Independence argument

Suppose the Act of Union had never happened, Scotland was still an independent country and the vote we were taking in two years' time was not on whether we should leave the Union but on whether we should join it.

"In that scenario, what would be the case for the Union? Your main Parliament will move hundreds of miles away and your MPs will be in a small minority. You will have a Government you didn't vote for.

"You will hand over all your oil and gas revenues to the London Treasury. The biggest nuclear arsenal in western Europe will be based on the River Clyde, 30 miles from your largest city.

"An austerity budget will be imposed from London, cutting jobs and threatening public services, instead of Scotland being responsible for raising and spending its own taxes. You will join a country whose health and education services are rapidly being privatised." -- Blair Jenkins OBE, CEO of Yes Scotland