This led to an amusing observation on the reason why the referendum is being held only in Scotland. It would be a political nightmare for Salmond if Scotland voted to stay part of the UK... and the rest of the UK voted to kick Scotland out!
I also found some interesting things when looking at this the other day.
That Scots make up a very disproportionately large part of the British military, from 2000 to 2012, no branch recruited less than 6% from Scotland(note, from Scotland, Scots living outside of Scotland was not part of those numbers) and up to 25%.
Overall, Scots seem to make up something like 15-20% of the military
However, Scots are even more prominent among special forces and officers...
Statements by units found up to over 40% in some places.
Now, that might make it look like a huge problem for UK, right?
Eh, no. Apparently, joining a Scottish military is looked at as "too boring", and "why go to some tiny little military academy in Scotland when you could go to Sandhurst?".
A newspaper who had polled some units with scots found that the vast majority would reject switching to a Scottish military.
In a platoon with 32, 30 said they would stay in the British army, 1 was uncertain and just 1 wanted to go "all Scot".
Meanwhile, the Scottish politicos have some very weird ideas about how the supposed new military is meant to look.
They claim they will maintain "all the Scottish units", except that doing so, unless they shrink them, will use up most of the personnel they have calculated for, leaving very little for an airforce or navy.
Which of course just happens to be what they need the most, if nothing else because of all the oil platforms.
OTOH, if there is a yes, they´re going to need that airforce and navy, and current materiel has already been deemed as far too expensive ( or just plain old ) to use, putting SAAB Gripen as a primary contender for airforce purchases as well as subs for the navy...
Still though, i think i would greatly prefer if the vote turns out as a big BIG NO.
Aaanyway, i have my own countdown to Catastrophe here today, time to go vote myself soon.
And if the rightwing manages to avoid a defeat, i expect "catastrophe" to be a suitable description for the next 4 years.
Most dishonest government ever in Sweden, think "Yes Minister" style for real(seriously i mean that literally), they campaign as if they were not already in government, as if the trainwreck of the last 8 years has nothing to do with them... They can barely come up with any actual politics of their own, instead spending most their time trying to make the opposition into a big bad bogeyman that will by default create chaos and kill puppies if they get elected.
It´s pathetic.