iaink

How would an independent scotland pay for the spending programs currently under threat by westminster then , if not by raising taxes? The oil money alone is not enough to cover it, and appears to have already been earmarked for other uses.

Paul_Shepherd

I dont agree with this, i think that most pro United Kingdom English people are "hurt" that some people of Scotland want to break up the 300 year old sucessful union (400 years of you count back from there merging of the crowns)

As i said before its just the braveheart thing firing people up....which i totally get, but thats the past....back when the world was a rather uncivilised place to live in, thinking with your heart in this modern world doesnt necessarily lead to the right decisions.

I read somewhere recently that if this goes through we may end up with a flood of requests for counties of England wanting their own goverments...and even independance, everyone is proud of where they were born and raised its human nature, but you also have to look at it logically...the big picture.

I think its the wrong attitude to say if Scotland want independance then let them have it, as i think Scotland's departure from the union would have detrimental effects on the rest of the UK too, and maybe on a more sentimental side it would be very sad tearing up hundreds of years of civilised history, but as many have said on here, it would be more detrimental to Scotland, if it was real independance, not the half baked "plan" Salmond seems to have, thats neither here nor there.

Oakvillian

That may be the case (although doubtless there's more to it than that - the MOD apparently only blocked drilling in the Firth of Clyde, not anywhere else on the Atlantic seaboard...), but I'd love to know what would be your plan for the 11,000 unemployed people whose jobs are currently supported by Faslane and who contribute some 270 million pounds to the local economy annually. If Trident is scrapped, Faslane will close - or is Scotland going to have a navy base of its own there? If so, what will the Scottish defence ministry's position be on oil production platforms in the Firth?

TGA

Thanks sweet heart!

ultrarunner

You can't call someone that on here..."it's patronizing"

Matey

Yet to hear from Scotland's greatest sons in all this...Gordon Ramsey, Gazza, Rod Stewart, Ewan McGregor, Erik Laarson (OK may be not him) etc

dollface

Really? he's all yours dear

dollface

I agree with you for the most part.

ultrarunner

Wow....typical, because he is no longer on top, you dump him....that is so un-becoming.

Oh....I am not your "dear", hell nah with a mouth like the one in the avatar

dollface

He's a Geordie ya muppet

Novocastrian

And therefore much brighter than at least one poster on this thread.

ultrarunner

You missed the whole point.....He played there for Glasgow and they adopted him, Erik Laarson for Celtics......get it now?

Laarson is Swedish as you might know, but you didn't seem to care about him

Muppet is better than the dear you called me earlier, well of course it takes one muppette to know one

neilcumming

This may astound you but Scotland is a weathly nation,only London and the SE of England create more wealth per head for the economy than Scotland.
We pay more in taxes than we recieve from Westminster for our budget.
So contrary to popular belief we are not a bunch of alcoholic drug taking scroungers.The SNP have been the government in Scotland for the last 2 terms and havent raised taxes ,I think they can raise it by 3% or are allowed to.

ultrarunner

Whoever said that, needs a frontal lobotomy...personally, have always loved Scotland and it's people (mind you more the women). Hogmanay was always a blast in Aberdeen or Glasgow

neilcumming

According to the RN website there is 6,500 civilians and service personel employed at Faslane,so about 500 to 1000 locals work there not taking into account of workers from outside Scotland.The SNP are saying it will keep Faslane as a Scottish Naval port so presumably the jobs will go to those workers.
Its not the 1st time a RN base has closed in Scotland,in 1993 the tories switched a lot of jobs from Rosyth to Devonport and sold the place off to Babcock Int.
I couldnt tell you what a scottish MOD's position would be that would be a few yrs down the road,I suppose much the same as the North Sea rigs.
Faslane is only 25 miles from Glasgow,I know it would most probably be moved to Devonport but can you imagine the outrage if it were based on the Thames 25 miles from London,simply wouldnt happen.

neilcumming

I lived in England for 11yrs and met alot of people who went every year on holiday in Scotland and same as you loved it but there were always people who sterotyped us.Scotland has social problems much the same as England does.