I thought the UK hated the EU because they paid in the most and got the least back. That and the stupid banana regulations. Of course, my knowledge of EU hate is dated by a good 12 years or so.

But if I still had a say in UK matters (I don't, my say has timed out), I'd vote to leave the EU in a flash.

Well I'm from Scotland and I'm hoping that when we get independance from the UK in 2014 that we won't rejoin the EU.
Hoping we can do without, the benefits of being in the EU don't really mean much anymore.

Well, that's definitly not true:
http://www.bpb.de/nachschlagen/zahlen-und-fakten/europa/70580/nettozahler-und-nettoempfaenger
Top 5 net contributors on the left, Top 5 net recipients on the right.
First table is sorted by GDP, second by Euro per head and the last is total sums.

As you can see, the UK is in neither of the first to tables, and even in total sums it's only at 4th place.

I honestly think that "Gaining Independence" for Scotland will be the equivalent of Suicide, I cannot imagine what exactly Scotland will do without the UK or how it's going to survive

I came here thinking,"I thought the UK was never a part of the EU at all?" judging from the title.

They can piss off out of the EU as far as I'm concerned. I'm sick and tired about everyone belly-aching on about how the EU is at fault for this and that and about French and German domination in Europe when I'm in the UK.

I'd love to see how Britain would handle the consequences. Cheap wine from across the channel? BANG, customs duty on top of it. Petrol prices? BANG, massive rises with duty paid on imports from Rotterdam. Not to mention that prices on the whole in the UK would rise massively, as the UK's trade deficit with mainland Europe is enormous - it imports far more from Europe than it exports, especially from Germany, France and the Netherlands.

The funny thing is, were Britain to leave the EU, the duty on alcohol and tobacco imports would be painted as the big catastrophe by papers like the Daily Mail, and the major disaster - the impact on British businesses - would be largely ignored. It's nothing short of populist bullshit.

A UK exit from the EU would hurt the UK much more than it would hurt the EU, but I think Mainland Europe on the whole has had enough of the stroppiness and self-righteousness.

And for the record, the UK's net contributions are actually one of the lowest in the EU among the major economic powers relative to GDP and per capita. Only Austria and Sweden pay less if I recall.

Nah the bulk of UK debt belongs to England. Scotland getting independance will free us of most of it and leave us with all North Sea Revunue and the rest for ourselves.

Up to them. I hope UK really does vote for it, and leaves EU if they really feel so.

But I presume they rather want to continue the current way where they have some kind of special position and privileges over other EU countries, ie. cherry picking only the parts that benefit them. The princess syndrome.

They still have the oil and gas from the North Sea, they'll be able to prosper for a while with that. Once the reserves are depleted, an independent Scotland will be screwed though.

As for leaving the EU, you don't have to leave everything in it at once. The common market is only one of the EU treaties (and one some non-EU countries actually are part of, like Norway), and it's the only one you really need economically.

The thing is, if the UK really left, it might actually lead to some other northern countries leaving. Not sure what effect that kind of disintegration would have on European countries, and apparently no one's eager to find out.

Yes, their finances are closely connected with the UK. Even if they can solve this problem, it's very hard for a small country to survive nearly surrounded by the european community if they leave the EU. That would be suicide.

Can someone point what the actual benefits from leaving the EU would be?

Are the polled people, by any chance, basing their votes on the current financial crisis which should not have a tangible effect on UK economy with its seperate fiscal policy?

with all due respect, I doubt that Scotland could pull a "Norway" and make it out good

What did Norway do?

People usually derive their opinions from newspapers like the Daily Mail, Daily Express and The Sun, which prints some absolutely ridiculous stories about the EU, usually either entirely fictitious or selective with the truth. It started with this banana story and stories these days are usually about some kind of ban.

The current scapegoat for the economic crisis in the UK is, of course, the EU, although Britain is not even part of the single currency.