Scotland might just show the rest of us the way to reset social democracy
- Thread starter tay
- Start date
Quebecmen.
Quebecoids.
Welcome to Scotland! Motorists baffled after pranksters set up spoof passport control checkpoint on the Scottish border
The mock 'passport control centre' sprung up on the Scottish border near to Jedburgh, complete with a barrier and a sign claiming it was the work of the Scottish Border Agency, with its opening on Friday. Piper Alan Smith, inset, appeared to be the first man to use the border crossing. However, it transpired the 'spoof' border control was the work of pranksters, who say they just wanted to lighten the 'ever-increasing heat of the debate'.
Spoof passport control checkpoint on Scottish border set up to 'lighten' the independence debate | Mail Online
This guy at the Daily Mail seems to be a bit concerned with the accuracy of the polls...
Are all those neck-and-neck Scottish polls a load of nonsense? Leading pollster admits independence referendum could be his industry's 'Waterloo'
Martin Boon fears polling data, which currently has the result on a knife edge, may have been skewed. He said there is a 'real danger' the polls are completely inaccurate.
Leading pollster says referendum polls could be wrong | Mail Online
But, as my Scottish mother said the other night, the Scots are a well-educated bunch and most of them will not be fooled by the SNP's vision of an independent Scotland being a land of milk and honey, with no poverty and violence and disease, and everyone getting along with one another in a state of harmony. Most Scots know they are better off within the UK and they'll let the Scots Nats know that on Thursday.
However, one group of pollsters who are remarkably accurate are Ipsos-MORI.
At the 2011 elections to the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood (in which the SNP, it is worth pointing out, won despite getting only 44.04% of the votes) Ipsos-MORI had a remarkably accurate final poll with the SNP, LAB and LD shares right to within one percent.
Ipsos-MORI's final Scottish referendum poll comes out tomorrow so, if it's anyway near as accurate as its 2011 Scottish election poll, then tomorrow could well be the day we find out which way this referendum is going to go....
Why Ipsos-MORI’s final #IndyRef poll could be the one to watch out for tomorrow night
September 16th, 2014
It was by far the top pollster at the 2011 Holyrood elections
There are at least five final IndyRef polls due out tomorrow. The online firms that use polling panels – YouGov, Panelbase and Opinium, Survation which does online and phone, and an Ipsos-MORI phone poll.
It is that last one I’m most looking forward to because of its record in Scotland last time out – the Holyrood elections of 2011. We haven’t seen anything from the firm on the IndyRef since the night of the first debate at the start of August. Then it had YES 40/NO 54/ DK 7. Clearly a lot has happened in the intervening period.
It’s worth recalling, as in the chart above, that at the 2011 Scottish Holyrood elections Ipsos-MORI had a remarkably accurate final poll with the SNP, LAB and LD shares right to within one percent.
I decided not to embarrass the other pollsters by highlighting their record on that day in the chart. They performed poorly in comparison.
Whether past performance in that election proves to be a good guide we’ll have to wait until Friday. But the Ipsos-MORI survey from three years ago adds a lot to my confidence.
Mike Smithson
Go here, Britain's most read political blog, to look at the graph and to read comments: politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Why Ipsos-MORI’s final #IndyRef poll could be the one to watch out for tomorrow night
Are all those neck-and-neck Scottish polls a load of nonsense? Leading pollster admits independence referendum could be his industry's 'Waterloo'
Martin Boon fears polling data, which currently has the result on a knife edge, may have been skewed. He said there is a 'real danger' the polls are completely inaccurate.
Leading pollster says referendum polls could be wrong | Mail Online
But, as my Scottish mother said the other night, the Scots are a well-educated bunch and most of them will not be fooled by the SNP's vision of an independent Scotland being a land of milk and honey, with no poverty and violence and disease, and everyone getting along with one another in a state of harmony. Most Scots know they are better off within the UK and they'll let the Scots Nats know that on Thursday.
However, one group of pollsters who are remarkably accurate are Ipsos-MORI.
At the 2011 elections to the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood (in which the SNP, it is worth pointing out, won despite getting only 44.04% of the votes) Ipsos-MORI had a remarkably accurate final poll with the SNP, LAB and LD shares right to within one percent.
