Category Archives: Scottish Independence Referendum
The Sums don’t Add Up for an Independent Scotland #indyref
In each of the last 5 years Scotland has been in deficit, even when including North Sea Oil revenues. Table 2.1: Current and Capital Budgets: Scotland 2008-09 to 2012-13 (Source GERS) … Continue reading
Central Government is always the ‘Them’ that ‘Doesn’t understand our needs’
The Scottish Government, the SNP and the Nationalists are always bleating about how unfairly Westminster treats Scotland; that London gets all of the wealth; that ‘we’ contribute more in taxes per capita but get less back in expenditure; that they … Continue reading
The Scotland Act 2012 already provides for further devolved tax powers to Scotland from 2016 in which the Scottish rates of income tax will be reduced by 10% at all levels; allowing the Scottish Government to determine what the Scottish … Continue reading
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just be presented with a document telling us, in clear and absolute terms, what independence would do for us; what it would cost in both start up / set up terms & in … Continue reading
Alex Salmond writes in The Sunday Times today headlined “There’s a £60bn reason that the Gang of Three won’t cow us” The gang of three, of course, are George Osborne, who last week laid out in precise detail why the … Continue reading
Like buying a house blind; no viewing, no particulars, just the assurances of the estate agent!
We voters are being asked to decide on whether we should become an independent country without any certainty about what currency we would use. This is the single most important issue there is; though by no means the only one. Like buying … Continue reading
Practical Questions on Scottish Independence #2
State Pensions: What will happen to those already retired and drawing their State Pension from the Department of Works and Pensions; i.e., the Westminster Government? Will these be paid by the Independent Scottish Government? The Scottish Government’s publication ‘Scotland’s Future’, … Continue reading
A Question on Scotland’s Share of UK Assets
I have been reading in the press that Professor Adam Tomkins, the John Millar Professor of Public Law at Glasgow University, has expressed the legal opinion that an independent Scotland would only be able to keep UK assets located in … Continue reading
Practical Questions on Independence
In the absence of any factual information from Alex Salmond and the SNP on how Scottish Independence will work, just continuous assurances that everything will be same, only better, I thought it might be useful to begin a series of … Continue reading
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