...taining us poor scots and preventing us from self-harming and starvation.
Seriously. If you musrt debate please don't assume your readers are idiots.
MikeMac - 6 years ago
Matt, Matt, Matt - that is some serious palpable nonsense there. Cite your figures. They are ridiculous. Your "facts" are, in fact, non-facts. If, as it seems, you are using GERS as your basis you really need to catch up. No political correspondent nor economist wishing to be takern seriously would agree that GERS is any indicator of how an independent Scotland would look. It is a truly debunked source for any independence debate. At best the data is a starting point for seccession negotiations but factual evidence of deficits and fiscal transfers? Please! Could you possibly tell me the following precisely:
1. Date IndyRef2 is scheduled for
2. Seccession negotiations schedules
3. Independence date
4. Who will be in Govt in rUK
5. Outcome of Brexit
6. Economic state of rUK
7. Scottish Currency choice
8. Scotland's EU membership status
9. Scotland's share of Assets and liabilities balance
The answer is no, of course you can't, yet those are the very factors that will colour our decisions and agreements when the time arrives. Your presuppositions are built on assumption. I will not base our future on reckless speculation and fear. I base my decisions on facts. Even without oil Scotland's resources are greater than most successful countries around our size. Unfortunately, the oil has been mishandled so badly that we are exceptional in being a country that produces oil at a loss, or so we are told by the UK Treasury.
The EU conditions you mention are for new member states. Senior EU spokesmen have already indicated that they would prefer to simply ratify necessary changes to confirm that technically Scotland is already a member. Any fear-mongering you mention about veto by other member states is, again. something that has been debunked and no longer spoken of by the pro union lobby. It's simply more fear. We were fooled once but we're a canny bunch. Most EU members are on record with their belief that Scotland could and should prosper as an independent nation.
In rUK only London and the South East has better GDP per region. The rest of England, Wales and Northern Ireland are behind us. Our "stable economy" is not an indication of a nations wellbeing. What use a stable economy when we have to mitigate UKGov welfare policies? What good a stable economy when we have the lowest pensions in Europe? What use a stable economy when we have to rely on reducing (in real terms) handouts from our purseholders? The quadraplegic in his wheelchair being deemed fit for work, the kids relying on foodbanks, the homeless, the amputee veterans having their invalidity benefits cut
Scotland has no borrowing. We have borrowed nothing. Up until last year we were not "permitted" to borrow but now have a facility to borrow up to £3bn but that has not been utilised by the Scottish Govt.
Consider also; If Scotland was such an economic basket case as you state, who has held all economic levers since the inception of this apparently failed union? Westminster. So in a Catch22 we have a disastrous economy because it has been mishandled by a UK Govt. or the whole thing is conrtrived to make us look too wee, too poor and too stupid. Patently untrue on all counts.
Why is Nicola Sturgeon's drive for Independence "Self-serving"? That's a very weighted statement. Is every political aspiration self-serving? Sturgeon is Scotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party whose prime agenda is the realisation of an Independent Scotland. By your reckoning every political figure head is self-serving.
Finally. Scottish Independence is not about The SNP, Nicola Sturgeon, Alex Salmond, William Wallace or the Proclaimers. Scottish independence is not about any ersatz economists' agenda-driven forecasts from either side. Scotland's indepence is an aspiration to be like a normal country where we make our own decisions in conjunction with a governing party we choose to put in government and release UK from the alleged bondage of main
Concerned Scot - 6 years ago
Wake up Matt and stop spouting British Nationalist propaganda. Are you seriously suggesting we stay in a union that after more than 300 years has rendered our economy a complete basket case. Surely your argument re-enforces the need for change so Scotland can be successful as other independent European nations, who by the way have far less resources than Scotland.
You attitude Matt is cringeworthy - why on earth do we want to remain beholding to another country, surely we can run our own economy better for the people of Scotland.
cynicalHighlander - 6 years ago
Either Matt is a member of the Labour party or is not very bright or both. No country in the World is responsible for any part of the debt of the country they are seeking to be independent from and his other points are just twaddle and worth debunking. Suggestion for Matt is stop listening to the MSM broadcasts or reading their newsprint and engage his brain to find the true facts.
