Scottish Independence

[JudgeDredd]

don't you guys have all (or most) of the UK's shipbuilding capacity?  You could always build aircraft carriers for export :)

Not at all. And the Better Together's very negative campaign has already said Scotland would lose the contracts for UK ship building because the UK doesn't get warships made abroad.

But the UK has ship building capabilities

What they don't have is a Nuclear facility. The SNP has said they would remove Trident from Faslane and not invest in more (the upgrade). I don't know where the UK would place those. However......there's another point here - the SNP won't necessarily be in power in 2016 - so it's entirely possible that it would be used as some sort of bargaining tool.

But I'm speculating there..as is most of the media tbh.

[undercovergeek]

wasnt there some dispute over the new carrier been yours?

[JudgeDredd]

I don't know to be honest.

I think the other ship building yards in the UK were a bit pissed (and I have to say, rightly so) because they saw the contracts being offered to Glasgow as a "buy out" - and I happen to agree with them. Not that I don't think the Scottish shipyards are not worthy of the contracts - but I do think there was some "manipulation" being applied to BAe by Westminster.

No proof again - and not something I bandy about because of that lack of anything solid - just my opinion.

[JudgeDredd]

wasnt there some dispute over the new carrier been yours?

Oh sorry UCG - you mean Scotland "keeping" one of the carriers? If so, I have no idea and I haven't heard anything about that - nothing at all.

The SNP and Westminster have to work out splits of liabilities and assets. I have no idea what those are likely to be or involve and neither do the SNP or Westminster because no-one is talking about it before the referendum...but that does have to be discussed in the year following a yes outcome.

[Gusington]

A nuclear armed, independent Scotland...would be like me arming myself with a .50 after a really bad day and some whiskey.

[undercovergeek]

wasnt there some dispute over the new carrier been yours?

Oh sorry UCG - you mean Scotland "keeping" one of the carriers? If so, I have no idea and I haven't heard anything about that - nothing at all.

The SNP and Westminster have to work out splits of liabilities and assets. I have no idea what those are likely to be or involve and neither do the SNP or Westminster because no-one is talking about it before the referendum...but that does have to be discussed in the year following a yes outcome.

yeah, when she got launched the other month and Liz broke the whisky on the ship the newsreaders were commentating about whether it should be a Union Jack or a St Andrews flag on the back

[JudgeDredd]

oh - I never heard any of that - though I was probably still reeling from a wasted bottle of whisky!  :D

[undercovergeek]

lmao - so true 

[GDS_Starfury]

just invade south.
wear kilts.
and get laid.

[JudgeDredd]

just invade south.
wear kilts.
and get laid.

I already did that in 1983 - 'damned beautiful girls down here got me smitten and I never exfil'ed!  ;D

[eyebiter]

.

[JudgeDredd]

I watched a program on how Independence for Scotland would affect the rest of the UK - and it was a bit of an eye opener.

Whilst I want independence for Scotland, I do not want any negative effects to affect the rest of the UK

Regarding nuclear weapons specifically - in the event of a Yes vote (and I have to say - in the "unlikely" event) the nuclear weapons will have to be removed from Scottish waters by 2020. Personally I'm all for it. I was never in for the arms race much. But it was what it was.

So for Scotland to be Nuclear free would be fine by me. It is possible the rUK would not have a nuclear deterrent. But that is an unlikely scenario. The likely scenarios are the 2020 deadline would be extended to allow the rUK to redeploy their WMD. That is the likely scenario. There's also the possibility that Westminster holds a gun to Scotland's head and says "Yeah but..." and by that I mean it will be on the negotiating table...to be raffled off against some other deal. Another scenario would be that Trident is indeed scrapped but the rUK takes a land based option...though that is an unlikely scenario, it is possible.

The trouble is, the rUK doesn't have anywhere currently to put them and store them safely and service them...or their submarines. However, what is incredulous and down right arrogant is the fact that (at least it was reported last night) Westminster hasn't even looked into a contingency - because they believe a NO vote is secured - and even if it's not, they seem to think they can keep their WMD on Scottish soil - even though Scotland has said you won't (as arrogant I might add as Salmond insisting he's keeping the pound (which he most certainly can) in a currency union (which may not be granted!)

So Westminster has decided either a no vote is what Scotland will come up with or it'll be bargained. I call that ballsy considering if both those options are kicked out, then the rUK will be nuclear free.

Alot of people in the rUK would be fine with such a thing. There's a rumble of uproar that 100 billion sterling is being sunk into such a weapon (which, lets be honest sits there looking threatening) whilst conventional forces, considerably over stretched, are being cut time and again and soldiers returned in body bags with lack of essential kit.

Westminster wants to keep a hold of nuclear weapons so it can play with the big boys on the world stage...that's it. Can someone - anyone - explain to me the madness of the UK having a nuclear deterrent? Aren't we bound by treaty to NOT use them anyway?

[LongBlade]

How A Scotland "Yes" Vote Could Challenge the U.K. Nuclear Weapons Program
http://www.occupy.com/article/how-scotland-yes-vote-could-challenge-uk-nuclear-weapons-program

"The brilliant thing about Scottish Independence, from a global anti-nuclear weapons stance, is that the U.K. has no other sites suitable to host trident submarines or their nuclear warheads," he says. "So if an Independent Scotland demands it to be moved, it will likely be decommissioned with nowhere else to go."

I'm sure we have an extra berth or two in Norfolk if the Brits want to keep their subs.

[undercovergeek]

i think its a Tory plot to let them have their independence and then we'll just invade and claim it for ourselves. Its not like we didnt pay for the sub pens, or anything else that Scotland says 'its ours now' to  :-*

[BanzaiCat]

Actually, we intend to annex it and turn it into our 51st state.

From Obama's perspective, probably more like 57th state.

MURICA.