It was always going to happen. The No vote has to do something other than scaremongering to win. Now let's just see if it's an outlier or a trend caused by Labour admitting that economically speaking they would be little different from the condems re cuts and austerity.

 

Would you say Labour's policies (and whether they're effectively promising a continuation of Tory policies) might actually have an impact on the referendum? I know I've made a few comments along those lines, but I wondered if I was looking at it from too much of an English/political geek's perspective.

 

Obviously for entirely self-interested reasons I want Scotland to stay part of the UK, but if I was Scottish honestly I think I'd be leaning towards voting for independence. The "No" people need to realise that simply parrotting abstract spreadsheet statistics or economic models is not going to get the job done, exactly the same as people don't change their mind on things like immigration and wages just because "statistics" show the official economy would be affected by changing them.

Edited January 26, 201411 yr by Danny

Would you say Labour's policies (and whether they're effectively promising a continuation of Tory policies) might actually have an impact on the referendum? I know I've made a few comments along those lines, but I wondered if I was looking at it from too much of an English/political geek's perspective.

 

Obviously for entirely self-interested reasons I want Scotland to stay part of the UK, but if I was Scottish honestly I think I'd be leaning towards voting for independence. The "No" people need to realise that simply parrotting abstract spreadsheet statistics or economic models is not going to get the job done, exactly the same as people don't change their mind on things like immigration and wages just because "statistics" show the official economy would be affected by changing them.

I think there would be some impact. Especially with the lack of 'white paper' from the No side. What these policy announcements by the Tories and Labour are doing is giving the SNP ammo to say 'Look, if you vote No both Labour and the Conservatives have committed themselves to continuing austerity, service cuts and welfare cuts. The only way to ensure that Scotland gets the economic recovery it deserves is to vote Yes'

 

There is a reason that nobody believes the Cameron speech about things getting better, because they aren't. You can manipulate (as Cameron et al have done) statistics to say whatever you want them to say and people have started to wise up to that.

 

The constant talk of cuts is very good for the SNP, and thus YES Scotland, as it really goes against the policies that are being pursued up here. Whenever people scream about the appalling safety record of the A9 and how long it is taking to convert to a dual carriageway (which would save a ridiculous number of lives) along it's entire length, all Salmond has to do is point to London and blame them for not giving Scotland the appropriate capital budget.

 

 

I personally believe that relentless negativity and the latest admissions by Labour and Conservative will add up. There are a core contingent of people who will vote No regardless, likewise for Yes, but the swing vote is a good 40-45% and over the coming months I see them being won over by Salmond more than Better Together. Especially as we gear up to the 2015 GE and parties start to make their policies known. Consistent talk about leaving the EU doesn't do the No much good either given that Scotland would vote to stay in a referendum.