Thread: Scottish Vote Scares London As Scots eye independence, rest of UK gets nervous

Vote YES On Scottish Independence – Scotland Finally Has A Chance To Get Free From The British

By Michael Snyder, on September 11th, 2014

Scottish voters finally have the opportunity to fulfill William Wallace's dream of a Scotland that is free and independent of England forever. All they have to do is vote yes next week. Without a doubt, a divorce from the British would be quite messy, and life would probably be more comfortable in the short-term if Scotland remains part of the United Kingdom. But hopefully the people of Scotland are looking beyond short-term concerns. Today, the United Kingdom is a horribly repressive Big Brother police state that is dominated by bureaucratic control freaks. You can hardly even sneeze without violating some kind of law, rule or regulation. And the London banking establishment is at the very heart of the debt-based global financial system which is enslaving so much of the planet. Scotland finally has a chance to get free from all of this. All it is going to take is a yes vote on Scottish independence.
It looks like it is going to be an incredibly close vote. Recent polls show that the result could go either way. Needless to say, this is causing the British establishment to freak out quite a bit.
For example, a couple of large banks have attempted to sway the vote during this past week by publicly declaring that they will have to move to England if the vote for Scottish independence is successful...

The Royal Bank of Scotland announced Thursday that it is making contingency plans to move its legal incorporation to England in the event of a “yes” vote. In addition, Lloyds Banking Group said it had made arrangements to establish “new legal entities” in England should voters in Scotland decide to sever ties with Britain.

And there have been lots of other warnings of "economic disaster" for Scotland if it does not remain part of the United Kingdom...

Standard Life, the pensions company, disclosed that it was planning to move part of its business to England to protect its customers, while BP and Shell backed expert predictions that North Sea oil will have all but run out by 2050. It also emerged that nearly $2-billion has flowed out of U.K. equity funds in the past two months amid heightened uncertainty over what separation would mean for the economy.

Honestly, it is probably true that there would be some short-term economic disruptions for Scotland.
But in the long run the Scottish would probably be in quite good shape considering how much of the North Sea oil they would own. Just check out the following excerpt from a recent Bloomberg article...

The discovery of North Sea riches in the 1970s planted the seed of modern-day Scottish nationalism as supporters of independence cried “It’s our oil!”
Four decades later, nothing will be more important to the economic future of Scotland than the oil industry should the country vote to end the 307-year union with the rest of the U.K.
Reserves of oil and gas would be split, possibly along the so-called median line, already used to allocate fishing rights. The division would hand the Scots about 96 percent of annual oil production and 47 percent of the gas, according to estimates for 2012 by the University of Aberdeen’s Alex Kemp and Linda Stephen cited by the Scottish government.

What most British politicians won't tell you is that it would probably be the British that would suffer the most economically in the short-term and in the long-term.
In fact, if there is a yes vote for Scottish independence it is being projected that the value of the British pound will fall substantially and we could see a "negative shock" in British financial markets...

Adam Memon, the head of economic research at the Centre for Policy Studies, said: “The principal immediate threat would be to sterling and the stability of the financial markets. The recent selloff is a mere warning of what may come if the Scots actually do vote for independence.”
Threadneedle Investments said: “Given the constitutional and economic uncertainties attached to a potential break-up of the UK, a vote for independence would be likely to deliver a negative shock to UK financial assets and lead to meaningful currency weakness.”

And actually, the Scottish are not going nearly far enough with this vote for independence. For example, according to Yes Scotland a newly-independent Scottish government would continue to have allegiance to the Queen...

The Scottish Government’s proposal is that the Queen remains Head of State in Scotland, in the same way as she is currently Head of State in independent nations such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
This would be the position for as long as the people of Scotland wished our country to remain a monarchy.

Speaking as an American, let me say that getting rid of the British monarchy has worked out exceptionally well for us.
Hopefully the Scottish people will make a similar decision sooner rather than later.
If Scotland does indeed end up voting for independence, it could give momentum to similar movements all over Europe.
Just this week, hundreds of thousands of Catalans took to the streets in Barcelona to demand the right to vote on independence from Spain...