Ipsos-MORI's final Scottish referendum poll comes out tomorrow so, if it's anyway near as accurate as its 2011 Scottish election poll, then tomorrow could well be the day we find out which way this referendum is going to go....
Why Ipsos-MORI’s final #IndyRef poll could be the one to watch out for tomorrow night
September 16th, 2014
It was by far the top pollster at the 2011 Holyrood elections
There are at least five final IndyRef polls due out tomorrow. The online firms that use polling panels – YouGov, Panelbase and Opinium, Survation which does online and phone, and an Ipsos-MORI phone poll.
It is that last one I’m most looking forward to because of its record in Scotland last time out – the Holyrood elections of 2011. We haven’t seen anything from the firm on the IndyRef since the night of the first debate at the start of August. Then it had YES 40/NO 54/ DK 7. Clearly a lot has happened in the intervening period.
It’s worth recalling, as in the chart above, that at the 2011 Scottish Holyrood elections Ipsos-MORI had a remarkably accurate final poll with the SNP, LAB and LD shares right to within one percent.
I decided not to embarrass the other pollsters by highlighting their record on that day in the chart. They performed poorly in comparison.
Whether past performance in that election proves to be a good guide we’ll have to wait until Friday. But the Ipsos-MORI survey from three years ago adds a lot to my confidence.
Mike Smithson
Go here, Britain's most read political blog, to look at the graph and to read comments: politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Why Ipsos-MORI’s final #IndyRef poll could be the one to watch out for tomorrow night
The vote is swinging more in favor of separation as everyday goes by.
England will only be 1/2 her existing size in less than a month
England will only be 1/2 her existing size in less than a month
J.J. McCullough @JJ_McCulloughWhile I am no fan of Scottish independence, I find condescending lectures like these to be Canada at its worst:
Globe editorial
Dear Scotland: An open letter from your Canadian cousins
Dear Scotland,
You probably don’t know this, but you made us. The first European to cross the continent and reach our Pacific coast was Alexander Mackenzie – a Scot. Our first prime minister and chief Father of Confederation, Sir John A. Macdonald? Scottish. So too our second PM. Our country’s national dream, a railroad from sea to sea, was realized in 1885 when Sir Donald Smith, head of the Canadian Pacific Railway, drove The Last Spike at Craigellachie – a place named after a village in his homeland. The man who did the most to create Canada’s system of universal public health care, and chosen as “The Greatest Canadian” in a national survey of CBC viewers, was Tommy Douglas. He was born in Falkirk. The thistle and the red lion rampant on our national coat of arms identify you as one of our four founding nations; half of our provincial flags contain a Saint Andrew’s cross; and one of our provinces – Nova Scotia – is named after you. There are said to be more pipers and pipe bands in Canada than in Scotland. And nearly five million Canadians identify their ethnic origin as entirely or partly Scottish, which means we have almost as many Scottish-Canadians as you have people.
more gaggery
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/e
England will remain the same size she is now in the unlikely event of Scotland taking a big step into the unknown.
To say that Scotland is a part of England, when it isn't, is a big insult to many Scots.
While I am no fan of Scottish independence, I find condescending lectures like these to be Canada at its worst:
Globe editorial
Dear Scotland: An open letter from your Canadian cousins
Dear Scotland,
You probably don’t know this, but you made us. The first European to cross the continent and reach our Pacific coast was Alexander Mackenzie – a Scot. Our first prime minister and chief Father of Confederation, Sir John A. Macdonald? Scottish. So too our second PM. Our country’s national dream, a railroad from sea to sea, was realized in 1885 when Sir Donald Smith, head of the Canadian Pacific Railway, drove The Last Spike at Craigellachie – a place named after a village in his homeland. The man who did the most to create Canada’s system of universal public health care, and chosen as “The Greatest Canadian” in a national survey of CBC viewers, was Tommy Douglas. He was born in Falkirk. The thistle and the red lion rampant on our national coat of arms identify you as one of our four founding nations; half of our provincial flags contain a Saint Andrew’s cross; and one of our provinces – Nova Scotia – is named after you. There are said to be more pipers and pipe bands in Canada than in Scotland. And nearly five million Canadians identify their ethnic origin as entirely or partly Scottish, which means we have almost as many Scottish-Canadians as you have people.
more gaggery
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/e
I doubt you'll get many Rangers fans voting YES.
