I kinda agree with what you are saying up to a point, but the only real change is the freezing of council tax and the raising of some tax bands, both these policies designed to help the poorest in society..... the free prescriptions and uni education have been long standing policy that also help level the playing field for the poorest in society.......
I just believe they spend the money the wrong way and we are always told there are shortfalls and no cash for this or that, yet when they want to do something, they magically find the cash........... like look how long the people have wanted better railways and service, they say no real money for that, yet the come up with billions for hs2.......and then it fails to deliver......
labour want to control the scottish parliment, it seems obvious to me that westminster will do everything in its power to make the snp's job of running scotland tougher, so their mates in scottish labour have a better chance of winning at the next election.....
and come on, you know scotland never makes mistakes, we are perfect (hahahaha)
I agree with you. Up to a point. There is a temptation for Westminster to do things to make life tougher for Opposition Parties running Scotland (or Wales). All other things being equal, that can have an effect. Although there are a lot of other priorities that make that a lot more nuanced.
The odd thing (to me at least) is that, with the exception of Independence, SNP policies and Labour policies are pretty close to one another. Except that, for political reasons, both Parties deny this. Often Allies in the UK Parliament, while simultaneously enemies in the Scottish one.
The reverse is often true-the SNP will tend to look to the narrower interests of what is best for the SNP and Scotland in the UK Parliament, even on issues that do not impact Scotland.
Turning briefly to the Railways. The Press only want to highlight things that go wrong. Not the good bits.
So-the Tories get (quite rightly) slaughtered on HS2. But, more generally, Transport is something they have done quite well. Freeports. Crossrail. The Elizabeth Line.
The problem I have with an independant Scotland is how we finance it, oil was the holy grail, the SNP are saying "get rid of the big bad oil" and at the same time "we can go on our own with oil".
The problem I have with an independant Scotland is how we finance it, oil was the holy grail, the SNP are saying "get rid of the big bad oil" and at the same time "we can go on our own with oil".
Oil has never been the solution. The UK does not control the North Sea. The players are no more English/British than they are Scottish.
The "levy" sounds simple. But raising £Billions never is. So-for example-BP and Shell sell off various bits to other Companies to evade making UK (as opposed to offshore) profits. Shell Energy-sold to Octopus. BP's domestic electric/gas arm (Pure Planet) sold to Shell, then on to Octopus. BP Chemicals-sold to Ineos. The list goes on. And on.
It's not the only "solution" that has massive practical problems. Rejoin the EU? How exactly are Scotland going to pay to police the massive border with England? A 100 mile border. With not a lot of people living close to it on either side.
How many Scottish Companies would feel obliged to move large parts of their Head Office functions to England if there was no United Kingdom? Seen any research on that? Because that would be vital.
Not for an Englishman to say whether or not Scotland should be Independent. But the SNP are so busy selling the concept, the ideal, that they have done precious little work on the practicalities of actually being independent.
If I recall( during the original independence vote)? Wasn't there an £8b hole in Scotlands finances if they went?
all propaganda imo, it was the same with brexit..........the truth of these things always gets muddied.......... thinking scotland would somehow be unable to opperate because it went it alone is pretty laughable, there are lots of countries of similar size and with similar resources who flurish......
and after last nights defending renton was right @rabdeniro haha
If I recall( during the original independence vote)? Wasn't there an £8b hole in Scotlands finances if they went?
all propaganda imo, it was the same with brexit..........the truth of these things always gets muddied.......... thinking scotland would somehow be unable to opperate because it went it alone is pretty laughable, there are lots of countries of similar size and with similar resources who flurish......
and after last nights defending renton was right @rabdeniro haha
Reminds me of the old gag-27.46% of statistics are made up on the spot.
Both sides of the debate spout imaginary statistics in support of their position. And neither actually give meaningful figures as to the risks and rewards.
Of course Scotland could go it alone. Should it? I have no idea. Not least because there is no clear vision for the future. Just scare stories on 1 side. And empty promises on the other.
The SNP are advocating a Brexit-style decision. Vote against something. Completely fail to provide a clear path as the alternative way forward. It is just "Europe" has been replaced by "England".
PS. 1 thing that fascinates me about any Independence vote. It seems that Scots who live in England/elsewhere do not get a vote. Surely these people are affected just as much (if not more) than people living in Scotland.
If I recall( during the original independence vote)? Wasn't there an £8b hole in Scotlands finances if they went?
all propaganda imo, it was the same with brexit..........the truth of these things always gets muddied.......... thinking scotland would somehow be unable to opperate because it went it alone is pretty laughable, there are lots of countries of similar size and with similar resources who flurish......
and after last nights defending renton was right @rabdeniro haha
Reminds me of the old gag-27.46% of statistics are made up on the spot.
Both sides of the debate spout imaginary statistics in support of their position. And neither actually give meaningful figures as to the risks and rewards.
Of course Scotland could go it alone. Should it? I have no idea. Not least because there is no clear vision for the future. Just scare stories on 1 side. And empty promises on the other.