Thousands of Catalans have rallied in Barcelona, Spain, demanding the right to hold a referendum on independence.
Participants, waving Catalan flags and wearing the flag's red and yellow colours, stood in a V-shape formation, indicating their desire for a vote.
Protesters were energised by Scotland's forthcoming independence referendum - and many also waved the Scottish flag.
The regional government has called a referendum for 9 November. The Spanish government says the vote is illegal.

Could we end up seeing a number of new nations emerging from the chaos that is about to engulf Europe?
This is clearly not what the establishment wants. In fact, George Soros says that "this is the worst possible time" for Scottish independence.
That alone is a really good reason to vote yes.
Personally, I am rooting for the Scottish people on this one. I truly hope that they are finally able to win their freedom.
The people of Scotland have been pushed around by the British for centuries.
Now they finally have a chance to stand up to the tyranny of London.
They finally have a chance to get free.
Let us hope that they take it.

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September 11th, 2014 | Tags: British, Debt, Debt-Based Global Financial System, England, Independent Scotland, London Banking Establishment, Michael T. Snyder, Scotland, Scotland Independence, Scottish Independence, United Kingdom, Vote Yes Scotland, William Wallace, Yes Scotland | Category: Commentary


http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/a...om-the-british

Human Events

After an emotional plea by David Cameron, terrifying warnings offered by economists, only two days remain before before Scotland's historic vote on independence.



What would Braveheart do? | Human Events
The disintegration of the Old Continent appears almost inevitable.
humanevents.com

What would Braveheart do?


By: Patrick J. Buchanan
9/16/2014 06:00 AM

British lawmakers warned on Friday that Scotland may be left in a currency limbo if it votes for independence, because it is uncertain if it could continue using the pound or immediately join the euro.



Video at the page link:

British lawmakers warned on Friday that Scotland may be left in a currency limbo if it votes for independence, because it is uncertain if it could continue using the pound or immediately join the euro. Uncertainty over what currency would be used after independence remains a major campaign issue--just weeks before Scots vote in a September 18th referendum on whether to leave the United Kingdom, after 307 years of union with England. Britain's three main political parties have ruled out a formal currency union, but Scottish nationalist leader Alex Salmond has said he is confident a deal would be done and that Scotland "cannot be stopped from keeping the pound".


No matter how the vote turns out on Thursday in Scotland, either for independence or continued union with Britain, the disintegration of the Old Continent appears almost inevitable.
Already the British government has conceded that, even if the Scots vote for union, Edinburgh will receive greater powers to rule itself.

