwealth Games knocks him from his chair. Cameron, Miliband and Clegg airdrop Daily Record newspapers from a Hercules cargo plane. It ends with a Braveheart reference:
We here in Taiwan understand that no amount of false promises are enough to sate people’s desire for Freedom!
In the video description:
Apologies for the accent.
Billy Bragg: ‘Yes’
Bragg writes in The Guardian that the Yes movement has its roots in civic nationalism and that a vote for independence could create a fairer Scotland:
Support for Scottish self-determination might not fit neatly into any leftwing pigeon hole, but it does chime with an older progressive tradition that runs deep in English history – a dogged determination to hold the over-mighty to account. If, during the constitutional settlement that will follow the referendum, we in England can rediscover our Roundhead tradition, we might yet counter our historic weakness for ethnic nationalism with an outpouring of civic engagement that creates a fairer society for all.
Stone cairn reaches nine feet in height
The Auld Acquaintance Cairn monument at Gretna village on the banks of the Sark river on the border of Scotland and England, built of stones collected from around the United Kingdom, reaches nine feet in height and 350 tons in weight. Among the stones collected by English and Scottish pilgrims to the site are some that have been carried across rough seas from remote Scottish isles or mailed from remote areas of England. A fragment of the Berlin Wall and a bit of rubble from a Glasgow house bombed during the Blitz have been added. Christine Bethune, a 63-year-old library assistant from Edinburgh adds a red and green stone:
It’s difficult to explain how moving it is. If you broke it, it wouldn’t be the same stone.
She explains that the monument is designed to emphasize the social ties between Scotland and Enland, aside from debates over policies and economics:
I’m English, but I’ve lived in Edinburgh for 40 years. I was married to a Scot. My children were raised in Scotland — one is voting ‘yes,’ the other would vote ‘no,’ but is living in London. I understand Scottish pride. I’ve lived with it for a long time. But I think it’s possible to be proud of your country without dividing the union.
Scotsman poll: ‘No’ 52%-48%
0 CommentsAn ICM poll of over 1,000 voters for the Scotsman places the No campaign ahead of Yes by 52%-48%. When the 14% of undecided voters are included, support for No is 45% compared with 41% for Yes. A directly comparable ICM poll compiled in August put support for Yes at 45% per cent when undecideds were taken out – indicating that the Yes campaign has gained three points. In the previous poll, support for No was at 55%.
‘No-one can stop Scotland using the pound’
Salmond says that an independent Scotland would continue to use the pound:
All this stuff about being able to be vetoed from using the pound actually isn’t true. No one can stop us from using (it) … It’s sensible – England is our biggest trading partner, and Scotland is England’s second-biggest trading partner after the U.S. There will be a common sense agreement for a common currency.
Ipsos MORI poll: ‘No’ 51%-49%
0 CommentsAn Ipsos MORI poll for STV shows support for the No campaign at 51% ahead of the referendum, and support for Yes at 49%. When the 5% of undecided voters are included the margins shift to 49% No, down five point since August, and 47% Yes, up seven points. Ipsos MORI:
Turnout for the referendum is now likely to be extremely high, with 95% telling us that they are certain to vote (up by 14 points from August). While this figure is higher, as expected, with those aged 55 and over (97%) it is very high across all age groups, including those aged 16-24, where 90% say they are certain to vote.
Document ‘shows Scottish NHS cuts’
A document is said to show that the Scottish NHS is facing cuts of $733 million between 2015 and 2017. It says that the health service faces cuts of 210 million pounds in 2015-16 and 224 million pounds in 2016-17 as annual cost savings rise from 2% to 3.5%:
Significant revenue pressures will be realised in 2015-16 and 2016-17, primarily due to the combined effect of a reducing increase in baseline funding, the project impact of the pension revaluation [contribution increases] and loss of national insurance rebate and the cost of funding of the drugs budget – largely due to changes to access to rare and ultra rare drugs, availability of new treatments or extending use to new indications.
The savings come in addition to cuts during the current fiscal year:
The total savings required will be £400million-to-£450million in addition to savings required in 2014-15. Limited time is available to plan for 2015-16 and 2016-17 and immediate action is required to collectively assess the options that will ensure that NHS Scotland can operate within its overall allocation and that we can continue to provide quality, safe and effective care to our constituent populations.
Brown: SNP lying about NHS independence
Brown says the SNP are ‘perpetrating a lie’ about protecting the NHS with independence, as Holyrood already has the power to keep the health service public:
Polls show ‘No’ ahead 52%-48%
0 CommentsA series of polls show the No campaign leading by four points shortly ahead of the referendum. The Opinium/Daily Telegraph, Survation/Daily Mail and ICM/Scotsman surveys all show voters favor remaining in the union by 52% to 48%. They each show a small movement to Yes in recent days, but place the No side ahead within the margin of error.
Sun supports neither side
The Murdoch-owned Scottish Sun adopts
a neutral stance in its editorial ahead of the independence referendum. It says the referendum is ‘Your Voice, Your Choice, Your Vote,’ and leads with pictures of Darling and Salmond both smiling. Headline:
Britain’s Got Talent v. The Ecks Factor
Leader: We believe in the people of Scotland to make the right decision. Whichever you choose, the Scottish Sun will continue to fight for you and our Scottish principles.
Mike Myers: ‘No’
Myers says Scotland should stay in the union:
I love Scotland. I hope they remain part of Britain – and if they don’t, I still love them.