Scottish independence

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Sombrero has a dyslexic finger. :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

Anyhoo,,,, Scottish Independence... I think it's a pipe dream for Scots folk living in my homeland. (Or should that be, God's own chosen country?) ;) ;)
 
Does it mean we can put machine gun towers and razor wire across the road at Gretna
 
Scotland has no plans to become independent. SNP simply wants to swap an english master for an EU master.

What difference would it make to the UK?

Probably very little, the amount we give extra over what we take in oil is negligible (and that's putting aside arguments of the oil being in international waters blablabla).

Scottish manufacturing may become more competitive if they have their own currency (as it will be worth less than the pound, and hopefully the SNP won't be insane enough to join the Euro).

Politically it would be a benefit to England, not having scottish MP's voting on english matters.

It might mean the destruction of labour electorilly, and a massive conservative majority.

However this might actually lead to a conservative split maybe to UKIP or another blue party, (at the moment it is to much of a two horse race with lab/con).




So all in all, go Scotland.
 
Scots can in no way afford true independence.... not a hope in hell. I wish they would quit banging on about north sea oil, that will not help. They are dependent on the rest of the UK and they know it. Not that we in England want them that is, be perfectly happy to see them try, but it's a one way choice, we will definitely not have them back.
 
Scots can in no way afford true independence....

Yes they can.

If they go independent they could go back to Scottish currency, which would be worth less, the state would pay out it's workers and dependencies in Scottish currency (with probably some cut's but less than if they stick with the pound, if they Stick with the pound this would tie them in with a currency they no longer have any control or stake in).

They could of course adopt the Euro, would be funny to see them join the slow lane in two speed Europe.
 
Scots can in no way afford true independence.... not a hope in hell. I wish they would quit banging on about north sea oil, that will not help. They are dependent on the rest of the UK and they know it. Not that we in England want them that is, be perfectly happy to see them try, but it's a one way choice, we will definitely not have them back.

Of course we could afford it. Scotland has 8.4% of the UK population, yet contributes 9.6% of UK treasury income...
The destruction of the Labour party as a credible opposition is down to nobody but the labour party themselves. By alligning themselves so closely to tory policy, they give the electorate very little choice, and given their recent Governmental record, its no wonder people are abandoning them in droves.
 
Loads of statistics and anybody can use them to back their argument. What is clear is that the Scots tend to vote in governments who like to spend money that they haven't earned.

They will also have to apply for EU membership and although they will be fasttracked that would require taking the Euro at some stage down the line. So Scotland would be locked in a currency union with Germany which, together with the Scot's love of public spending, would stuff them.

But they need to make their mind up and soon. I don't know any Scot who wants total independence but I suspect that's because I don't know many weegies. The ones I know want to have the best of both worlds - the security of having a currency backed by England, and the ability to vote in governments who spend spend spend.
 
The destruction of the Labour party as a credible opposition is down to nobody but the labour party themselves.

You might want to look at a general election map, about 40 seats north of the border are labour, 1 seat conservative.

Take away Scotland and labour has no hope at all of a majority government.

From a political point of view, this would have an impact on England.

In the short term it would lead to conservative dominance, but I can't see this lasting, at some point splits in the party may happen, or more votes are spread out to other parties (lib dems, ukip, etc).

Of course we could afford it. Scotland has 8.4% of the UK population, yet contributes 9.6% of UK treasury income...

I believe the objections come more from the idea that the Scottish government spends more than it would be able to take in tax. But unlike the UK government, it would not have a strong pound and the ability to borrow (our deficit is a problem, but debt and borrowing are still manageable). My guess however is that a proper devalued Scottish coin, would somewhat reduce the need to borrow (pay workers less, as their money is worth more, the pound inflates living costs). However the SNP seem to be quite the Euro fans, so there is a risk Scotland will join the Euro, then you would be ****ed.




I am in the camp that Scotland leaving would be rather neutral to England, every cost or benefit argument discussion I hear ends up with a list of monies going back and forth.

Possibly the biggest risk Scotland would face is the possible loss of shipbuilding contracts from UK defence, but then if they go for a devalued Scottish currency, this may make them more competitive with eastern Europe (where they have lost a lot of their industry to).
 
Short term fiscaly it would be neutral, Scotland would gain the oil revenue but lose the English subsidy.

Medium to long term it's got to be fiscally good for England. We no longer have to subsidise the Scots and oil revenue is in decline anyway. The London government would be shifted towards a far more fiscally responsible government as Labour would lose the guaranteed Scotland vote.

Not good for Scotland of course as they will have a SNP/Labour two party system, both parties love to spend money they haven't got.

The currency issue would be fascinating. For a start Scotland would have to take on their fair share of the UK public dept and all the welfare and public sector pension liabilities. I'm guessing that would be denominated in Pound Sterling and on its own would pretty much cripple the nascent Scottish governments ability to borrow on the markets.

Any Scottish pound would lose value quite quickly (but at least they would be able to say that Scottish money was legal tender at last) but the debt would still (probably) be repayable in Sterling. No doubt Salmond would use this as another stick to beat the English, his vitriol towards us would just increase exponentially.

Though I think this is just Salmond trying to become the modern day Robert the Bruce. Unfortunately he has the charisma to take a load of Scots with him into ruin, but Salmond will have his page in history, and I don't think he cares about much else.
 
Salmond ,, Charismatic ?? Not two words I'd put in the same sentence chapeau.
He looks like he ate all the deep fried mars bars and clootie dumpling. ;) ;) ;)
 
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