Why destroy a united nation? Sunday Express, John Reid

Do we stay part of the family of nations which make up the United Kingdom or do we take a huge leap into the unknown and the uncertain by setting up a separate state?

I have fought many elections. I have knocked on doors, delivered leaflets, spoken at rallies and manned street stalls in town centres. In that sense, this referendum has qualities that are like an election but this is not like a normal election.

If we vote to leave the UK, it will be for ever, irreversible. There will be no changing our minds in four years if it turns out the promises made by the leader of a political party cannot, or will not, be kept.

That is why it is no time for a protest vote. It is not a time to gamble. This is not a lottery. There will not be another chance next week. The decision we take on Thursday is not just one for ourselves, it is for our children, for our grandchildren and for generations to come.

So, we have to get it right and the right decision is to say "no thanks" to separation. We do not need to take the risks of separation to change Scotland. Change is already coming with a No vote, faster change, better change, safe change.

We can strengthen our Scottish Parliament without losing the strength, security and stability that comes with being a member of the UK. A leap into the unknown with independence would be a huge risk for families across Scotland.

"The nationalists have not answered the fundamental questions. They cannot, or will not, tell us what currency we would use in the event of separation" 

John Reid

The nationalists have not answered the fundamental questions. They cannot, or will not, tell us what currency we would use in the event of separation. Currency matters.

It affects what our wages are worth, how much our mortgages and rents cost, what our credit card and shopping bills cost. It affects how we fund our pensions, how we fund our public services; our schools, hospitals and police. We cannot put that at risk. We can't risk a partnership which has benefited us all for three centuries.

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Expert confirms ‘There will be no oil bonanza’,

12 September

The nationalists want us to believe that we are on the verge of another oil boom and that oil will pay for everything.

The problem with this argument is that it is simply wrong. Now one of the experts that nationalists rely on has corrected the record. Professor Alex Kemp the oil expert relied upon by Alex Salmond to give credibility to his oil estimates , has today said that a separate Scotland would have no oil bonanza.

In a letter to the Press and Journal Professor Kemp wrote;

“SIR, - In Wednesday’s Press and Journal, there was a headline attributed to myself predicting an “oil bonanza” from the North Sea. Nowhere did I say this.In our research, our economic model predicts that investment will fall off in the near future, while oil/gas production could increase for a few years, but then enter long-term decline. The total recovery we predict to 2050 is in the 15-16.5billion barrels of oil equivalent.

By 2050, production is in the 200,000-250,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. But production can continue well beyond 2050. Our current estimate of the ultimate potential is certainly less than the 21 billion barrels of oil equivalent which is at the upper end of DECC’s most likely range. There will be no bonanza.”

The timing of this letter will come as a blow to Alex Salmond who in recent weeks has used Professor Kemp’s name to deflect criticism that his oil forecasts have been overestimated .

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Salmond planning victory parties before polling day even starts, Daily Express

ALEX Salmond was last night ­accused of “planning parties” and taking independence for granted ­after announcing “a day of celebration” on Friday.

The First Minister asserted that Westminster politicians were going to “get their comeuppance” because he believes Scots are going to vote Yes in “very substantial proportions”.

He made the comments in Glasgow yesterday after ­taking time out from his two-day helicopter tour of Scotland in an ­aircraft named ‘Saltire One’.

Yes Scotland chief executive Blair Jenkins also predicted that his side would win Thursday’s poll, saying: “I think we’ve got a Yes vote.”

However, critics suggested Mr Salmond’s over-confidence could become his “Neil Kinnock moment”, referring to the infamous Sheffield rally which cost Labour the 1992 general election

Meanwhile, Finance Secretary John Swinney has admitted that a separate Scotland would have to ­increase borrowing to support its ­independence plans. Appearing on BBC Radio Four’s Any Questions? , he was quizzed on how the country would provide free tuition, free ­prescriptions and a free NHS.

Explaining that he was planning to increase public spending by three per cent, he conceded that borrowing would also have to increase.

He said: “The United Kingdom is borrowing up to its oxters just now, so don’t consider it a revelation that suddenly an independent Scotland might borrow some money.

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