My bad, my intention was certainly not to insult the Scots with that comment... Just think about having the Queens printer on speed-dial so you can change the maps accordingly.
It's looking like the UK is getting smaller and smaller as each day passes
Scotland will never split, it's like a baby on a mother t!t.. It's equal to Quebec, a welfare state living off the rest of the nation.. they have it too good.. just like Quebec.
When Canada or the UK get smart and sever the umbilical cord to the moochers.. that will be a great day for both nations.
When Canada or the UK get smart and sever the umbilical cord to the moochers.. that will be a great day for both nations.
The main difference is that Scotland would do better leaving the union while Kweebeck would do worse.
Remember that it is the Union that made Scotland rich and successful.
The Scots are a highly educated bunch and they know they'll be financially worse off if Scotland secedes from the Union. That's why they'll vote to stay in.
And, even if the NO side wins narrowly, Salmond has made it clear that it will not be like Quebec's "Neverendum". He has said that it will be another 20 to 30 years at least until there is another referendum.
Today is the last day of campaigning. Tomorrow is referendum day, and it will probably be in the region of 6am Friday morning UK time that the result will be known.
Three polls were released last night and, funnily enough, they were all exactly the same. With the undecideds getting fewer and fewer it could well be that these polls will be very similar to the final result.
NO: 52%
YES: 48%
(Opinium for the Daily Telegraph)
*****
NO: 52%
YES: 48%
(ICM for The Scotsman)
*****
NO: 52%
YES: 48%
(Survation for the Daily Mail)
I think it's more than just coincidence that all the polls are the same.
Sky News Scotland Megamix | David Cameron Solo - YouTube
I Want to Break Free - Alex Salmond - YouTube
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I think there will be a clear majority. Nobody is just sure yet for which side. But the NO side must be quietly confident now of winning.
Alas, if we got rid of our welfare province, Ontario would have to go as well.
Balkanization anyone ?
.....Which only matters if you're looking backward. Hopefully the Scots will think about their future when they vote
Of course most Scots will be thinking of their future when they vote. Most Scots know that their future would be better staying within the United Kingdom. That's why the NO side has an 80% chance of winning and the YES side has a 20% chance of winning.
Why on Earth would the Scots vote to wave goodbye to all those subsidies that come their way from generous England? We pay for all the freebies they enjoy - free medical prescriptions; free university education; free care for the elderly. These are all things paid for by the English taxpayer yet the English taxpayer has to pay for all those things the Scots get free. Why on earth would the Scots vote for independence and suddenly finding themselves having to pay for all these things?
The Scots Nats keep calling it "Scotland's" oil. But the oil in the North Sea is BRITAIN's oil. That oil in Scottish waters is only able to be brought to the surface thanks to ENGLISH subsidies and companies which are based in ENGLAND, like BP. It is ENGLISH companies and ENGLISH subsidies which bring up the North Sea oil. In the unlikely event of Scotland becoming independent, all that "Scottish" oil would, in a way, still belong to Britain, because it won't be Scottish companies, but British companies, bringing it to the surface. The Scots can't expect the English to invest all that English money in bringing "Scottish" oil to the surface and then expect Scotland to keep it all to itself.
It is English taxpayers which pay for England's infrastructure and that of the UK as a whole. England makes up 90% of the UK economy. England pays its own way in this world - and we also pay for all the wonderful freebies enjoyed by the Scots but which are denied to the English (you see, the English actually PAY for the services they use, unlike the Scots, who get the English to pay for them).
In fact, North Sea oil revenues pay for little. What Salmond and his SNP mob have not told the Scottish people, either through ignorance or because it is just an inconvenient truth they don't want the Scottish people to know, is that THREE TIMES as much money is spent in socialist Scotland by the British Government (using mainly English taxpayers' money) on its hugely bloated welfare system each year than ALL of the total combined oil revenues than Scotland and the rest of the UK receive each year.
