MPs have called for the UK and Scottish governments to reach a deal on nuclear weapons before the 2014 referendum.
I'd want to know before going to the polling booth. If an independent Scotland would retain nukes, that for me would be a deal breaker. It's bad enough the SNP will now keep us in NATO. I'm not interested in voting for independence for the warm fuzzy feeling of having a bunch of suits in charge in Edinburgh instead of London - doing the same things anyway - and a different coloured passport.
Aren't you in danger of missing the point a bit there? It's all very fine and well to have high political principles, but there really isn't a lot of point to taking the attitude of "unless I am guaranteed EVERYTHING I want before I vote yes, then I will vote no" - You won't be voting to keep or reject nuclear weapons, you won't be voting for EU or NATO membership, you won't even be voting about passport colour and you CERTAINLY won't be voting for (or against) the SNP - you will be voting for or against independence - i.e. the opportunity to have a say in how Scotland develops.
If there is a yes vote, the first thing which will happen is a Scottish general election, where you, I and everyone else can argue for what we believe in on a whole range of issues. Incidentally, it's highly likely there will BE no SNP by that point!
If there is a no vote, then nothing will happen - you'll get more of the same from London, alternating blue, red and yellow tories in perpetuity and you sure as hell won't EVER get rid of nuclear weapons - not even if every single person in Scotland wanted that.
Bear in mind, that this referendum isn't what a lot of people suspect it is - a choice between independence and the status quo - it's already quite clear that Labour in Scotland are busily lining themselves up as conservatives mk2 already - witness Lamont's "end this something for nothing welfare culture" tuition fees a la England, end to free NHS prescriptions etc. It's a choice between make your decisions here in Scotland, for better or worse, or have them made for you - for worse.
Imagine if you will the day after the a No vote - the glee from certain quarters will be there, as well as the sound of knives being sharpened. They wil quite rightly conclude that after decade of chirping away, the door of the budgie cage was opened, but the budgie stayed where it was, because it wasn't given a cast iron guarantee of exactly what might be in the next room.
Think of all the independent countries, struggles for that indpendence and how they got there in the end. In how many countries, where they were given a chance of living as an independent entity, was that chance turned down with "Oh...wait...it might be a bit worse with some things! It might be a wee bit uncertain...let's just stay timid".
