Voting No for the Scottish Youth

September 18
th
is fast approaching. Some of us feel like we need more time to decide, others just
want it over. In a subject clouded with uncertainty one thing is undeniable, people are passionate
on the subject. If you cant be bothered to read the article at least take a second to scan the bits in
bold. For the first time 16 year olds will be allowed to vote, and why not, we will be the ones living
with the consequences. Its all well your patriotic grandfather voting Yes on the grounds of F**k
the English. Weve all been inclined to those thoughts ever now and then. But it is us teenagers who
will live with the consequences of the vote for the next 80 years. Who knows actually, Scotsmen,
such as Alexander Fleming, discoverer of penicillin (who was educating in England.) have made
medical advances so great in the past that we may well see more and live another 20 years on top of
that.
There are many terms thrown around that mean little to a lot of us: Currency Union, Nuclear
disarming, Welfare cuts, and Oil funds. What does this mean to you and me though? What I have
tried to do is approach each subject with an open mind. I see strong arguments from Alex Salmond
of the SNP and the Yes campaign, he is a smooth politician playing on our desire to be proud of our
country. What saddens me is how often and easily flaws are found in his arguments. I am proud to
be Scottish, despite the despicable view of the Yes voter that you are not as Scottish for voting No.
Ridiculous. And insulting. I am Scottish, I am British, I am European. As are you. No uninformed Yes
voter can tell you otherwise. So let me do a little to inform the Scottish teenager. Facts and figures
are boring. Ill keep these to a minimum as much as possible. Ill throw in a diagram and picture or
two, thats what I like to see anyway. Here we go:
We do not pay more tax per head the idea that we pay more tax each is a one of the first tools in
the yes voters arsenal. Including North Sea oil and gas revenues, yes we do. Excluding them, no, we
pay 8.2% of taxes while making up 8.3% of the population, so less. That seems alright to me. Our
North Sea gas and oil is being taxed however, but my local SNP councillor has clearly outline that our
spending will be increased by taxing the rich heavily. And who is richer than the nice oil men in the
north. If the SNP agree that they should be taxed, and then they can have no problem with it as it is
now, can they? As individuals we are taxed less per head, and our wealthy sectors are taxed more.
Thats the way it should be isnt it? Less tax paid equals more money for us.
The UK does give back to us But what do we get back from the UK government? Another line
you will likely encounter. Plenty is the answer, more than the rest of the UK actually. The political
mumbo-jumbo for this is Public Expenditure; this is basically how much the government spends on
our needs. Its simple, the blue line is higher than the orange line; Scotland is out on top here again.





Public expenditure
The SNP are not against nuclear weapons Weather you are for or against nuclear
weapons, Trident (the UKs nuclear missile system) is based in Scotland. It creates 11,000
jobs too which is handy. An outright contradiction is seen here, the SNP wants Trident out of
Scotland, but also wants to join NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) which is a military and
nuclear alliance. So for the moral stance the SNP are so righteously taking, 11,000 jobs will be lost,
and then they plan to sign us up to a nuclear alliance anyway. Plain hypocrisy.






Oil will run out I feel like a bit of a doomsday preacher typing that. The big argument is how much
oil is in the ground. I hope its a lot. I think we all do. A lot is no infinite though. Thats the problem.
Scotlands wealthy, we have oil! With each decade that passes that will be tougher to say. We cant
plan our future on oil like the SNP are doing. In the event of a yes vote, Scotland the independent
country will long outlast the oil thats in the ground. I hope there is a plan B.

Using the pound? I dont think so here again the SNP play two different
records. Record one, the Westminster government is all powerful and they
keep overruling us! Record two, the Westminster government cant stop us
from using the pound! So which is it? The three major parties in Westminster
(UK government) have said no. SNP have said yes. Its a nice touch demanding
independence, but still being tied to them in a currency union. This is like me
breaking up with my girlfriend and saying: Im out of here, I need my space,
leave me alone.But Ill still need to borrow your car for work every morning.
Im sure she would be cool with that.

The Euro isnt optional an independent Scotland will join the European Union.
This much is clear has been made clear by the SNP. Doing so wont be so smooth.
The president of the EU commission Jos Manuel Barroso said that: difficult, if
not impossible for Scotland to re-join the EU. This I am not so sure on. I believe
it would be possible to re-join the EU, but what I do know is doing so results in us
joining the Euro. That as we all know is a situation best avoided, unless we want
tied with the failing economies of the likes of Spain, Greece and Ireland. One
thing we need to get straight, joining the EU means we have to adopt the Euro. It
is unconditional. The newest EU member state Croatia found that out. Why
would it be different for us?

I could go on people, but Ill be impressed if youve got this far so I wont put you through
any more. I usually just look at the pictures anyway. I will be voting No on September 18
th
, hopefully
this article as given you that little extra information to take to the polls. Dont be ashamed to vote
No, as friendly people we naturally want to say yes, so we have to be strong and make the right
decision for us. Good things will come after a No vote. We will be seeing more devolved powers
given to the Scottish government than ever before, while still being attached to our biggest market,
the UK. We will sit at the big boys table on the world dinner. We get a voice as part of the
superpower that is the UK. I live in a place where it is as easy to do my Christmas shopping in
Newcastle as it is to do in Edinburgh, I dont want to jeopardise this.
Finally, I leave you with a thought. A theory called Occams Razor; a simple idea with a fancy name.
The theory applied in economics and all aspects of life: that the best solution is nearly always the
one with the least assumptions. The best answer is the simplest. A Yes vote brings a whole lot of
unknown. We know where we are at the moment, and for most of us, its a very good place. For
those that could be better, we will continue to work for a better future.
Im sure Ive missed plenty that you wold like to know about. Any questions Id be happy to answer.

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