Tennant: ‘No’
Tennant says that independence would mean looking inward:
Why do we want to become smaller? Surely we want to expand and look outward?
Connery: ‘Yes’
Connery says independence is the best way to secure Scotland’s future:
The Yes campaign has centred on a positive vision for Scotland. It is rooted in inclusiveness, equality and that core democratic value that the people of Scotland are the best guardians of their own future.
Boyle: ‘No’
Boyle says she will not be voting Yes. She describes herself:
A proud Scot but not a nationalist.
Barrowman: ‘No’
0 0 reuben reuben2014-09-23 12:31:082014-09-23 12:31:08Barrowman: ‘No’Smith: ‘Yes’
Smith says an independent Scotland would provide a better future:
I’m a grandmother of a 16-week-old baby. My vote for Yes is because I want to see a better place for her.
Cumming: ‘Yes’
Cumming writes in the New York Times that No advocates in Westminster are seeking to keep Scotland’s economic assets as part of the union, while domestic supporters of the union are pessimistic:
Distilled, the essence of the choice is this: The Yes campaign is about hope for a fairer, more caring and prosperous society; the No campaign says only: better the devil you know. I am an optimist.
Manson: ‘No’
Manson says she supports staying in the United Kingdom:
I believe that this relationship is worth working at and that the many benefits of living under one roof so to speak far outweigh those of living apart.
Ferguson: ‘Failed state’
Ferguson says the Yes movement disregards history:
Scottish history offers proof that even the most failed state can be fixed – by uniting with a richer and more tranquil neighbour.
He says the Union of the Parliaments in 1707 turned it into the Silicon Valley of the 18th century with Glasgow University as Stanford, by sublimating internal divisions in the UK. But leaving the union could reopen old divisions, and some new ones:
The reality is that, as an independent country, Scotland would be far more likely to revert to its pre-1707 bad habits than to morph magically into “Scandland”. For this debate on independence has opened some old rifts and created some new ones, too.
Spiteri: ‘No’
Spiteri says she supports the No campaign:
As far as I’m concerned, I’m British. And, yeah, I’m Scottish but I feel I’m part of the UK.
Connolly: ‘No’
Connolly says that remaining united is more important than politics:
It’s time for people to get together, not split apart. The more people stay together, the happier they’ll be . . . I don’t (have) great belief in the Union of England and Scotland. But I have a great belief in the union of the human race.
Butler: ‘Yes’
Butler says the differences between Scotland and the UK outweigh the similarities:
I can’t see why Scotland shouldn’t be independent — it has different attitudes, people and outlook.
Cox: ‘Yes’
Cox writes for CNN that he supports a Yes vote in the referendum, although he is not allowed to vote:
This vote is not about nationalism, it is about social democracy, and for myself and the people of Scotland, social democracy is at the root of our desire for Independence. An independent state of Scotland will reinforce its own laws, embrace new forms of political thinking, new creeds, new political parties, and new positions of argument. Independence will allow a new system to be put in place, and in Scotland’s case, and for the people of Scotland, a system of social equality where the yoke of the old feudal ideologies are finally dismantled.
Prince Harry: Keep Invictus Games in UK
Harry hints that he supports the No campaign, saying that he wants the 2015 Invictus Games to be held in the UK – in Glasgow.
I personally would love to keep it in the UK.
McGregor: ‘No’
McGregor says independence is not worth breaking up the union:
I’m a Scotsman and I love Scotland with all my heart. But I also like the idea of Great Britain, and I don’t know that it wouldn’t be a terrible shame to break it all up.
Panelbase: ‘No’ 52%-48%
0 CommentsThe final Panelbase poll before the referendum shows that the No campaign is leading by 52% compared with 48% for Yes. This excludes undecided voters, who make up 5%. Panelbase:
We asked undecided voters to imagine that they were standing in the polling booth, and slightly more said they would vote No than Yes. Adding them to the original decided totals produces a result of Yes 47%, No 53%.
In supplementary poll questions, 35% say they believe Yes is likely to win, an increase of 7 points, and 40% believe it will be No, a decrease of 15 points:
It seems likely that this result will have been influenced by a general tightening of poll results.
AreTheScotsIndependentYet.com
A Guardian-operated website at AreTheScotsIndependentYet.com promises to keep readers updated on the result. The site currently includes an animated map and text:
No
Undecided votes don’t affect polls
0 CommentsMarket research firm Ipsos MORI says the approximately 10% of voters that have consistently said in polls that they are undecided on independence shouldn’t present a challenge to the survey providers – when questioned on which way they are leaning, they split down the middle and move the outcome by less than 0.1 point. A bigger challenge is whether one side’s supporters are more likely to turn out than the other’s – the younger, working-class demographic of Yes voters would usually be more susceptible to not showing up on the day, but the grassroots campaign and once-in-a-lifetime nature of the referendum mean turnout may well be in line with expectations. Finally, it says that some No voters may be refusing to participate in surveys – however this would result in a larger-than-expected No vote.
Would love to say Yes, but can’t
Branson tells 5 News that he would love to endorse Scottish independence, but the uncertainty for Scotland and the UK is too great:
The rogue in me would love to say yes but the pragmatic entrepreneur has looked at [it] and I firmly believe Scottish people should remain part of the UK but have a lot more powers devolved to them
A big risk is higher taxes choking any benefit from independent economic policies to create jobs:
There is enormous wealth pouring into Britain from overseas, a lot of great businesses setting up… and a lot of those tax benefits will not be forthcoming to Scotland. My wife is from Glasgow, my mother is from Edinburgh, they both said if we had done it 30 years ago they would have voted yes. But it’s doing it near the end of the oil flows and there’s just not enough assets for Scotland to fall back on.
McAvoy: Don’t vote based on politics
McAvoy avoids taking a side but warns of making permanent decisions based on political agendas:
I don’t trust politicians at all, and I don’t really think that actors, i.e. professional liars, are the best people to be commenting and to be backing up other professional liars, i.e. politicians. I’ll go with my country no matter what way they vote, I just hope that my country follows its heart and its gut rather than listening to redundant political debate. If you vote one way or another because you believe in some political promise, five or 10 years from now it’s going to be a new guy in that chair with a different political agenda — and you have voted to change your country forever because of a semi-permanent promise made by some guy who may or may not deliver.
Final result: No wins
0 CommentsThe result is confirmed as a mathematical certainty at 6:08 a.m. UK time (1:08 a.m. EDT) as the chief counting officer in Fife county announces the district votes No. Fife voters vote against independence 55% to 45%. The turnout is 84% of the area’s 302,165 electorate.