The SNP are advocating a Brexit-style decision. Vote against something. Completely fail to provide a clear path as the alternative way forward. It is just "Europe" has been replaced by "England".
PS. 1 thing that fascinates me about any Independence vote. It seems that Scots who live in England/elsewhere do not get a vote. Surely these people are affected just as much (if not more) than people living in Scotland.
yeah, i nodded along reading that.
imo any vote on independence should require a scottish birth certificate and nothing more. the last time everyone living in scotland got to vote, i found that wrong, its a scottish issue for scottish people to decide imo.
i remember working for a polish guy who had lived in scotland for a year or so before the independence vote, he voted remain, yet that same guy was not allowed to vote in the brexit ref......
anyway westminster will never allow another referendum so its probly a waste of time discussing it
If I recall( during the original independence vote)? Wasn't there an £8b hole in Scotlands finances if they went?
all propaganda imo, it was the same with brexit..........the truth of these things always gets muddied.......... thinking scotland would somehow be unable to opperate because it went it alone is pretty laughable, there are lots of countries of similar size and with similar resources who flurish......
and after last nights defending renton was right @rabdeniro haha
Reminds me of the old gag-27.46% of statistics are made up on the spot.
Both sides of the debate spout imaginary statistics in support of their position. And neither actually give meaningful figures as to the risks and rewards.
Of course Scotland could go it alone. Should it? I have no idea. Not least because there is no clear vision for the future. Just scare stories on 1 side. And empty promises on the other.
The SNP are advocating a Brexit-style decision. Vote against something. Completely fail to provide a clear path as the alternative way forward. It is just "Europe" has been replaced by "England".
PS. 1 thing that fascinates me about any Independence vote. It seems that Scots who live in England/elsewhere do not get a vote. Surely these people are affected just as much (if not more) than people living in Scotland.
yeah, i nodded along reading that.
imo any vote on independence should require a scottish birth certificate and nothing more. the last time everyone living in scotland got to vote, i found that wrong, its a scottish issue for scottish people to decide imo.
i remember working for a polish guy who had lived in scotland for a year or so before the independence vote, he voted remain, yet that same guy was not allowed to vote in the brexit ref......
anyway westminster will never allow another referendum so its probly a waste of time discussing it
If I recall( during the original independence vote)? Wasn't there an £8b hole in Scotlands finances if they went?
all propaganda imo, it was the same with brexit..........the truth of these things always gets muddied.......... thinking scotland would somehow be unable to opperate because it went it alone is pretty laughable, there are lots of countries of similar size and with similar resources who flurish......
and after last nights defending renton was right @rabdeniro haha
Reminds me of the old gag-27.46% of statistics are made up on the spot.
Both sides of the debate spout imaginary statistics in support of their position. And neither actually give meaningful figures as to the risks and rewards.
Of course Scotland could go it alone. Should it? I have no idea. Not least because there is no clear vision for the future. Just scare stories on 1 side. And empty promises on the other.
The SNP are advocating a Brexit-style decision. Vote against something. Completely fail to provide a clear path as the alternative way forward. It is just "Europe" has been replaced by "England".
PS. 1 thing that fascinates me about any Independence vote. It seems that Scots who live in England/elsewhere do not get a vote. Surely these people are affected just as much (if not more) than people living in Scotland.
yeah, i nodded along reading that.
imo any vote on independence should require a scottish birth certificate and nothing more. the last time everyone living in scotland got to vote, i found that wrong, its a scottish issue for scottish people to decide imo.
i remember working for a polish guy who had lived in scotland for a year or so before the independence vote, he voted remain, yet that same guy was not allowed to vote in the brexit ref......
anyway westminster will never allow another referendum so its probly a waste of time discussing it
all i have left to say is
FREEEEEDOMMMMMMMMMMM!
HAHA
It's a tricky call as to who should/should not be allowed to vote. Although your version is (IMO) a lot fairer than the current one.
To give 1 example, my eldest nephew was born English. Went to Glasgow Uni at 18, loved the place, never left. Lived there more than 20 years, married to a Scot, unlikely to ever leave. He's English, but should get a vote. Just like someone who has been there for 5 minutes should not.
We have a ridiculous situation, engineered by the SNP and all other Parties. Whereby it gets assumed that every single SNP supporter supports full independence, and every single Tory/Labour/Lib Dem is against it.
Which is rubbish. And it should not be solely up to Westminster, or the SNP, when there should be another vote. There should be an agreement, whereby it is agreed that a new vote should not be considered for at least another, say, 10 years. Because it was supposed to be a "once in a generation" vote. And, to my mind, a generation is about 25 years.
10 years since Referendum in 2014. Another 10 years for Scotland to focus on other things. Then a 5 year period to work towards a sensible debate and vote.
It won't happen. Because we have lost the art of compromise.
If I recall( during the original independence vote)? Wasn't there an £8b hole in Scotlands finances if they went?
all propaganda imo, it was the same with brexit..........the truth of these things always gets muddied.......... thinking scotland would somehow be unable to opperate because it went it alone is pretty laughable, there are lots of countries of similar size and with similar resources who flurish......
and after last nights defending renton was right @rabdeniro haha
Reminds me of the old gag-27.46% of statistics are made up on the spot.