...taining us poor scots and preventing us from self-harming and starvation.
Seriously. If you musrt debate please don't assume your readers are idiots.
Matt, Matt, Matt - that is some serious palpable nonsense there. Cite your figures. They are ridiculous. Your "facts" are, in fact, non-facts. If, as it seems, you are using GERS as your basis you really need to catch up. No political correspondent nor economist wishing to be takern seriously would agree that GERS is any indicator of how an independent Scotland would look. It is a truly debunked source for any independence debate. At best the data is a starting point for seccession negotiations but factual evidence of deficits and fiscal transfers? Please! Could you possibly tell me the following precisely:
1. Date IndyRef2 is scheduled for
2. Seccession negotiations schedules
3. Independence date
4. Who will be in Govt in rUK
5. Outcome of Brexit
6. Economic state of rUK
7. Scottish Currency choice
8. Scotland's EU membership status
9. Scotland's share of Assets and liabilities balance
The answer is no, of course you can't, yet those are the very factors that will colour our decisions and agreements when the time arrives. Your presuppositions are built on assumption. I will not base our future on reckless speculation and fear. I base my decisions on facts. Even without oil Scotland's resources are greater than most successful countries around our size. Unfortunately, the oil has been mishandled so badly that we are exceptional in being a country that produces oil at a loss, or so we are told by the UK Treasury.
The EU conditions you mention are for new member states. Senior EU spokesmen have already indicated that they would prefer to simply ratify necessary changes to confirm that technically Scotland is already a member. Any fear-mongering you mention about veto by other member states is, again. something that has been debunked and no longer spoken of by the pro union lobby. It's simply more fear. We were fooled once but we're a canny bunch. Most EU members are on record with their belief that Scotland could and should prosper as an independent nation.
In rUK only London and the South East has better GDP per region. The rest of England, Wales and Northern Ireland are behind us. Our "stable economy" is not an indication of a nations wellbeing. What use a stable economy when we have to mitigate UKGov welfare policies? What good a stable economy when we have the lowest pensions in Europe? What use a stable economy when we have to rely on reducing (in real terms) handouts from our purseholders? The quadraplegic in his wheelchair being deemed fit for work, the kids relying on foodbanks, the homeless, the amputee veterans having their invalidity benefits cut
Scotland has no borrowing. We have borrowed nothing. Up until last year we were not "permitted" to borrow but now have a facility to borrow up to £3bn but that has not been utilised by the Scottish Govt.
Consider also; If Scotland was such an economic basket case as you state, who has held all economic levers since the inception of this apparently failed union? Westminster. So in a Catch22 we have a disastrous economy because it has been mishandled by a UK Govt. or the whole thing is conrtrived to make us look too wee, too poor and too stupid. Patently untrue on all counts.
Why is Nicola Sturgeon's drive for Independence "Self-serving"? That's a very weighted statement. Is every political aspiration self-serving? Sturgeon is Scotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party whose prime agenda is the realisation of an Independent Scotland. By your reckoning every political figure head is self-serving.
Finally. Scottish Independence is not about The SNP, Nicola Sturgeon, Alex Salmond, William Wallace or the Proclaimers. Scottish independence is not about any ersatz economists' agenda-driven forecasts from either side. Scotland's indepence is an aspiration to be like a normal country where we make our own decisions in conjunction with a governing party we choose to put in government and release UK from the alleged bondage of main
Wake up Matt and stop spouting British Nationalist propaganda. Are you seriously suggesting we stay in a union that after more than 300 years has rendered our economy a complete basket case. Surely your argument re-enforces the need for change so Scotland can be successful as other independent European nations, who by the way have far less resources than Scotland.
You attitude Matt is cringeworthy - why on earth do we want to remain beholding to another country, surely we can run our own economy better for the people of Scotland.
Either Matt is a member of the Labour party or is not very bright or both. No country in the World is responsible for any part of the debt of the country they are seeking to be independent from and his other points are just twaddle and worth debunking. Suggestion for Matt is stop listening to the MSM broadcasts or reading their newsprint and engage his brain to find the true facts.