In 2011, the then Scottish Secretary Michael Moore said it was a great strength of the UK that we provided the same level of help to those who needed it regardless of which part of the UK they live in. He also said it highlighted the fact that the Scottish Government’s numbers “don’t stack up” when they propose that oil and gas revenues will pay for the costs of separating Scotland from the rest of the UK.
Figures from the Scottish Government show that identifiable spending on welfare and pensions by the UK Government in Scotland was just over £15bn in 2010 while oil revenues totalled £6.4bn. In fact, the figures show that pensions spending alone in Scotland in 2010 of £7.2bn could not be covered by oil and gas revenue.
Scotland Office analysis of the spending and revenue figures from the Scottish Government show that, since records began in 2002, defined UK spending on pensions and welfare in Scotland exceeds the total revenue from oil and gas over that period by more than £38bn.
The UK Government has spent £98.1bn on pensions and welfare since 2002 while the total revenue from oil and gas was £59.7bn.
The analysis shows that in no year has oil revenue covered the welfare bill - even in 2009 when North Sea revenue reached almost £13bn.
The Scottish Secretary Michael Moore said:
“Oil and gas is a vital sector for the Scottish economy but these numbers put things in some perspective.
“Pensions and welfare spending is crucially important to people in Scotland and the UK.
“The great strength for us within the UK is that we get a common level of provision for welfare and pensions. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in Cornwall or the far North of Scotland, you are given the same support.
“The scale of the UK means we can better withstand economic shocks in certain parts of the country and look after those who need help.
“If revenues from oil and gas revenue decline significantly - as they can - we have got the bigger resources of the UK to keep welfare and pensions payments going.
“This highlights yet again the fundamental questions the Scottish Government must answer about how you deal with the costs of separating Scotland from the rest of the UK. Oil and gas revenues are offered up as the solution but the number don’t stack up.”
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/w...venues-in-2010
Scottish Independence: Yes Voters and Salmond Constantly Misquote My Oil Figures says Sir Ian Wood
By Lianna Brinded
International Business Times
September 15, 2014
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond poses for a selfie with a fan, as he stands with local pop stars during an event in Edinburgh, Scotland September 14, 2014 Reuters
Sir Ian Wood, one of Britain's most prominent oil and gas figures, has slammed the Scottish National Party and its leader Alex Salmond for repeatedly misquoting him on reserve estimates and therefore skewing the argument for independence.
Wood, who says the SNP's oil reserve claims are around 45% to 60% too high, said while he is not political, he felt he has to speak out, as the Yes campaign and Salmond had consistently misquoted figures from his independent review that was released earlier this year.
"I was drawn into this [discussion] because they were misquoting figures from my own review," said Wood in the Daily Mail.
"I am thoroughly Scottish, but also thoroughly British. This referendum vote is forever, there is no going back. This vote is not for this generation – I'm 72 for goodness sake.
"It is for my children, for my grandchildren. I want them to live in a Scotland where youngsters have a chance of a good job and of being prosperous. The best chance they have of that is as part of a strong United Kingdom and get the best of both worlds."
Scottish people will vote in an independence referendum on 18 September, 2014, and will be asked the straight "yes/no" question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"
The Scottish government claims there are 24 billion barrels of oil left in the North Sea while Wood stipulates that there are in fact only 15 billion to 16.5 billion barrels of recoverable oil left.
In keeping with the pro-independence campaign's oil production claims, N-56, which was founded by a member of the advisory board for Yes Scotland Dan Macdonald, North Sea revenues are pegged to be as high as £365bn (€456bn, $605bn) by 2041, if a series of recommendations were implemented.
However, the UK Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast is at £61.6bn between 2013/14 and 2040/41.
"Young voters must be aware that by the time they're in their 40s Scotland will have little offshore oil and gas production and this will severely hit our economy, jobs and public services," said Wood.
"The N-56 report is an insult to the Scottish people. That gets my back up, it's just pie in the sky. How can people make a critical decision on the basis of this kind of nonsense?' he says. 'It is a blatant attempt to manipulate voting sentiment."
Wood added that Salmond's claims that oil revenue would cover free prescriptions, university tuition and other issues, is wrong and that Scots should be wary of his claims.