Both sides of the debate spout imaginary statistics in support of their position. And neither actually give meaningful figures as to the risks and rewards.
Of course Scotland could go it alone. Should it? I have no idea. Not least because there is no clear vision for the future. Just scare stories on 1 side. And empty promises on the other.
The SNP are advocating a Brexit-style decision. Vote against something. Completely fail to provide a clear path as the alternative way forward. It is just "Europe" has been replaced by "England".
PS. 1 thing that fascinates me about any Independence vote. It seems that Scots who live in England/elsewhere do not get a vote. Surely these people are affected just as much (if not more) than people living in Scotland.
yeah, i nodded along reading that.
imo any vote on independence should require a scottish birth certificate and nothing more. the last time everyone living in scotland got to vote, i found that wrong, its a scottish issue for scottish people to decide imo.
i remember working for a polish guy who had lived in scotland for a year or so before the independence vote, he voted remain, yet that same guy was not allowed to vote in the brexit ref......
anyway westminster will never allow another referendum so its probly a waste of time discussing it
Comments
The odd thing (to me at least) is that, with the exception of Independence, SNP policies and Labour policies are pretty close to one another. Except that, for political reasons, both Parties deny this. Often Allies in the UK Parliament, while simultaneously enemies in the Scottish one.
The reverse is often true-the SNP will tend to look to the narrower interests of what is best for the SNP and Scotland in the UK Parliament, even on issues that do not impact Scotland.
Turning briefly to the Railways. The Press only want to highlight things that go wrong. Not the good bits.
So-the Tories get (quite rightly) slaughtered on HS2. But, more generally, Transport is something they have done quite well. Freeports. Crossrail. The Elizabeth Line.
Good news is no news.
The "levy" sounds simple. But raising £Billions never is. So-for example-BP and Shell sell off various bits to other Companies to evade making UK (as opposed to offshore) profits. Shell Energy-sold to Octopus. BP's domestic electric/gas arm (Pure Planet) sold to Shell, then on to Octopus. BP Chemicals-sold to Ineos. The list goes on. And on.
It's not the only "solution" that has massive practical problems. Rejoin the EU? How exactly are Scotland going to pay to police the massive border with England? A 100 mile border. With not a lot of people living close to it on either side.
How many Scottish Companies would feel obliged to move large parts of their Head Office functions to England if there was no United Kingdom? Seen any research on that? Because that would be vital.
Not for an Englishman to say whether or not Scotland should be Independent. But the SNP are so busy selling the concept, the ideal, that they have done precious little work on the practicalities of actually being independent.
and after last nights defending renton was right @rabdeniro haha
Both sides of the debate spout imaginary statistics in support of their position. And neither actually give meaningful figures as to the risks and rewards.
Of course Scotland could go it alone. Should it? I have no idea. Not least because there is no clear vision for the future. Just scare stories on 1 side. And empty promises on the other.
The SNP are advocating a Brexit-style decision. Vote against something. Completely fail to provide a clear path as the alternative way forward. It is just "Europe" has been replaced by "England".
PS. 1 thing that fascinates me about any Independence vote. It seems that Scots who live in England/elsewhere do not get a vote. Surely these people are affected just as much (if not more) than people living in Scotland.
imo any vote on independence should require a scottish birth certificate and nothing more. the last time everyone living in scotland got to vote, i found that wrong, its a scottish issue for scottish people to decide imo.
i remember working for a polish guy who had lived in scotland for a year or so before the independence vote, he voted remain, yet that same guy was not allowed to vote in the brexit ref......
anyway westminster will never allow another referendum so its probly a waste of time discussing it
all i have left to say is
FREEEEEDOMMMMMMMMMMM!
HAHA
@green_beer
It always gets back to music with you, doesn't it?
To give 1 example, my eldest nephew was born English. Went to Glasgow Uni at 18, loved the place, never left. Lived there more than 20 years, married to a Scot, unlikely to ever leave. He's English, but should get a vote. Just like someone who has been there for 5 minutes should not.
We have a ridiculous situation, engineered by the SNP and all other Parties. Whereby it gets assumed that every single SNP supporter supports full independence, and every single Tory/Labour/Lib Dem is against it.
Which is rubbish. And it should not be solely up to Westminster, or the SNP, when there should be another vote. There should be an agreement, whereby it is agreed that a new vote should not be considered for at least another, say, 10 years. Because it was supposed to be a "once in a generation" vote. And, to my mind, a generation is about 25 years.
10 years since Referendum in 2014.
Another 10 years for Scotland to focus on other things.
Then a 5 year period to work towards a sensible debate and vote.
It won't happen. Because we have lost the art of compromise.
but that george micheal track is pretty good
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/pensioners-warned-they-could-lose-their-bus-pass-in-six-weeks/ar-AA1qyGO4?ocid=msedgntp&pc=NMTS&cvid=c5331adbb1fc4764a279cf03fe244822&ei=19#fullscreen