Scottish Independence Referendum on September 18 "if 'yes' there's no going back".
If you haven’t been paying attention, it’s probably time you sat up and took notice. The Scottish independence referendum is now looming alarmingly. And if more people vote ‘yes’ than ‘no’, there’s no going back ... And now, after over three years of buildup, it’s finally decision-time.
WHO gets to vote?
You don’t actually have to be, um, Scottish, to get to decide whether Scotland should leave the rest of the UK. You can be English, or Welsh, or Northern Irish. Or, for that matter, just plain Irish, as any European Union citizen living in Scotland gets a vote. So do Commonwealth citizens who are allowed to live in the UK.
WHAT will happen if Scotland votes ‘no’ – and what the hell happens if Scotland votes ‘yes’?
If Scotland votes no, everything basically carries on as normal. The existing plans for devolution will go ahead, handing the Scottish government new borrowing powers and the ability to set its own rate of income tax from April 2016.
If Scotland votes ‘yes’, everything basically carries on as normal – for a bit. While public services would carry on being delivered just the same, London and Edinburgh would begin some serious negotiations about how exactly the divorce will take place. These would be critical talks for the new Scotland, with the rest of Britain determined to ensure it takes on its fair share of the national debt. Then, on March 24 2016, Scotland would get its independence. That’s the date Salmond has identified, anyway. Goodness knows whether all those pesky negotiations would actually be finished on time.
http://metro.co.uk/2014/08/26/scottish-independence-2014-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-referendum-4831408/
The last TV debate on this was held last night. Should be an interesting 3 weeks in Scotland.
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From what I have read Scottish residents tend to be much more liberal than those in the rest of the UK. I suppose an independent Scotland would be quite liberal. Perhaps the social and economic success of a newly independent and liberal Scotland would serve as an example to the rest of the UK in the long run. The downside would be that all those liberals would be removed from the UK electoral equation making that more conservative.
It would be kind of like making the US Northeast or West coast independent. They would probably be quite liberal new countries, and their resulting social and economic progress might serve as a beacon in the long run, but the rest of the US would become a real republican territory.
This is obviously up to the voters in Scotland, but I waver on which side I would like to see win. 
