All eyes on Scotland

Today, Scotlandโ€s four million voters are going to the polls to answer โ€yesโ€ or โ€noโ€ to the question: Should Scotland be an independent country? Here is your chance to follow a history-making event and learn some English at the same time.

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All eyes on Scotland

Today, Scotland’s four million voters are going to the polls to answer “yes’ or “not” to this one simple question: Should Scotland be an independent country?

If the majority says “yes,” then Scotland will begin the formal process of breaking its 300 year political union with the United Kingdom which also includes includes England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The vote is being watched closely throughout the world, especially in countries like Spain and Canada were separatist movements are strong. (There is likely to be some interest in Thailand’s deep South as well.)

Like separatist supporters living in Catalonia in Spain or in French-speaking Quebec in Canada, those who favour Scottish independence say the locals are much better off governing themselves, rather than taking orders from distant capitals like London, Madrid or Ottawa.

Scotland is already a wealthy nation, Scottish nationalists say, and they pay much more in taxes to the United Kingdom than they get in return. With large oil reserves and healthy industries, they can easily go it alone and focus exclusively on how to make Scotland even better. And not all ties with its neighbours need to be cut. Scottish leaders say they will keep the British pound as the national currency and Queen Elizabeth will remain Queen of Scotland.

Not so fast, say the “better together” camp made up of those opposing a Scottish breakaway. There is no guarantee that Scotland can keep the British pound, nor is there a guarantee that it can remain a member of the European Union or NATO – at least without making new applications. A split with the United Kingdom could also cause severe short-term economic problems – higher interest rates, for example as investors worry about the ability of the new nation to balance its budget. In return for staying, Scotland has also been offered increased local powers.

We will soon know what the Scottish people decide. Here is the latest on referendum day from AFP

Scotland braces for historic independence vote

PERTH, United Kingdom, Sept 17, 2014, AFP – The campaign for Scotland's independence referendum went down to the wire on the eve of a knife-edge vote on Thursday that will either see Scotland break away from the United Kingdom or gain sweeping new powers.

Pro-independence leader Alex Salmond, making what could be the most important speech of his career, urged Scots to seize the opportunity as polls showed the vote could go either way.

"This is our opportunity of a lifetime and we must seize it with both hands," the Scottish first minister told a crowd that waved blue and white flags and occasionally broke into chants of "Yes we can".

"Tomorrow for a few precious hours during polling day, the people of Scotland will hold in our hands the exclusive solemn power to define our nation for the future," Salmond said.

"It's the greatest, most empowering moment that any of us will ever have."

Salmond said the pro-independence side was still an underdog and promised to accept the result with dignity if the vote went against him.

Three opinion polls on the eve of the referendum showed a very narrow majority against independence but showed that the undecideds could swing it either way with just hours to go before polls open on Thursday at 0600 GMT (11:00am Thai time).

Record numbers have registered for the referendum – 97 percent of eligible voters – and turnout is expected to be very high with officials saying it could be around 80 percent.

On the final day of campaigning both "Yes" and "No" camps mobilised thousands of volunteers on streets across Scotland in a final push to win over undecided voters in a heated debate that has fired up Scots on both sides.

"I'm really optimistic that if we do have independence, we can start building a society that works for all of us," said 24-year-old Sam Hollick, a "Yes" activist from the Green Party who was campaigning at a stand in Edinburgh blaring a song by Scottish band The Proclaimers.

But at a "No" rally in Glasgow, former British prime minister Gordon Brown appealed to Scots' wartime patriotism and said voting against separation would still mean Scotland gaining much greater local power.

"We fought two world wars together," he told hundreds of supporters.

"There's not a cemetery in Europe that doesn't have a Scot, a Welshman, an Irish and an Englishman side by side."

A late surge in support for the "Yes" campaign has also sent jitters through the financial markets, helping to bring down the value of the pound and dragging down the stocks of Scotland-based companies.

Salmond has dismissed the economic arguments – including what currency an independent Scotland would use as the Bank of England has ruled out a currency union – as "scaremongering" by the "No" campaign.

A "Yes" victory would not mean independence overnight but would sound the starting gun on months and possibly years of complex negotiations on separating two deeply linked economic systems.

It could lead to Prime Minister David Cameron's resignation and would embolden other separatist movements around the world.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy weighed in on the debate on Wednesday, branding moves for independence like Spain's Catalonia region a "torpedo" to European integration.

"Everyone in Europe thinks that these processes are hugely negative," financially and economically, Rajoy told the Spanish parliament.

On the eve of the vote, President Barack Obama spoke out against independence.

"The UK is an extraordinary partner for America and a force for good in an unstable world. I hope it remains strong, robust and united," read a tweet signed with Obama's initials on the White House Twitter account.

A series of polls released on Wednesday showed that independence would be rejected by 52 percent to 48 percent, with undecided voters excluded.

Another by Ipsos-Mori for broadcaster STV showed the gap even closer, on 51 percent against independence and 49 percent in favour.

The results are close to margins of error and many commentators have said the final outcome is "too close to call" ahead of time.

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