"If you produce 200,000 barrels a day for the next 15 years, you will not have enough income. So how does the Scottish government then propose to fill this gap?" he added.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/scottish-i...uote-my-oil-figures-says-sir-ian-wood-1465512
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Exposed, Alex Salmond's great oil wealth fantasy: Experts attack claims that an independent Scotland could become rich on its oil and gas resources
By Alex Brummer for the Daily Mail
10 September 2014
Daily Mail
Oil boss: Alex Salmond’s claim that an independent Scotland could float onward and upward on the strength of its oil and gas resources has been exposed as pure fantasy by Sir Ian Wood (pictured)
Alex Salmond’s biggest lie, that an independent Scotland could float onward and upward on the strength of its oil and gas resources, has finally been nailed.
The greatest authority on Scottish oil, Sir Ian Wood – together with the bosses of BP and Shell – has exposed it as pure fantasy.
Wood, founder of Scotland’s world-leading oil services firm Wood Group, has accused the Scottish Nationalists of misleading voters with ‘highly inaccurate forecasts, false promises and misleading information’.
His intervention, along with that of Bob Dudley of BP and Ben van Beurden of Shell, delivers a devastating blow to claims being made by Salmond and his acolytes that North Sea oil, augmented by unexploited opportunities using relatively new ‘fracking’ techniques, could turn Scotland into the next Norway.
The slogan ‘It’s Scotland’s Oil’ has, in the four decades since the first North Sea crude was brought ashore, been the most powerful weapon in the armoury of the SNP.
Nationalists like to compare Scotland to Norway because the Nordic nation has become rich on its oil and gas revenues, and has built up investment funds of more than £460billion on the back of its energy bonanza.
But the bitter truth is that an independent Scottish economy based on North Sea oil riches is a canard.
Even on the most optimistic projections, with the exploration companies using the most modern techniques to frack for oil and gas deep below the oceans, the UK and Scotland’s energy boom is over.
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility shows oil revenues falling from £6.1billion in 2012-13 to just £3.5billion in 2018-19. Production is in steep decline, having fallen by 7.8 per cent a year since it reached its peak 15 years ago in 1999.
Recent tax incentives introduced by Chancellor George Osborne have encouraged new investment and slowed the decline a little.
Nevertheless, the loss of oil production and revenues has been a calamitous blow to the UK’s gross domestic product, its balance of payments with the rest of the world and the public finances as a whole.
Nailed: Wood's attack delivers a devastating blow to claims being made by Alex Salmond (pictured) and his acolytes that North Sea oil, augmented by unexploited opportunities, could turn Scotland into the next Norway
Experts: Wood made an intervention along with Bob Dudley of BP (right) and Ben van Beurden of Shell (left)
As the OBR gloomily noted in July: ‘Over the long term, recoverable reserves are clearly on a declining path as the basin matures, resources are exhausted and become increasingly difficult or uneconomic to extract.’
Sir Ian has gone further, arguing that the SNP’s so-called N-56 report, which claims there could be another 21million barrels of oil in unconventional shale reserves, ‘is an insult to the Scottish people’.
The SNP’s original vision of building a wealthy Scandinavian-style society on such a basis is now dead on the Continental Shelf. The oil has been found, most of it has been extracted and exported, and instead of saving the proceeds – as they have done in Norway and are doing in Russia – Britain’s endowment has largely been spent.
Chancellor: Recent tax incentives introduced by George Osborne (pictured) have encouraged new investment in oil and slowed the decline a little
Any new discoveries will require huge tax subsidies from government to encourage the major oil companies to develop them.
But why would any sane government offer massive subsidies to wring out more oil from the North Sea when cheap oil is actually plentiful elsewhere as a result of the North American fracking revolution?
Despite the march of Islamic State in Iraq, and a war on the Russia-Ukraine border which threatens European gas supplies, the oil price tumbled below $100 a barrel this week, partly because American oil and gas are now so cheap.
Though income from North Sea oil may be dwindling fast, for the time being at least there are still substantial sums at stake.
On the Office for Budget Responsibility’s central projection for oil prices there will be £39billion of tax income to be collected between now and 2040.
The moot point, of course, is who it will belong to if Scotland votes for independence next week.
