I agree, Gordon Brown has huge standing in Scotland and that speech was full of passion and pride. It is difficult to dismiss his message given that he managed the UK economy as Chancellor of the Exchequer and served as Prime Minister. That is quite some authority. It will resonate with many voters, particularly the Labour voters.
One of the best speeches I have heard so far,
He may yet save the UK.
At least the rUK will be able to leave the fighting over fish with Iceland and the Faroe Islands to Scotland!
I’d like to point out that this is actually a regular occurrence. It’s a big armoured lorry with heavy-duty escort, but that’s how they are transported between the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston and Coulport. Here’s the details
and here’s a video (which, unusually for Youtube, has a decent soundtrack)
Where was that Gordon when he was PM?
Such a shame that Ireland was invaded by Russia because it was not a NATO member.
I was talking about lack of NATO membership, not economics. How about addressing that?
Thanks for this. Hope he talks himself hoarse between now and tomorrow night.
What is it about Scotland that allows you to assume that independence will be disastrous? Every other separation or independence I can think of (of which there have been many in Europe over the past century) has been preceded by harbingers of doom, then in the real world have proceeded fairly quietly and with no real disasters.
A few people in the former Yugoslavia might differ.
Well, if we have a decades long internecine war along the border, I suspect that we too may suffer!
Reading that article, it just occurred (or coalesced) to me, and it may be just me (and probably is) but there seems to be much similarity to the “Yes” for independence campaign and the Obama campaign in 2008: “Yes we can! Hope and Change! If you like your ______ , you can keep it. Period.” In other words, heavy on rhetoric and short on substance/details. (think of the good deal the “Yes” campaign could have gotten on all the leftover Democratic campaign signs and banners and buttons)
And if the “Yes” vote carries the day, the UK may play the part of the Republicans to iScotland’s being the Democratic Party; well, okay, the UK couldn’t be as Republican Partyish as the Republican Party is. Still, the devil is in the details in negotiations & agreements as has been pointed out, the UK will, as is its duty, think of itself first. And it’s not just the UK, what about agreements with every other country in the world? I suppose the current ones can serve as a template but who’s to say every/any other country might not want better terms with the smaller iScotland than they had with with the larger UK?
Then again, what do I know.
Not a great deal, apparently.
Other than Cyprus, Palestine, Ireland, etc.?
As with Yugoslavia. If it comes to war “we’re all doomed”. Every negotiated independence has been relatively uneventful.
There have been a few things happening in Ukraine lately too, come to think of it.
My point is just that every state is unique and every such comparison is silly. Not as silly as a comparison to the 2008 US election, but still.
If rUK invaded Faslane there might be some similarity with the Ukraine. Every peaceful separation has been boring and eventually beneficial.
No need to invade Faslane. They’re already there. Now, how are you going to get them out? 
The US might have to step in and repossess the missiles in that case 
. The warheads themselves are UK manufacture, but the Trident D-5 missiles are only leased. It could be quite the kerfuffle.
The Queen and the Scottish vote: http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/17/world/europe/scotland-queen-vote-foster/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
So, peaceful separations are peaceful and all the others don’t count. That seems like some sort of rhetorical fallacy that I can’t put my finger on.