Cheering for the breakup of the U.K. are Catalans and Basques, Bretons and Corsicans, Tyroleans, Venetians, Flemish, all dreaming of nations of their own carved out of Spain, France, Italy and Belgium.
Europe’s secessionists have waxed ever stronger since the last decade of the 20th century when the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia splintered into 22 nations and Czechoslovakia broke in two.
Abkhazians and Ossetians then broke from Georgia as Transnistria fought free of Moldova. Chechnya went to war twice to escape from Russia. Secessionists now battle Russia in Ingushetsia and Dagestan.
The decomposition of the nations of Old Europe is the triumph of tribalism over transnationalism. The heart has reasons that the mind knows not, said Pascal. And the wild heart is winning.
The call of blood, history, faith, culture and memory is winning the struggle against Economism, the Western materialist ideology that holds that the desire for money and things is what ultimately motivates mankind.
Economics uber alles. Here is Niall Ferguson in the New York Times wondering how these crazy Scots could think of seceding from England.
“The economic risks are so glaring that even Paul Krugman and I agree it’s a terrible idea. What currency will Scotland use? The pound? The euro? No one knows. What share of North Sea oil revenues will go to Edinburgh? What about Scotland’s share of Britain’s enormous national debt?”
A Scottish vote for independence, Ferguson wails, “would have grave economic consequences, and not just for Scotland. Investment has already stalled. Big companies based in Scotland, notably the pensions giant Standard Life, have warned of relocating to England. Jobs would definitely be lost. The recent steep decline in the pound shows that the financial world hates the whole idea.”
Niall Ferguson is not the kind of fellow who would have been out there at midnight dumping the King’s tea into Boston harbor in 1773.
And he would surely have admonished those stupid farmers on the Concord Bridge that if they didn’t put those muskets down, they could wind up ruining the colonies’ trade with the Mother Country.
“What currency will we use?” Ferguson would have demanded of Jefferson in Independence Hall in 1776.
Yet it is not only in Scotland where peoples are deciding that what separates them is more important than what unites them. Secessionism is ablaze all over the world.
All those straight lines on Middle East maps drawn up by Sykes and Picot are being erased. The Syria and Iraq we have known will never be the same again, as the Shia-Sunni divide deepens and the Kurds of Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran come together.
In this century, we have seen Ethiopia and Sudan break in two, and now South Sudan hosts a tribal-civil war between Dinka and Nuer.
Facing secessionist movements in Tibet and the Uighur lands of the west, Beijing is exporting Han Chinese by the trainload to repopulate the regions. Much like Stalin did with the Baltic republics he annexed in 1940.
Vladimir Putin is perhaps the most popular leader alive for bringing home to Mother Russia the Crimea and making a virtual protectorate of the Russified southeastern Ukraine.
But it is not only secessionism that imperils the One Europe of Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman and their historic achievement, the EU. In Britain, France, Holland, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary and most of the countries of Europe, populist parties have arisen to liberate their nations from what they see as the soft dictatorship of the EU.
Foremost among these are Nigel Farage’s Independence Party, the UKIP, and the National Front of Marine Le Pen, who is now running ahead of President Francois Hollande in national polls. This weekend, the Sweden Democrats, a rightist party, doubled its strength, taking 13 percent of the vote as Stockholm’s conservative government fell.
What assures the growth of these parties is what engendered them — mass immigration from the Third World and the attendant rise in crime, Islamism, and social disorder.
And what is there to halt the waves of immigration in boats and rafts from across the Mediterranean? Nothing. Out of a Middle East descending into chaos will come millions of Arab and Muslim refugees.
The African continent, which had 1.2 billion people in 2013, will have 2.3 billion in 2050, and 4.2 billion by century’s end.
Hundreds of millions of these African folks will be fleeing these lands to occupy the empty places left by the depopulating nations of Europe, not one of whom has a fertility rate to ensure that its native people survive.
As for the Scots, not to worry if Goldman Sachs is bearish on secession. When you enter the polling booths, just ask yourselves:
What would Braveheart do?

Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of the new book “The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose From Defeat to Create the New Majority.”

http://humanevents.com/2014/09/16/wh...paign=heupdate

Scottish Referendum Preview: In 170 Years, Voters Chose "Independence" 88% Of The Time

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 09/16/2014 18:15 -0400

Ahead of Thursday's critical Scottish Independence vote, we thought some context was worthwhile. As The Guardian notes, history shows that when people are asked, they almost always say yes to independence. Every election, country and place’s history is unique and different. Scotland is no exception. Yet, when given the opportunity, The Guardian finds countries tend to vote in favour of independence, and to do so decisively - across 50 votes since 1846, the vote for independence came out on top 88% of the time (and when the margin was small, voters always sided with independence.) But this time is different, right?

88% of Votes chose Independence since 1846




Full dataset:



Source: The Guardian

* * *
We leave it to ChunkyMark the tax-driver to explain...




http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...ndence-88-time

Scotland Prepares For Bank Runs; 'Quietly' Sends Millions Of Banknotes North

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 09/16/2014 08:57 -0400

As the Scotish independence vote draws near and remains too close to call, some analysts are suggesting Plan B for Scotland may be to choose to opportunistically default. This has done nothing to calm concerns of the aftermath of a "yes" vote - despite US asset managers proclaiming it irrelevant. Nowhere is that more clear than, as The Independent reports, Britain’s banks have been quietly moving millions of banknotes north of the border to cope with any surge in demand by Scots to withdraw cash in the event of a Yes vote in Thursday's independence referendum, it has emerged. Bankers stressed there has been no sign yet of any increase in the amount of withdrawals from deposit accounts or ATMs, but the moves have been taking place over the past week or so in order to make sure ATMs do not run out on Friday in the event of a panic reaction to a “yes” vote.

As The Independent reports,

Britain’s banks have been quietly moving millions of banknotes north of the border to cope with any surge in demand by Scots to withdraw cash in the event of a Yes vote in Thursday's independence referendum, it has emerged.