At present, the tax revenues from the North Sea and around are assigned to a notional region – which most people don’t even know exists – called the UK Continental Shelf.
If Scotland does vote Yes on September 18 and becomes a sovereign state, it would be necessary to go back to the drawing board .
In other words, the North Sea would have to be carved up.
At present, maritime law demarcates national territorial waters. Under this guidance it is estimated that some 90 per cent of the present oil revenues would be attributed to Scotland after independence.
The SNP advocates a horizontal line drawn out to the east from the England-Scotland border which would grant it even more of the oil fields.
Author: This week, JK Rowling, who has donated £1million to the No campaign, attacked Salmond’s vision of a ‘socialist Utopia’ funded by unlimited oil. Her warning was amplified by the biggest beasts in the oil jungle
The real issue, however, is that even on the basis of the SNP’s most optimistic scenarios, which envisage new technology giving Scotland’s oil an extra lease of life through fracking, the oil revenues are never going to be enough to support the budget ambitions of a newly independent Scotland.
This week, author JK Rowling, who has donated £1million to the No campaign, attacked Salmond’s vision of a ‘socialist Utopia’ funded by unlimited oil.
Yesterday, her warning was amplified by the biggest beasts in the oil jungle, who now made it absolutely clear Salmond and his supporters have made exaggerated and highly tendentious claims around oil and gas.
Alex Salmond's great oil wealth fantasy exposed | Daily Mail Online
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Polling stations opened at 7am this morning - just over three hours ago - as Scotland votes in a referendum campaign that may have repercussions not only throughout the UK but also throughout the world. Several world leaders, including Obama and Abbott, have urged the Scots to vote NO.
97% of Scotland's voters have registered to vote, and turn out is predicted to be betwen 80% and 90%. It doesn't seem very democratic, but 4 million people are today going to decide the fate of a nation of 64 million people.
Statistics show that the NO side has an 80% chance of victory, and some bookies have already even started paying out on a NO victory
There are also fears that supporters of whichever side loses could take to the streets and riot. There have already been ugly confrontations between supporters of both sides.
Thousands of police are also expected to take to the streets around Scotland to protect people from Scottish Nationalist thugs who could try and bully people into voting YES.
As a poll found that 46 per cent of No voters had felt personally threatened by Yes supporters during the campaign, there were concerns about the possibility of mob violence in the event of a No vote.
A 75-year-old man, who is registered blind, was yesterday punched in the face by a nationalist supporter as he handed out leaflets in support of the Union in Glasgow.
He said: ‘Two young men aged in their 20s came up to me. I was talking to one of them normally, but then absolutely out of the blue the other just swung a punch at my head. I was a bit shocked and fell slightly backwards. I carry a white stick because I am half blind – they would have seen that.’
Police in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, said a man in his 70s had a No poster taken from his mobility scooter and replaced with Yes stickers as he was shopping.
It is thought that many NO voters are too scared to admit that they will vote NO in the referendum for fear of being intimidated and bullied, so it could well be the case that the NO vote lead in the polls may actually be wider than the polls say. Many are of the opinion that there is a silent majority of NO supporters in Scotland who will finally get to make their voices heard today.
Meanwhile, Scotland's tourism industry has been hit after thousands of English tourists cancelled their holidays to Scotland for fears of anti-English racism.
Police out in force at the polls as Salmond's bullies hit a blind man in the face - just for saying NO!
Thousands of police will today man polling stations as violence threatens
BBC hired security guards to protect staff because of concerns that police may not be able to cope
Sky's Kay Burley insults a Yes campaigner; BBC's Nick Robinson booed
Poll showed nearly half of No voters have felt physically threatened by nationalists
Pro-Union business executives across Scotland report intimidation and threats of boycotts by nationalists
A blind pensioner was yesterday punched in the face for supporting a No vote as Scottish nationalists mounted a last-minute bullying campaign to intimidate people into voting for independence.
Thousands of police will today man polling stations as the separatists are expected to use menacing tactics to persuade people to break up the Union.
Last night it emerged the BBC had hired security guards to protect staff because of concerns that police may not be able to cope after the Corporation was targeted over alleged ‘bias’ last weekend.
