Scottish Referendum

indiana · Tennis legend

RE: Scottish Referendum

steven · Tennis legend

PaulM wrote:
I'm also not a big Brown fan but his speech yesterday was incredible. We have needed that kind of passion and emotion for a long time on this side, I just hope it wasn't too late.

I'm not a big Brown fan either (and hearing him warn the Scots about potential economic meltdown was a bit hard to stomach coming from the ex-Chancellor/PM who nudged the whole of the UK into virtually meltdown) but I thought the more positive reasons he talked about for staying in the UK were spot on.

Whatever the result, I think it's fantastic that the turnout was so large and that the 16/17-year-olds who were allowed to vote (even if for slightly dodgy reasons!) seem to have got so engaged in the process, with lots of them reporting that it has been discussed a lot in their schools.

As for the result, Clackmannanshire (the first to declare) went 53.8%-46.2% for No when Ladbrokes apparently had it as second favourite out of all 32 regions to record the biggest Yes %age vote. However, it's a tiny region (even an 88.6% turnout equated to only 35,410 votes cast in total) so I doubt we should read too much into it. Indeed, smaller regions are slightly more likely to produce extreme results either way, so that might also explain why the bookies would consider smaller regions more likely to produce the biggest Yes or No vote in the first place.

daisy · County player

And the answer is NO, approx 55% to 45% in favour with only 1 regional council to declare.
Glasgow was YES and Edinburgh NO.

indiana · Tennis legend

Phew...

RJA · Hall of fame

Delighted to see the Union maintained.

Sim · County player

When told of the No result this morning my 14 year old daughter said "Good so we can still support Andy Murray then!" wink

Madeline · Admin:Moderator + Tennis Legend

She has her priorities right, then!

Not that I would have stopped supporting him anyway. I've been doing so since he was a junior, it has sort of got to be a habit.

Sim · County player

Yes I am with your Madeline. I would have continued supporting Andy, but probably not followed any "new" Scottish players. Anyway thankfully no need to worry about it now.

Also have to say the anti Andy rhetoric today is pretty terrible. Everyone is entitled to their views, and he is by no means the only celebrity on either side to have come out with his intentions.

philwrig · Hall of fame

So happy about this ! It seems that the welloff areas even the SNP strongholds voted 'No' and I have to say Gordon Brown really made a massive difference late in the day, even if he was up to then one of my least favourite politicians of all time.

PaulM · Tennis legend

All the SNP heartlands returned big No votes - Perth, Western Isles, Highlands, Angus. Incredible.

AliBlahBlah · All-time great

So Mr.Salmond departs, having sent a country into schism, with a parting shot that this process is far from over.

As the Québécois, and many others around the world, will wearily attest, this issue will continue to return.

It is after all a vote that the 'yes' party only ever has to win once.

Far easier for Mr. Salmond to leave pesky things from the aftermath of his campaign, like reconciliation and unity, to others.

Maybe he'll even be back to fill a power vacuum in future, as he has before.

I do acknowledge that staying on indefinitely can equally be argued as an untenable position, but by making no responsible attempt to heal the nation in defeat, that's a poor show.

BeefyDeedz · Pro player

The 71(?)% of 16-17 voting Yes will bring up yet another of my favourite political arguments. Do liberal youth get ground down into conservatism? If not, we'll most likely see a Yes vote within the next quarter century.

indiana · Tennis legend

I am far from any Alex Salmons supporter. He is though a very good politician, if often very calculating and disingenuous ( which maybe makes a good politician, hmm )

The referendum wrought some ugliness, which he didn't sufficiently ( or barely at all ) condemn.

But he has had 20 years as SNP leader in two shifts and 7 years as First Minister, as he said quite a shift, and the question of independence is now over supposedly for a generation. I have no quibble about the timing of his resignation.

A1 tennis academy · Satellite level

Madeline wrote:
Edit - Moved to a new thread for Andy's 2015 schedule

-- Edited by Madeline on Thursday 11th of September 2014 09:02:17 AM

Wonder what Andy voted I reckon He was a yes voter !

Loving no result boosted the £ and welcomed result in Europe .

indiana · Tennis legend

I doubt Andy had a vote given he lives outside Scotland so is probably not registered to vote in Scotland.

But if we had, as discussed, he's given rather a strong steer as to how he would have voted.

And that's entirely up to him, and there is no reason other than his own feelings why he should vote either way. My one concern about his public comment was for himself and possible reaction by such as the idiots that have apparently been sending out vile social media abuse.

1.6 million Scots, given the choice, voted for Scotland to be an independent country. 1.6 million Scots do not hate England !