Sources told The Independent the moves have been taking place over the past week or so in order to make sure ATMs do not run out on Friday in the event of a panic reaction to a “yes” vote. There have been some suggestions that people will want to move their money to English banks in the event of an independence vote.

Bankers stressed there has been no sign yet of any increase in the amount of withdrawals from deposit accounts or ATMs, stressing that there was no need because the Bank of England has pledged to stand behind all accounts for at least 18 months in the event of a “yes” vote.

However, concerns about how safe is their cash still linger.

...

Sources at major banks said they had been issuing clear instructions to their Scottish branches to reassure customers there was no reason to panic.

One said: “We have seen a big rise in customers coming in and asking us what would happen, but there is no sign of any significant flow of deposits from north to south.”
...

Figures from the Bank of England show the number of notes in circulation has been creeping up steadily over the last year. This month there are 62.3 billion notes in the country, compared with 59.8 billion a year ago.

A source at one bank said: “This forms part of our contingency planning. We are, of course, monitoring the situation very closely from hour to hour.”

* * *
As Bloomberg reports, Salmond May Favor Opportunistic Default

Adopting sterling informally while reneging on debt might be Scottish govt’s plan B, Angus Armstrong, director of macroeconomics at Niesr, says in statement, citing comments from Scottish First Minister Salmond.

If Scotland refused to accept fair share of existing U.K. debt, it might be interpreted as a default, even if technically it wouldn’t be failure to pay

If Scotland were to not pay its share of debt, junk status is probable; it’s unlikely to be excluded from markets for the avg time of ~10 years, but there’s “no free lunch” from opportunistic default

Biggest hurdle for any Scottish bid for EU entry would be obtaining Germany’s “yes”

If Scotland sets precedent for EU membership after secession, despite debt repudiation, Germany would be exposed to other post-secession insolvencies

If Scottish govt chose to combine “sterlingisation” with reneging on fair share of existing U.K. debt, it would boost fragility of exchange-rate arrangement; Niesr economists expect currency arrangement would fail and Scotland forced to introduce its own new currency within 1 year.

* * *
Yet, American investors should not worry for some talking-head yesterday on CNBC proclaimed Scotland irrelevant (maybe he should tell the $30 billion in outflows that)...

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...anknotes-north

24 HOURS...

POLLS MAY BE VERY WRONG...

London Promises New Powers if Scotland Votes No...

Desperate Cameron, Clegg and Miliband in last-ditch bribe...

BANKS FEAR RUNS ON ATMS....

Fate may rest in hands of women voters...


http://drudgereport.com/

The REAL Reason Britain is Freaking Out About Scottish Independence

Submitted by George Washington on 09/17/2014 13:37 -0400

David Cameron and the British media have been freaking out about the potential Scottish independence.
They've blathered on about "history", "common defense" and other red herrings.
But it's really all about oil ...
Specifically, if Scotland becomes independent, it gets to keep 90% of the revenues from its huge oil reserves.
The New York Times reports:

Scottish nationalists have long argued that being governed from London has deprived their country of its fair share of the wealth from Britain’s oil and natural gas fields, which mostly lie in North Sea waters off their shores.

“It’s Scotland’s oil” was the rallying cry in the 1970s that helped raise the profile of the Scottish Nationalist Party, which now leads the country and is pushing for a vote to secede in the referendum on Thursday. Alex Salmond, the politician leading the separatist movement, has pointed to North Sea energy as the treasure that would help finance an independent Scotland — ensuring that the country could continue the generous public spending, including free university tuition, that he is promising voters.

Al Jazeera notes:

Massive oil reserves in the North Sea are at the heart of the Scottish independence debate. Many are questioning whether the reserves are just for Scotland or if the rest of the United Kingodm should continue to benefit from their profits.

NBC writes:

The ‘Yes’ campaign … says Scots should have total control of their own affairs and that revenue from Scotland’s offshore oil fields would sustain the country’s economy.

