In the historic city’s bustling pubs and cafés, the talk is of little else. Local radio and TV coverage is blanket, and tabloid headlines scream from newsagent windows. Hardly a wall in the capital isn’t covered with the now iconic “yes” and “no” posters, and on each of the capital’s cobbled streets are enthusiastic campaigners brandishing placards for both the rival camps.
The race could not be closer. An average of polls taken over the final week before the referendum puts the "No" vote on 51 percent and "Yes" on 49 percent, according to research institute ScotCen.
But there is a palpable sense that whatever happens when voters head to the polls that the country is entering a new, and uncertain, chapter in its long history. "Scotland will never be the same again", has been the oft-quoted refrain in newspaper editorials throughout this campaign.
Even at this point in the campaigning, questions still remain over what exactly an independent Scotland would look like should it make the momentous decision of ending a union that stretches back 300 years to 1707.
What currency would an independent Scotland use? Would it be able to rejoin the EU and will big businesses decide to move south of the border, taking jobs and tax revenues with them?
‘Think very carefully’
“I feel very passionate about Scotland and about being Scottish, I want to make that clear,” says health worker Sue Murray outside the Scottish National Gallery, a supporter of the “no” vote. “But I have a good grasp of the economic and emotional issues and I just think the risks of independence outweigh the gains.”
“I’ve seen what happened with the Czech Republic and Slovakia when they separated and Slovakia came off the poorer, I think the same thing could happen to Scotland.
“I just hope those who are voting yes or are unsure think very carefully about their final decision on Thursday.”
For some, the uncertainties over Scotland’s future could have significant personal consequences.
Eduardo Lopez, 28, moved from Spain to Edinburgh two years ago to learn English, and he fears what independence could mean for his status as an immigrant.
“I’m concerned because I don’t know what’s going to happen, if they are still going to be in the European Union,” he says from the tourist shop, stuffed to the rafters with tartan, where he works. “As an immigrant, I’m a little bit worried.”
Though he is entitled to vote as a Scottish resident and EU citizen, Eduardo will not be voting on Thursday.
“It’s not my right to have a say over the future of somebody else’s country,” he says.
- But a “no” vote could raise just as many questions over Scotland’s future. London has already promised the Scottish parliament increased powers in a bid to win support for staying in the UK and many feel that this campaign has now fundamentally changed Scotland’s future, no matter the outcome.
“Yes” campaigner Graham Marshall is among them. He believes that even if Thursday’s referendum ends in a “no” vote the momentum has already swung irreversibly in favour towards an independent Scotland.
“Independence is inevitable,” he says at the campaign headquarters for the well-heeled Newington and Southside district of Edinburgh, “If we don’t get it this time, we will next time.”
He blames the “no” camp for spreading “disinformation” about the risks facing Scotland should choose to go it alone as an independent country.
“From the start, they have tried to intimidate us and frighten us,” he says, “That’s what made me want to get involved, seeing the lies that were out there makes you want to do something.”
Healing rifts
The referendum debate has grown increasingly heated as crunch day approaches, with Labour leader Ed Miliband even being forced to abandon a walkabout in Edinburgh on Tuesday after coming under a hail of abuse from pro-independence supporters – and some fear that regardless of the result of the vote, a rift has opened up within Scotland that may take some time to heal.
Indeed, the issue has stirred such strong feelings that some have chosen to travel thousands of miles to make their voice heard.
"I have lived through two referendums in my own country and seen the negative consequences they can have. Lots of companies left the province. It's not just scare tactics."
She points out that she has seen in her own country how debates over national identity have turned people against each other.
“It has become very divisive,” she says as she hands out leaflets in Edinburgh’s city centre. “The Scottish people are very passionate and whatever happens there will be the need for reconciliation,” she says.
However, back in the Newington and Southside campaign headquarters, Graham Marshall is relaxed about any possible fallout.
“The day after the vote, people are still going to be talking to each other,” he says. “If South Africa can move on after apartheid, then I think Scotland will be all right.”
http://www.france24.com/en/20140917-scotland-referendum-vote-united-kingdom-edinburgh-gb-yes-no/
17/9/14
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