As a poll found that 46 per cent of No voters had felt personally threatened by Yes supporters during the campaign, there were concerns about the possibility of mob violence in the event of a No vote.
A 75-year-old man, who is registered blind, was yesterday punched in the face by a nationalist supporter as he handed out leaflets in support of the Union in Glasgow.
He said: ‘Two young men aged in their 20s came up to me. I was talking to one of them normally, but then absolutely out of the blue the other just swung a punch at my head. I was a bit shocked and fell slightly backwards. I carry a white stick because I am half blind – they would have seen that.’
Police in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, said a man in his 70s had a No poster taken from his mobility scooter and replaced with Yes stickers as he was shopping.
Welsh Labour MP Stephen Doughty, who was campaigning for the NO campaign in the area, described the incident as ‘shameful’.
He said: ‘When he complained, he was told by a Yes campaigner, “we’re doing this for children – you’ll be dead and gone”.’
It comes as businesses across Scotland revealed they had been threatened and intimidated by nationalists if they supported a No vote.
Company directors have received threats to their families, as well as warnings their business will be boycotted if they are against independence.
Last month, 133 business executives put their signatures on a pro-Union letter.
The Daily Telegraph contacted the businesses to ask how coming out against the Yes campaign had affected them, and 51 per cent said they had felt intimidated or pressurised by nationalists.
Jim McFarlane, who owns cycling-cloth manufacturer Endura, said: ‘After the media coverage, someone who said they were from the Scottish government called me at 8.20 in the morning. I'm ex–directory.’
Alistair Macmillan, managing director at White House Productions Ltd, added: ‘My wife was upset by what people were saying on the internet. They were threatening to boycott the business, attack me, attack us.’
ENGLISH CANCEL HOLIDAYS
English tourists are cancelling holidays to Scotland as they fear ‘ill feeling’ towards them after the referendum, regardless of the result.
Companies providing holiday accommodation north of the Border say dozens of holidaymakers have contacted them saying that they do not want to visit a country where the national feeling is one of division.
They say other English travellers have also cancelled planned breaks because they do not want to support a Scotland that has broken up the United Kingdom.
‘We have had numerous phone calls from customers stating that if we do become independent then they will no longer we willing to support Scotland and won’t be returning for a holiday,’ said Amber Swinton, property manager at Unique Cottages.
‘But of more concern is that people are cancelling holidays they had booked for next year, regardless of the outcome of the vote.’
She said her company usually had a number of English repeat customers who booked their Scottish holidays after returning from their last one, who had not done so this year. She added: ‘We have a lot of clients who holiday here every year, who have not come back yet. It is very worrying.
A decision to allow pubs to stay open throughout Scotland has also been heavily criticised for potentially causing violent clashes between Yes and No supporters.
Ten venues in the country will be serving alcohol throughout the night and into Friday after applying for special late licences.
One police source said: 'It is absolute madness.
'If there's a no vote, there is a concern that it will get ugly.'
Labour leader Ed Miliband last night pulled out of appearing at two events over fears they would be disrupted by Scottish nationalists.
It came a day after Mr Miliband was forced to abandon a visit to an Edinburgh shopping centre after he was surrounded by Yes supporters, who jostled him and branded him a ‘****ing liar’. His minders had to step in to escort him to safety.
University of St Andrews students have backed their principal after discovering Mr Salmond tried to pressurise her into toning down her warnings on the referendum.
Emails show that he asked Louise Richardson to change her statement and instead criticise the UK Government.
Prof Richardson refused to back down, and last night student Blair Robertson wrote on Twitter: ‘I know Louise Richardson would not stand for this nonsense. Shameful, but expected, from Yes.’ Ali West added: ‘Principal Louise Richardson just dropped a massive truth bomb on the Yes campaign by refusing to capitulate to pressure. This isn’t how political discourse should run.’
Ukip leader Nigel Farage said last night: ‘Alex Salmond has fuelled such vitriol and hatred amongst Yes campaigners that we are now seeing intimidation, a growing anti-English sentiment and the sort of abhorrent behaviour that could lead to rioting.’
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...and this is what happens when the Scotts watch to much Outlander ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkizwJUiVjA
The Next Game of Thrones..
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkizwJUiVjA
The Next Game of Thrones..