About the oil, as I said, it's not very lucrative right now, and I used the current proven reserves to make the statement that scottish oil will soon be fully extracted.
Firstly, North Sea oil isn't nearly done. Many reliable sources says it has about 100 years to go, which is in a world where nuclear power and renewable energy are the most popular by far. It might not be too strong short term, but to gain extra money, Scotland can nationalise the oil, and make sure that our market is filled with the people that want to buy "moral oil" (like Norway's).
Plus, the tories aren't stealing your oil, it's normal to share the ressources benefits of one region with your country (even though the region that extracts it should have a bigger income on it). If you get independent, that wouldn't be the case of course.
The Tories ARE stealing Scotland's oil. They steal millions, if not billions of pounds worth from Scotland, when it is
OUR OIL,
NOT THEIRS. England can survive on their own without our oil.
- Need to take over programs that are actually taken in charge by the "federal government", such as healthcare (where scotland pays LESS then it receives), education, safety,... That would be a problem that could be solved in a few years period, but you'll have overcosts in the beggining.
Scotland already has their own NHS. Even though the Scottish NHS is partially reliant on the English NHS, the funding for it will be received in the other industries which will now be Scottish, instead of English (like oil). Furthermore, look at these tax statistics:
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02829/IHT_map_2829532c.jpgAs you can see, Scotland isn't only paying more tax than the average English region, it is also paying more than areas that are more populated than it (North West), something that no other region does.
Therefore, Scotland will have enough money to fund these things, especially seeing as taxes will be increased for the richer people, when the Tories aren't in charge of who gets taxed anymore.
- Losing many jobs and companies that will move to England in case of independence, such as the scotish royal bank for example (and yea, they said they would leave in case of independence). The situation would however be stabilized in the medium term.
Scotland has 3 major banks. Clydesdale, Bank of Scotland, and RBS. Only RBS said that they'd move to England, which would still leave 2 major, reliant, credible banks in Scotland. Companies would in fact invest more in Scotland, however, seeing as the average person will have more money than they would have, in the UK, and more average money means more for the businesses.
- Losing the pound, nope the UK wouldn't let you keep that ;). You'll have troubles on this, but it can be solved on the medium term as well, or on the short term if scotland joins the euro.
Yeah, this is the most (and one of the only 2) valid argument against independence. Alex Salmond was rather stupid, in saying that we would be able to engage in a currency union when that obviously wasn't the case. If we wouldn't get in the EU (which we very likely would however get into), then there would have to be an official Scottish Pound. Luckily, the Clydesdale and Bank of Scotland banks are already strong enough, and reliable enough, that people would trust the currency, provided it has a good start.
- Dropping out of the EU. That's probably the biggest problem, if scotland is independent it won't stay by default in the union. There's no status for that, and it would be probably voted on the european parliament with every country able to veto. Good luck on avoiding the UK, or even spain to veto your stay in the union. That's probably a thing that isn't really fixable.
If the UK leaves the EU, then the UK isn't a problem. The UK isn't Scotland's enemy, the Tories are. If Corbyn becomes Prime Minister, I can safely say that the UK-Scotland relations would be waay better, so we just have to survive until 2020. About Spain, if they reject Scotland joining, this will only worsen their situation. They'd be put under huge international pressure, and internal pressure as well. They could risk losing Catalonia (which is HUGE for Spanish economy), as well as Euskadi, Galicia, and perhaps some others. Spain isn't a problem.
- Cameron already said scotland isn't getting a second referendum. It really won't happen on the short term.
If the UK leaves the EU, then I can guarantee there is another one. UK will be put under enough pressure by the EU to give in to the Europhile Scots, and he will give.
If not, then we just have to wait for Labour to get control for another IndieRef.
+1. This is the single biggest reason why Cameron is pushing for the UK to remain in the EU. Cameron is worried about his legacy as prime minister. Period. He knows that if the UK leaves the EU, he'll have given the SNP and Scottish nationalists their best argument for a second referendum in less than 5 years. Based on the blowout the SNP gave to the Lib-Dems and Labour in the general election, I can guarantee that Nicola Sturgeon and Angus Robertson will be quite organized to win. What does this mean? A majority vote for the UK to leave the EU is also a majority vote to let Scotland declare independence. This fact alone will brand Cameron as the most infamous prime minister in several decades in British history. That's why Cameron is seething at Boris Johnson and is angry at his MPs for trying to court UKIP votes by supporting the No side.
Totally agreed, +1
Why do something that's going to also run out in 100 years? If you keep on picking the short goals over and over again, over a long time, the long goals will smash the short goals.
Sounds like somebody is annoyed that his country got devastated by Chernobyl.
