One of the reasons I am voting no is because of UKIP.
I understand many Scots are, rightfully, worried about UKIP and I am too. I have personal experience of the kind of horrible, manipulative party that they are through family members.
However... if anything that makes me want to vote against independence. England and the rest of the UK do not go away if Scotland votes to become independent. In fact there is a chance that Scottish independence would bolster the UKIP vote. I wouldn't be surprised if Farage's upcoming trip up here is a calculated attempt to damage the Better Together campaign so he can use independence as a future tool to gain more votes once Scotland is no longer part of the UK. UKIP's main policy is anti-EU - there's a very small jump from there to being anti other kinds of union with foreign countries (as a fiscal union with Scotland would then be).
From my personal experience of having spent some time in the South of England, I'm sad to say that may be something that might appeal to a not insignificant part of the remaining UK electorate.
Where would that leave us?
Scotland just getting on its feet as a new nation with the SNP as its government trying to get things up and running and, if Alex Salmond is still in charge, engaging in some showboating and threatening not to take our share of the debt if they don't get the union if they want to a... UKIP government? A Tory-UKIP coalition government? A government who finds it increasingly popular to engage in various forms of Scotland-bashing to appeal to voters?
What happens then? The reality is Scotland is a very small country in comparison to the rest of the UK. This kind of populist, nationalistic politics being engaged in by both sides would have a negative effect of both countries most likely but the remainder of the UK is the one with the large population and mostly good reputation. Scotland would just be the new kid of the block making bad first impressions before it has even got started.
The saying goes 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer' and that's one of many reasons I want to stay in the UK. I would like to maintain our links to the rest of the UK, with my friends and family, where many of us share similar values but I also think it is much safer to keep those that threaten our society and the values many of us share such as the UK Independence Party within our borders so that we can fight them at home and not across borders threatening our new nation state.
Neither the UK government or UKIP go away if we become independent - anyway we cut it, the UK (or whatever it would be called) will continue to have huge influence over Scotland. The plans set out in The White Paper - such as the fiscal union - only emphasise this fact. Rather than simply separating from the rest of the UK and making it a powerful external force on our new nation state, it might be safer to stay together and deal with the issues on home soil instead of fighting with a foreign country.
-Admin L
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