To Jim McLean if you are going to raise hypothetical arguments put them in the correct timeline

1. Independence was rejected at the last Referendum (1975 I think)

2. Had Salmond put it to the vote during the term of the last Parliament as he promised to the result would have been a resounding NO - (He promised a vote by 2010 and the banks crashed when? - two years before so what oil revenues would Scotland have had???)

By the bye it's not Scotlands oil - take a look at the charts the oil is nearly all off Shetland - Now go and ask a Shetlander or someone from Orkney if they regard themselves as Scottish.

If you as a Scot call out for independence and the right of self determination, then you can hardly deny others the same right. As I said previously if given that chance I'd advise them to campaign for a return to Norway - It will automatically bring them into the fold of one of the richest country's in the world with one of the highest standards of living. If Scotland wishes to follow suit just remember this Norway's oil wealth does not go to pay for idle f**kers to sit on their arses on the dole, it means that everybody has a personal number without which you get nothing (and I mean nothing) it makes it extremely easy to keep track of tax (No avoidance or evasion of tax in Norway - each year they publish what tax everybody pays in the papers for all to see) A population of only 5 million is a piece of cake for a computer. How about the basic rate of tax Jim? Do you think a basic rate of 38% would be welcomed by the population of Scotland??