Some statistics..

[Confidemus]

The poorest fifth of UK households are significantly worse off than the poorest fifth in other Western European countries.

http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2014/06/17/unequal-britain-taxes-the-worst-off-most-heavily-is-anyone-surprised-people-arent-feeling-the-recovery/

In truth, the poorer households pay 43 percent of total income in tax, while the richest households pay 35 percent.

http://www.taxjustice.net/2014/06/16/unequal-britain-tax-system-much-less-progressive-people-believe/

The UK contains nine of the top ten poorest regions in Northern Europe, however it is also home to the richest.

http://metro.co.uk/2014/08/27/uk-is-the-most-financially-unequal-country-in-northern-europe-new-research-reveals-4847533/

In the UK, the wealthiest one percent takes 13 percent of total income, which is much greater ratio than in other Western European countries.

http://rt.com/business/166516-uk-poverty-study-income/

The British state pension at a maximum £110.15 a week is the most miserable in Europe

http://money.aol.co.uk/2013/11/28/uk-state-pension-is-lowest-in-europe/

Tory rail privatisation has given us the highest fares in Europe and huge shareholder payouts

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/uk-rail-fares-highest-europe-2673718

The UK is actually poorer than all but one of the US States.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2014/08/25/britain-is-poorer-than-any-us-state-yes-even-mississippi/

Britain's 10 worst-off areas will suffer the biggest council cuts – as some rich Tory authorities get budget rises, research shows.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/council-cuts-britains-ten-poorest-3091450

The British government has been accused of violating the human right to food, and international law, as it was revealed nearly one million adults and children accessed food banks in the last year.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/04/15/food-banks-used-by-one-million-brits_n_5152005.html

The number of British households falling below minimum living standards has more than doubled in the past 30 years, despite the size of the economy increasing twofold, a study on poverty and deprivation in the UK claims .

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jun/19/poverty-hits-twice-as-many-british-households

Britain's richest people have managed to DOUBLE their wealth in the five years since the financial crash with a combined fortune of £519billion.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2631817/The-rich-richer-Britains-wealthiest-worth-519billion.html

There's so much more I could supply, but even with this - why ON EARTH would you vote No? Surely we can do better on our own?

[Killie Zenit]

Confi, it's too early to talk politics - eat yer cereal.

[scothmist]

great post confusedalot.com. right up there trysexual.

[Casual Bystander]

On the sauce early my grammatically challenged friend?

You really should get a manager rather than sitting their handling yourself.

[speckled tangerine]

I do miss AdLib.

He'd respond with the political equivalent of a Ronnie Corbett monologue. But at least he'd eventually get the punchline.

Scothmist by comparison is like first on at red raw at the stand who gets booed off after sixty seconds, telling everyone to "f**k off" as he throws the microphone at the front row.

[sons superhero]

Reminds me so much of Deegas could it be!!! When mentioning England he does refer to down here!

[sparky88]

These things exist.. The question is.... Do you trust Scottish polticians to do any better? Its very easy to blindly suggest things like this will change but there are so many other different things that could happen...... For example.... I think Independence will cause a massive party realignmeent which will see the establishment of a new. Centre right party from the Tories and some of the SNP. This party will want to continue austerity, especially as it has control of the pursestrings. But there are other variables that would feed into this that might not mean independence would fix these things.

[DeeTillEhDeh]

These things exist.. The question is.... Do you trust Scottish polticians to do any better? Its very easy to blindly suggest things like this will change but there are so many other different things that could happen...... For example.... I think Independence will cause a massive party realignmeent which will see the establishment of a new. Centre right party from the Tories and some of the SNP. This party will want to continue austerity, especially as it has control of the pursestrings. But there are other variables that would feed into this that might not mean independence would fix these things.

Wishful thinking.

I don't see any desire amongst our politicians to realign - if anything they have gotten even more tribal.

[Confidemus]

These things exist.. The question is.... Do you trust Scottish polticians to do any better? Its very easy to blindly suggest things like this will change but there are so many other different things that could happen...... For example.... I think Independence will cause a massive party realignmeent which will see the establishment of a new. Centre right party from the Tories and some of the SNP. This party will want to continue austerity, especially as it has control of the pursestrings. But there are other variables that would feed into this that might not mean independence would fix these things.

A few points.

Firstly, yes I do think Scottish politicians can and will do things differently.

I think the Scottish political landscape will shift, but as I believe Scotland as a nation leans to the left, if anything we will vote for a centre left party. And we have the power to vote them out if they're not up to the job. Something we don't have at present.

One thing's for sure, these issues will not get addressed while we are governed by Westminster. The Tories are saying we're only 40% of the way through austerity cuts with Labour promising to continue austerity and go even deeper in some measures.