Jump to content

General Election 2015

Ludo*1

By Ludo*1
in The Politics Forum

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 15.7k
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Granny Danger

Granny Danger

Posted
Posted

STOP

QUOTING

THE

DAILY

MAIL

YOU

FAR

RIGHT

FROTHING

LOONBALL.

The loonballs are those who reply to kev. They must really enjoy doing it or ..... err ...... they wouldn't do it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Granny Danger

Granny Danger

Posted
Posted

Kevthedunce. :lol:

Oh, Malcolm. :(

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/may/26/sir-malcolm-bruce-house-of-commons-lying-mps

Absolutely glorious to see Busted Flush's true colours shining through though.

I have just listened to his radio interview - there's a link on another thread. It's all the nasty SNP's fault apparently; we need good , decent men like Carmichael to stand up for the people of Scotland. They're sounding more desperate than Scottish Labour were during the election campaign; I didn't that that would be possible.

Malcolm Bruce should have a full body minter after his utterances.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pete's Frontier

Pete's Frontier

Posted
Posted
The European regions that could be better off going it alone Scotland, Flanders and Catalonia are among the European regions that could be better off going it alone, says Deutsche Bank

By Peter Spence, Economics Correspondent

8:16PM GMT 09 Feb 2015

Many of Europe’s most prosperous regions could be better off by going it alone and abandoning the nation states of which they are currently a part, according to a Deutsche Bank report.

The bank has identified regions in Spain, Italy, Belgium, and even the UK that could potentially benefit from independence.

Relatively rich parts of these countries have been required to prop up their less prosperous peers, according to the report, with the prospect of lower tax burdens fuelling an appetite for autonomy.

As separatist movements across Europe have been given a boost by non-binding polls in Spain’s Catalonia and Italy’s Veneto last year, pushes to splinter across the continent have gained traction.

These regions, along with the Basque country and Navarre in Spain, Flanders in Belgium, South Tyrol in Italy, and Scotland - despite the failure in September of the referendum push for independence - were also identified as potential candidates for greater autonomy.

All but one of the seven regions named in the report boast per capita incomes higher than their nation’s respective averages.

Only output in Scotland fail to match the national average, at 92.9pc of the typical level. Yet when Deutsche accounted for oil deposits based on their location, Scottish production rose to 115pc of the UK average.

“Nearly all the regions are among the wealthiest in their respective countries,” said Barbara Boettcher, an economist at Deutsche Bank. “The patently unequal treatment of regions appears detrimental to the general acceptance of the current system.”

Catalonia’s relative economic strength provides its population with an incentive to forge its on path, as they are burdened by contributions to the rest of Spain equivalent to 4.35pc of the area’s GDP.

Other regions such as Navarre and the Basque Country benefit from special autonomy status, and are exempt from redistributive transfers, yet independence retains strong popular appeal. The populations of these regions share a cultural heritage, with a common Basque identity which has propelled a drive for separation from Spain.

While separation into smaller states may seem appealing, the bank warned that “secession from an existing state structure harbours huge economics risks”.

The government of smaller countries, such as Austria, tend to pay punitive amounts to borrow from financial markets. “Even though Austria has a higher per capita GDP and lower sovereign debt [than Germany] … the risk premium on Austrian bonds is higher,” Deutsche Bank said.

The bank also noted that setting up a new administration, including separate defence and diplomatic spending, “naturally comes at a price”.

“However these risks [of going it alone] have decreased for smaller countries; paradoxically, this is especially due to European integration,” it continued.

The formation of the single European market and the possibility of eurozone membership has helped to “reduce some of the fundamental disadvantages that would would otherwise be faced by countries such as Luxembourg, Malta, Cyprus and the Baltic states”.

The vote was 55% no, Mhairi. Now go back to your chips and kola kube dinner.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 5 weeks later...
H_B

H_B

Posted
Posted

Did he pay his what?

I assume he means the costs the SNP government lumbered us with to unsuccessfully defend the release of a blank bit of A4.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...