Sean,
English students have been going to Sccottish universities for decades as have Scottish students been going to English ones.
And yes, you did suggest (or at least suggested that your "friends" suggested) that the Scots should not be represented in Westminster. In the long run, Scotland is a drain on the economy. That is not the same, however, as saying that the economy would be stronger without Scotland. I imagine both sides will lose out if the Scots vote Yes. Scotland is far from the biggest problem the UK economy has. Sorting out our disproportionate and unhealthy reliance on London and its service sector should be a far higher priority. As a manufacturer I'd think you'd get that.
I have long given up on UK manufacturing. The government nor Brits want to support it so its a lost cause. I think it a huge loss to the economy and national security, but hey, the same thing is happening in the US. So long as Brits and Yanks are willing to sacrifice the long term health of their economies because they can buy cheap t-shirts and trinkets then the writing is in the wall. I fear by the time we figure out that our econonies should for the most part be a closed loop with its citiizens making and growing the goods it consumes it will be far too late.
I agree, Britain is stronger with Scotland and the Union should stand, however, with devoultion on its long path its hard to convince many English (and with good reason) that the system can work with a quasi-independent Scotland.
Jon
You don't get it. You are not a citiizen of the US so your anaolgy is once again way off base. Scots are citizens of the UK and Scotland is part of the UK. Its not a hard issue to understand. Besides, a ton of your "ex pats" are Scots paying tax which supports Scotland yet haven't lived there in yonks. Additionally, some Scots may consider moving back if the country is economically healthy. This vote has huge consequences for both these sections of Scot ex pats.
We fundamentally disagree on what nationality and citizenship confers upon people of a country so there is no point in carrying on.
Alfie
I am not English. That has nothing to do with the question at hand. In fact, with the continued advance of devolution, it can be argued that the foks most affected are Brits without a home country nationality; effectively the elimination of "British" concept. I know my father in law never believed in the idea of a British citizen. He always thought that one should become either Welsh, English, Scottish or the northern variety of Irish (his term
) to be a subject of the queen. I am not sure how he proposed to do such. All I can say is I could never feel as if I am a member of any home country. In fact, it often feels odd to even be the vague "British" because there is so much I don't understand as any Englishman or whatever would. I missed out on 35 years of British cultural indoctrination
so I will never completely understand the culture and society the way a native Brit would. Football is one issue for starters...and don't get me started on cricket....
. In nearly all ways I am still fundamentally American and I think as such. I mean, what other Brit supports the Wings and Tigers? Lets just say I have to translate an awful lot of what I experience into an American experience to get a decent grip...and sometimes that simply can't be done. Some things in this country, good and bad, are taken for granted, as in its not up for discussion; whereas in the States these same things are hotly debated...and vice versa.
Ciao