In addition, as Max Keiser explained:

(1) The UK can now borrow cheaply using the giant Scottish oil reserves as collateral

(2) If Scotland leaves, the collateral (oil reserves) is no longer available

(3) So the cost of borrowing money for Britain skyrockets

Scotland’s North Sea oil reserves are slowing running out, and so oil won’t be such a valuable resource forever. But for now, it is still invaluable (especially as collateral for British borrowing) … and the key to Britain’s panic over potential Scottish independence.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...h-independence

Scottish Independence: Politicians Love Democracy So Much They're Trying To Subvert It


Submitted by Tyler Durden on 09/17/2014 16:32 -0400

Submitted by Simon Black via Sovereign Man blog,

The polls in Scotland will close this week on one of the more important elections in recent history… perhaps one of the only elections that actually matters.
Rather than a typical vote to see who the captain of the Titanic will be, Scots are deciding whether they want to be free and independent from the UK.
Every eligible voter has a say, and a simple majority decides the outcome for everyone else.
By definition, this is the PUREST possible form of the democratic process.
What’s ironic here is that ‘democracy’ is typically held up as the hallmark of free society.
Western nations have spent years (and trillion of dollars) force-feeding representative ‘democracy’ down the throats of developing countries at gunpoint.
Opening his second Presidential term in 2005, George W. Bush famously told the world that “it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture. . .”
Given the west’s big love for democracy, you’d think this instance in Scotland– the most fundamental example of the democratic process– would be able to take place free, unfettered, and uninfluenced by government.
Government, in fact, is supposed to be the responsible steward to protect and champion democratic rights. At least, that’s the BS they’re constantly selling us.
But that’s not what’s happening.
British politicians are scared to death that Scotland will file for divorce. So they’re doing everything they can to influence the outcome of this supposedly impartial democratic process.
They’ve spent an incalculable amount of money trying to influence the outcome, effectively subverting a democratic election.
Their claim is that the government knows better than you do. They say they’re doing this for your own good. If Scotland breaks away, your children and grandchildren will suffer immeasurably as a result.
In other words, you NEED US TO TAKE CARE OF YOU. You cannot function without us being in charge of you.
The British government is spreading untold fear, paranoia, and propaganda to drive this point home, all in an effort to influence the outcome of a supposedly free and fair election.
It’s incredibly hypocritical. And the government’s desperation drives home how fragile this system really is.
They know how much weaker and impotent they’ll be if Scotland becomes independent. And they’re terrified of it.
But here’s the thing– this isn’t even the real story. The outcome of the election is irrelevant.
The real issue here is that this election is even happening at all.
Bear in mind that human nature is highly resistant to change. This is the way of the universe.
Sir Isaac Newton told us that an object at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an external force of sufficient enough to overcome the object’s inertia.
In chemistry, activation energy is defined as the minimum energy needed to be input in order to produce a chemical reaction.
A wooden log in a fireplace doesn’t spontaneously combust. You must first add sufficient energy (heat) to the system before the wood will burn.
Until that activation energy is reached, no reaction will occur.
Humans are the same. Our natural state is to remain at rest. Overcoming our inertia is incredibly difficult. Doing so requires tremendous energy. And motivation.
The fact that millions of people in Scotland are even considering rocking the boat and radically change is very telling.
It shows there is a deep, deep dissatisfaction with the status quo. People are sick and tired of the way things are. The system has completely failed them. And they want change.
This is huge. And it’s a sign of things to come.
The dissatisfaction is growing worldwide. As I reported yesterday, the latest Gallup numbers show that only 23% of Americans are satisfied with the direction of the country.
Change is coming. And not just any change. Deep, radical change– a fundamental reset in the way we do business, the way we organize ourselves as societies, and the way we view money.
There’s tremendous opportunity for people who understand this trend and stay in front of it. And frankly I think this makes it a very exciting time to be alive.

I invite you to spend some time with me this afternoon exploring this incredibly important issue in our latest Podcast episode. (click image for link)




http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-0...ing-subvert-it

HERE WE GO!









DAY OF DESTINY...


Global Crisis of the Elites...


Nationalist leader urges Scots to grasp independence...


Campaign Borrowed Heavily From Obama Tactics...


British Pound at 2 Year High; Currency Traders Bet 'No'...


4.3 million registered voters...


Eight separatist movements that could be next...






http://drudgereport.com/